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This page provides additional recent legal information and news reports about class actions, lawsuits, and legal case settlements involving asbestos and mesothelioma claims.

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Asbestos and Mesothelioma News

Asbestos Compensation Bill Dead

Legislation that would have compensated Libby residents who have asbestos-related illnesses is dead, and a senior Republican senator says it's unlikely to be resurrected in the near future. More >>

LA Jury Awards $20.5 Million to Man Exposed to Asbestos

A jury has recommended that two companies must pay $20.5 million to a former nuclear submarine machinist who contracted a fatal form of lung cancer after exposure to asbestos from their products. More >>

Outlook Dims for Asbestos Reform in Senate

The outlook dimmed for establishing a fund to compensate asbestos victims this year after the Senate majority leader on Monday left it off a list of priorities for the few days left in the legislative period. More >>

Asbestos Claims Hinge on Judge's Ruling

With more than 120 people packed into his 70-seat courtroom, Circuit Judge Lamar Pickard said Friday he'll decide individually "soon" on the dozens of lawsuits before him involving asbestos claims. The vast majority of the people in his courtroom were lawyers because at stake in Pickard's rulings are thousands of claims filed in his district by plaintiffs outside the state. More >>

Asbestos Lawsuits Create U.S. Legal Crisis

Cases fill courts and firms go broke; total liability may reach $265 billion. More >>

Judge Still Mulling Dismissal of Asbestos Lawsuits

Circuit Judge Lamar Pickard said Monday he's leaning toward ruling a certain way on a request to dismiss asbestos cases involving 8,000 people. But he said it's still possible he could change his mind by the time a hearing is held Oct. 15. His anticipated decision comes after a shift by the state Supreme Court, which since February has ruled that out-of-state plaintiffs must be dismissed from asbestos and similar litigation and that plaintiffs in the same county must have separate trials. More >>

Asbestos Victims' Groups Concerned About Senate Talks

Three groups representing asbestos victims expressed reservations Monday about the direction of talks to create a trust fund for people sickened by asbestos. More >>

Canada Must Stop Selling Asbestos to World

Canada wants to expose millions of ill-informed and ill-protected people to asbestos. Asbestos is a fibrous mineral with wondrous properties. The delicate fibres can withstand fierce heat and are so flexible that they can be spun and woven in much the same way as cotton or flax. And Canada has mountains of it, particularly in Quebec and Newfoundland. More >>

Alimta Approved for Lung Cancer

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the drug pemetrexed (Alimta) for treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. People with stage 3 or 4 cancer who already have had unsuccessful chemotherapy are eligible to try it. The drug is also approved to treat malignant pleural mesothelioma, another type of cancer associated with asbestos exposure. More >>

Court Approves St. Paul $502.5 Million Asbestos Accord

Insurer St. Paul Travelers Companies on Wednesday said a bankruptcy court approved a $502.5 million asbestos settlement for all pending asbestos court actions against its Travelers Property Casualty unit. More >>

Bankruptcy Judge Puts Brakes on Asbestos Claims

A Southern District of New York bankruptcy judge Tuesday issued orders that effectively bar tens of thousands of asbestos claims nationwide and provide a fund of about $500 million to pay claims against Travelers Indemnity Co. that relate to the bankruptcy of the Johns-Manville Corp. More >>

Virus Not Linked to Type of Lung Cancer

Infection with simian virus 40 (SV40) plays little or no role in the development of mesothelioma, a cancer affecting the lining of the lungs that has been linked to asbestos exposure, according to a report in The Lancet. In the 1950s and 1960s, several hundred thousand military recruits in the US received a vaccine contaminated with SV40. Since then, concerns have been raised that SV40 may cause cancer after researchers noticed the presence of its DNA in various tumor specimens. More >>

