February 22, 2012 – Last week, the 15-member World Trade Center Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee, appointed by Congress to review research and decide which health conditions are linked to toxins at Ground Zero following the 9/11 attacks, concluded that research clearly shows a link between 9/11 exposure and cancer. As a result of the Committee’s findings, hundreds of 9/11 first responders could receive compensation for their cancer treatment  under the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. If cancer is officially included as a covered health condition under the Zadroga Act, those who have been diagnosed with cancer and the families of those who have died from it will be able to apply to the $2.8 billion 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund to cover their medical expenses and for compensation for pain and suffering.

The Zadroga Act established the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program, which ensures that the first responders on 9/11 continue to receive monitoring and treatment services for 9/11-related health problems through at least 2015. The WTC  Health Program also provides residents of the World Trade Center area, as well as students attending school and people employed in the area during the 9/11 terrorist attack, the rescue and the clean-up activities, with an initial health evaluation to determine program eligibility, health monitoring and medical care for 9/11-related health conditions.

The WTC Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee will now draft a list of all the specific cancers they believe should be covered. Based on the existing research, a preliminary list  includes mesothelioma, blood cancers, lymphoma, leukemia, lung cancer, and multiple myeloma.  The Committee’s final recommendation on the inclusion of cancers will be submitted to Congress within the next couple of weeks. Dr. John Howard, the World Trade Center health program administrator for the federal government, will make the final decision by early April on which cancers, if any, should be covered.

Victims of Mesothelioma and Other Occupational Diseases Mourn the Loss of Dr. Stephen Levin

While advocates for the inclusion of cancer under the Zadroga Act were optimistic that their long battle was close to a victorious end, they were also sadden by the recent death of a long-time supporter of their cause.  Dr. Stephen Levin, a professor of occupational medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, died earlier this month.  He helped launch the WTC Health Program under the Zadroga Act that cares for almost  30,000 people.

Born in Philadelphia, Dr. Levin was also a pioneer in the study of asbestos-related diseases and a leader in studying and controlling lead poisoning in construction workers. In the 1990s,  he successfully lobbied New York State and federal authorities to require that respirators and vacuum hoses be provided to protect bridge workers from lead poisoning. More recently, he did important research on the asbestos-tainted vermiculite mine at Libby, Montana, which was linked to cancer and respiratory disease suffered by area residents, including mesothelioma, and which has since been declared a public health emergency by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

As co-director of the Irving J. Selikoff Occupational and Environmental Medical Center, Dr. Levin was known as one of the foremost experts in asbestos-related cancers and diseases  and was a well-respected advocate for workers suffering from occupational disease.  He was one of the first advocates in support of 9/11 first responders and residents near the World Trade Center and predicted widespread health effects from the debris caused by the destruction of the towers.

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As people became increasingly aware of the dangers of asbestos, the asbestos industry decided to do its own research and hired Dr. John Corbett McDonald, a scientist at McGill University, to conduct an asbestos industry study. The study tracked the health of 11,000 miners and mill workers in Quebec from 1966 until the late 1990s. Documents have surfaced that show payments from the Quebec Asbestos Mining Association to Dr. McDonald and other McGill University researchers were made while the study was underway totaling almost a million dollars.

The McGill University research suggested that because Tremolite asbestos, sometimes found alongside chrysotile asbestos, is even more dangerous than chrysotile, Tremolite contamination in chrysotile mines caused mesothelioma.  The researched relied on data suggesting that mesothelioma occurred in “most, if not all” miners who had worked in the mines most contaminated with Tremolite. Since Dr. McDonald’s study suggested that Tremolite contamination was the cause of mesothelioma in the miners studied, the researchers concluded that chrysotile was basically harmless at fixed levels and was safe for export to the Third World.

Dr. Egilman, along with John Dement, an asbestos specialist at Duke University and Dr. Richard Lemen, a former US assistant surgeon general, has called for the release of the McGill study data. Asbestos specialists asking for release of the study data have the opinion that the researchers are hiding something or they are afraid that the results will be interpreted differently.  A key McGill researchers is refusing to give the data to Egilman and his fellow specialists, but has stated that he is sharing the data with some American agencies.

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Claimants whose medical care was covered by the Grace Libby Medical Plan or private insurance were not subject to Medicare liens.  However, those claimants who did receive Medicare payments for their medical expenses must give back to Medicare what it paid out.  These reimbursements will come from their share of the settlement proceeds.  The claimants’ attorneys and Medicare officials are working closely to “fast track” release of the liens.

Three factors were noted as influencing the $43 million dollar settlement.  First, the Montana Supreme Court held in a previous asbestos lawsuit that the state had a duty to miners and their families under the Industrial Hygiene Act. Second, in the case at hand, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court issued an injunction stopping proceedings against the state of Montana, two levels of appeal followed, and the parties finally executed a memorandum of understanding leading to the $43 settlement.  Finally, the claimants’ expert witness, a renowned pulmonary specialist from the Center for Asbestos Related Disease in Libby, had treated the Libby asbestos victims for many years, documented the unique nature of Libby asbestos exposure, and was therefore difficult to dispute with other medical experts.

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The alleged violations took place at the former site of a DuPont plant over a two month period. Regulators say that Lovett Contracting Inc. did not take the necessary precautions in removing the piping and the asbestos insulation which allowed the asbestos fibers to become airborne. The Clean Air Act requires work practice safeguards in asbestos removal and demolition projects to prevent the release of asbestos fibers.

The EPA alleges that Lovell Contracting Inc. failed to inspect the building for the presence of asbestos and did not notify authorities of the asbestos removal; therefore, no inspector was present on the site during the demolition. Routine state inspections led to the discovery of the violations. Lovett is facing penalties of $32,500 per day, for each violation, as well as, legal fees incurred by the federal attorney.

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In the first step, the drug is given by intravenous injection. The drug is drawn to and stays in the cancer cells.  The second step is done 40 to 50 hours after the intravenous injection.  A non-burning laser light is projected onto the tumor.  The tumor is destroyed by biochemical reactions, not by heat.  This latest therapy gives doctors and their mesothelioma patients a new option to treat asbestos-related cancers.

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http://www.marketwatch.com/story/treatment-of-patients-with-malignant-mesothelioma-utilizing-photodynamic-therapy-with-pinnacle-biologics-compound-photofrin-obtains-fda-orphan-drug-designation-2011-12-14

The Public Justice Foundation has been fighting to ban government agencies from using this unapproved method of asbestos removal for eight years. The Inspector General has clearly stated that any further use of this method is a serious threat to public safety and government agencies should immediately stop using it. The approved method requires all asbestos material to be removed by workers wearing protective gear prior to demolition.

Read the full report here.

In the study, the Penn team, led by Daniel Sterman, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Division, and Director of Interventional Pulmonology, tested a new gene therapy approach in which an adenovirus – a modified cold virus – was altered to express high levels of a powerful immune system stimulant called interferon-alpha. The virus was injected directly into the chest cavities of nine patients with mesothelioma tumors.  This direct introduction of the virus caused the interferon-alpha to be produced at high levels within the tumor, leading to an activation of the patients’ own immune systems against the disease, with antibody responses against the tumors in almost all of the patients. While no clinical responses were seen in the four patients with advanced-stage mesothelioma, evidence of disease stability or tumor regression was noted in the other five patients, including one “dramatic” example of partial tumor regression.

As reported in a recent KYW News report, the researchers believe that the results of this landmark study,  funded by the National Cancer Institute and the Benjamin Shein Foundation for Humanity, show that incorporating immune-gene therapy with current treatment methods for mesothelioma will be beneficial in the treatment of early-stage mesothelioma cases.  Penn Medicine is continuing its research in this immune-gene therapy approach by testing it in early stage patients in combination with chemotherapy.

The Benjamin Shein Foundation for Humanity is a charitable trust created to provide grants to fund research for the advancement of treatment and a cure  for mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. The Foundation also provides grants, gifts and donations to medical institutions and support and care-giving organizations. In addition, the Benjamin Shein Foundation is a frequent sponsor of conferences intended to increase awareness of the deadly consequences of asbestos use and to further efforts to prevent, treat and cure mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.

The future of the two Quebec mines, the Jeffrey mine in Asbestos and the Lac d’amiante du Canada mine in Thetford Mines located only 90 kilometers from each other, is uncertain.  The Jeffrey mine closed down as it awaits a bank-loan guarantee from the Quebec government to start digging a new underground mine. The Lac d’amiante du Canada closed due to operational problems, including labor, production and development issues. 

Supporters of Canada’s asbestos industry are hopeful that digging will start again this spring. Prime Minister Harper supports Canada’s asbestos industry because the sale of asbestos is a legally-permitted business. Another government official strongly opposes the industry and recently brought a petition in front of the Parliament. It was signed by thousands of Canadian residents asking for the ban of asbestos and all its forms. The petition asked the Canadian government to stop all funding of asbestos, not only in Canada, but also abroad.  They also asked the government to stop blocking international health and safety rules designed to protect asbestos workers.

Asbestos causes more deaths in Canadian residents than all other industrial causes combined.

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For many years, researchers have assumed that blood platelets played an active role in the advancement of cancer in several ways. First, they contain growth factors that stimulate growth in all human cells including cancer cells. Second, platelets help the malignant cells to clump, enabling them to get stuck in new locations more easily.  Some researchers, however, have suspected that platelets play a more prominent role in the spread of cancer. They have surmised that platelets actually effect epithelial-mesenchymal transition, the process a cancer cell goes through before it metastasizes when it becomes less adhesive and more mobile.

In this latest study, the MIT researchers found that when they depleted the growth factors from the platelets interacting with cancer cells before epithelial-mesenchymal transition, metastasis did not occur.  Further research showed cancer cells would not become metastatic if exposed ONLY to the growth factor, suggesting that the cancer cells depend on additional chemical signals from the platelets before they are prepared to spread.  This research demonstrates that blood platelets not only help cancer cells grow, clump and adhere to new locations, they actually provide the chemical stimuli for metastasis.

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The Collegium Ramazzini is comprised of 180 internationally renowned experts in the fields of occupational and environmental health. It holds conferences attended by the world’s most important researchers including those in the field of asbestos science.  Assessing present and future risks of injury and disease in the workplace and the environment, the Collegium Ramazzini focuses on identifying preventable risk factors.  As a result of its research, its most recent statement called for an international ban on the mining and use of asbestos.

Pennsylvania mesothelioma attorney Benjamin Shein finds the Collegium Ramazzini to include an impressive group of environmental and occupational health medicine professionals and its yearly publication, CR Journal, helpful in cases that include the causes of mesothelioma. The work of the Collegium Ramazzini and other independent international academies, or “think tanks”, acts as a bridge between the world of scientific research and the social and political law-making worlds. Therefore, asbestos “think tanks” clearly impact mesothelioma litigation and the outcomes of asbestos trials.

Click here to read more about the Collegium Ramazzini and its efforts toward a worldwide asbestos ban.