Judge Delays Hearing on Asbestos Lawsuits in Mississippi

A circuit judge has given lawyers more time to prepare for a hearing on the status of asbestos cases in three southwest Mississippi counties. Companies being sued are asking Circuit Judge Lamar Pickard to either dismiss the cases in Jefferson, Copiah and Claiborne counties or order plaintiffs to provide more information about their claims. More >>

Senator Feinstein Offers Asbestos Fund Compromise

Draft legislation that aims to bridge the gap between competing Senate plans for a U.S. asbestos compensation fund is being circulated by California Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein. More >>

Waking up to Dormant Asbestos Illnesses

Lee Brackett says a lifetime of "bad work choices" have made him sick. From service as an engine room repairman on a U.S. Navy destroyer to working as a car mechanic, Brackett unknowingly inhaled asbestos for more than 40 years. "I had no idea (it was dangerous)," said Brackett, 62, of Gardner. "They didn't tell us anything." Brackett's close exposure to asbestos has given him mesothelioma -- a rare cancer of the lining of the lungs or abdomen caused only by the fiber-like minerals. More >>

Court Approves Halliburton Asbestos Settlement

A U.S. district court in Pennsylvania has approved a $4.2 billion asbestos settlement for Houston-based Halliburton Co., the company said Tuesday. The ruling followed approval earlier this month of Halliburton's reorganization plan by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and paves the way for two Halliburton subsidiaries units to emerge from bankruptcy protection. More >>

Senate's Frist Questions Democrat Asbestos Plan

8/3/04 - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has raised doubts about a Democratic proposal that would leave some asbestos claims in court while setting up a victims' compensation fund, a letter circulated on Tuesday said. Industry would not pay for a large asbestos compensation fund if some victims of the mineral were allowed to pursue their cases in court at the same time, Frist, a Tennessee Republican, told Daschle in the letter circulated on Capitol Hill. More >>

Senate's Frist Wants $140 Billion Asbestos Fund

7/15/04 - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist proposes to resolve legal claims over asbestos exposure with a $140 billion industry-financed fund to pay victims, aides close to lawmakers' talks said on Thursday. The proposal from Frist, a Tennessee Republican, narrowed the differences between himself and Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, who has suggested a $141 billion fund. The leaders are trying to agree on the outlines of a fund that could be written into legislation. The idea is to establish a fund to pay victims' claims, to be financed by asbestos litigation defendants and insurers, while ending victims' right to sue. More >>

U.S. Senate's Frist Plans Asbestos Offer This Week

7/12/04 - A Republican counter-proposal on the size of a multibillion-dollar fund for asbestos victims could come within days, the U.S. Senate majority leader said on Monday. "We'll have a pretty specific response," Sen. Bill Frist told reporters, adding that he hoped to offer his plan for the privately financed fund by mid-week. More >>

Senate Leaders Narrow Differences on Asbestos

U.S. Senate leaders have narrowed their differences over a proposed fund to compensate asbestos victims and are talking about a fund of between $131 billion and $141 billion, aides and others close to the talks said on Friday. More >>

Lawmakers Have No Deal on Asbestos Fund

U.S. Senate leaders have reached no agreement on setting up a national fund to pay asbestos victims' claims, lawmakers and their aides said on Thursday, denying Wall Street rumors of a deal. More >>

Senate's Daschle Says Still Time for Asbestos Deal

6/15/04 - There is still time for Congress to pass legislation on asbestos reform this year, the Senate Democratic leader said on Tuesday, striking an upbeat note on an effort that appeared to have stalled last month. Sen. Tom Daschle acknowledged that progress might be taking place "at a snail's pace," but said he and Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist were still seeking a bipartisan consensus on setting up a national fund to pay asbestos victims' claims. More >>

Asbestos Deaths Up

7/22/04 - Asbestos-related deaths have increased fourfold in the past three decades, according to a new CDC report. More >>

Ford Ordered To Pay $10 Million In Asbestos Case

A southeast Texas jury awarded $10 million in damages Friday to the family of a woman who died of a lung disease after being exposed to asbestos dust in her father's clothing. Miller was exposed to asbestos dust when she washed the clothes her father, John Roland, wore to work at the Ford Rouge plant in Michigan, said Ron Eddins, her family's attorney. More >>

Celebrex Hits Mesothelioma, in Lab Studies

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The COX-2 inhibitor Celebrex, usually prescribed for arthritis, has a marked effect on the asbestos-related cancer malignant mesothelioma in lab and animal experiments, according to a report from Italy. Current treatments for mesothelioma have failed to alter its dismal prognosis, the authors comment in the International Journal of Cancer, but one selective COX-2 inhibitor has been shown to stop mesothelioma cells growing in a lab dish. More >>

Asbestos Meeting Ends Without Resolution

Senate mediation on legislation to create a multibillion-dollar trust fund for people suffering from asbestos-related diseases has failed, but lawmakers say they will keep trying to gain an agreement. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., had been meeting with a retired federal judge for two weeks to reach an agreement on the legislation, but the meetings ended Thursday night with no resolution. More >>

Senate Leader Wants to Keep Working on Asbestos

Negotiations to create a privately-financed U.S. fund to compensate asbestos victims should continue for as long as they are making progress, Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist said on Tuesday. Frist said he knew that, if he gave up on the discussions between business, insurers and labor representatives, it would be seen as a sign that agreement on compensating asbestos victims could not possibly be reached. A second week of negotiations aimed at creating the fund are expected to resume on Wednesday, under the mediation of a federal appeals judge, Edward Becker. More >>

Labor Says US Asbestos Fund Needs Billions Quickly

About half the $124 billion proposed for a national asbestos victims fund would be needed within five years, organized labor said on Wednesday according to participants in talks on creating such a fund. The AFL-CIO analysis surprised business representatives and insurers at the negotiations trying to craft the fund to replace asbestos injury lawsuits that are said to be crippling many companies. "It appears to be a step away from the table, as opposed to a step towards agreement," said Julie Rochman, spokeswoman for the American Insurance Association. More >>

Frist, Daschle Launch New Talks on Asbestos

Following a failed cloture vote last week, Senate leaders are stepping up their efforts to pass an asbestos compensation bill this year. Despite bipartisan concerns that forcing a vote would be counterproductive, Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) have agreed to launch a new round of negotiations on the key issues holding up the legislation. More >>

Asbestos Legislation Falls Apart in the Senate

4/23/04 - Legislation to compensate asbestos victims while shielding companies from crippling jury awards collapsed yesterday in the Senate amid charges of election-year gamesmanship. The $124 billion bill, which was written by Senate Republicans with comment from the asbestos and insurance industries, fell far short of the 60 votes needed to end the debate. The vote was 50-47. More >>

Original Asbestos Fund Bill S1125

Revised Asbestos Bill S1125

Revised Asbestos Fund Bill S2290

Families of Asbestos Victims Lobby Against Settlement

Family members of asbestos vistims are lobbying against legislation that would establish a settlement fund to shield companies from further asbestos lawsuits. Dozens of people from around the country urged their lawmakers to oppose the bill. The legislation would set up a trust fund of $114 billion to compensate victims of asbestos, which causes cancer and other illnesses. The fund would be paid for by corporations that used asbestos, and their insurance companies. More >>

Health Studies About Asbestos Kept Secret

Gerrit Schepers, a scholar from South Africa chronicled just one of a number of incidents over several decades in which U.S. insurers had research signaling the dangers of asbestos but did not act aggressively to protect workers. In 1931, a study partly funded by Met Life found asbestosis in 42 Canadian asbestos miners and mill workers. The results were closely held. Despite the 1931 findings, Met Life's assistant medical director, said he saw no need to warn workers. More >>

Hundreds of Asbestos Cases at Stake in Hearing

Dozens of lawyers and expert witnesses are expected to gather today for a hearing that could decide the fate of hundreds of asbestos-related lawsuits from across Texas. The hearing in the court of state District Judge Mark Davidson will center on a request by defendant companies for an "unimpaired docket," which would shelve any claims in which plaintiffs have yet to show any illness related to asbestos exposure. If the motion is granted, hundreds of cases from all over the state would be set aside until the plaintiffs can show they are suffering impairment. More >>

Stolen breaths: Exhibit Shows the Horrifying Reality of Asbesos Related Disease

Most of the people in Bill Ravanesi's photo documentary "Breath Taken: The Landscape and Biography of Asbestos" are no longer living. They are among the 10,000 Americans each year who die of asbestos-related disease. Ravanesi spent 11 years watching their lives through his camera. He met more than 200 victims in asbestos factory towns. He's been to 75 or 80 funerals. "Breath Taken" is still traveling. Where it travels, it's accompanied by a symposium on asbestos. More >>

Asbestos Litigation Reform Considered

As the Senate prepares to consider a sweeping, high-stakes bailout plan for asbestos companies and their insurers, the data and documents presented here should remind decision-makers that asbestos is a public health epidemic first and foremost. More >>

Senate to Take Test Vote on Asbestos Bill

Deadlocked on creating a multibillion-dollar trust fund for people suffering from asbestos-related diseases, the Senate's leaders plan to meet with a mediator next week in hopes of coming up with asbestos lawsuit legislation. More >>

Vermiculite Insulation Containing Asbestos

Some vermiculite insulation may contain asbestos fibres. These products can cause health risks if disturbed during maintenance, renovation or demolition. However, there is currently no evidence of risk to your health if the insulation is sealed behind wallboards and floorboards, isolated in an attic, or otherwise kept from exposure to the interior environment. More >>

Seattle Post Intelligencer Investigation: The Dangers of Asbestos

If you think that the mining, production, sale and use of asbestos in America has been banned, you're mistaken. Since November 1999 the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has published a series of reports on the continuing risks posed by the nation's asbestos legacy. More >>

Chronology of the Seattle Post Intelligencer stories about asbestos.

Surgery for Mesothelioma

One in every hundred men born in the 1940s will die of die of malignant pleural mesothelioma, which is almost exclusively a consequence of exposure to asbestos, with a lag time that is rarely less than 25 years and often more than 50 years from first exposure... More >>

Asbestos Bill Heads for Showdown

A proposed trust fund would compensate present and future asbestos claimants under 10 categories ranging from $20,000 for those with minor lung impairments to $1 million for people with mesothelioma, a rare and deadly cancer of the lining of the lungs. More >>

Worker's Family Wins $5.2 Million Asbestos Verdict

February 24, 2004 - TEXAS - EL PASO, Texas - A jury awarded $5.2 million in damages Tuesday to the family of a refinery worker who died of lung disease that he blamed on exposure to asbestos-laden insulation made by a subsidiary of Pfizer Inc. More >>

Book Reveals Asbestos Still Has a Chokehold on Us

The killer is asbestos, a fiber that hooks into the lungs and slowly chokes its victims. Because of heavy publicity about the removal of asbestos from many buildings, most people believe it is illegal to produce and use asbestos. The Environmental Protection Agency's attempt to ban asbestos failed in 1989 and subsequent attempts to control its use and compensate its victims have been mired in governmental impasses. Import of asbestos products has increased 300 percent in the past decade alone. More >>

Pennsylvania Court Reinstates Asbestos Lawsuits

February 21, 2004 - The state Supreme Court on Friday reinstated 376 asbestos lawsuits against Crown Cork & Seal Co. Inc., declaring unconstitutional a 2001 state law designed to protect the Philadelphia-based manufacturer. More >>

Our law firm handles and investigates personal injury cases and wrongful death claims involving dangerous products, harmful chemicals, and unsafe drugs. We offer a free case evaluation for these types of cases.