January 17, 2012 – Asbestos-related violations that took place five years ago will be answered for in Federal District Court of Camden, New Jersey. The Environmental Protection Agency has filed suit against a Philadelphia Construction Company alleging that the company performed illegal demolition work at an industrial site in Gibbstown, New Jersey. In 2007, The Lovett Contracting Company removed 5,000 feet of piping and 3,000 feet of asbestos piping insulation. The company is facing six alleged violations of The Clean Air Act and The National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollution.

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.

Read more.

January 13, 2012 – Pinnacle Biologies, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, has received FDA approval for their product, PHOTOFRIN®. PHOTOFRIN® is a new option for the treatment of mesothelioma. Treatment with the new drug is a two step process.

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.

Read more.

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

December 29, 2011 – The Inspector General for the Environmental Protection Agency issued a report that should end the unapproved ‘wet method” of asbestos removal. This method called for workers to hose down asbestos debris during building demolition. This poses a danger to the workers and nearby residents because asbestos fibers continue to be released into the air.

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.

December 27, 2011 – Penn Medicine has released the results of a ground-breaking clinical study by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The results show that using immune-gene therapy may be an effective treatment for early-stage mesothelioma. The current study was recently reported in the December 15, 2011 edition of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine . 

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.

December 16, 2011 – The first shutdown of Canadian’s two asbestos mines in 130 years marked a historic moment for the country’s asbestos industry. The industry has been under increased scrutiny since researchers have linked asbestos to mesothelioma. As a result of the shutdowns, Canadian-produced asbestos is expected to disappear from the international market in the coming weeks. Because the mines have been shut down, the supply of asbestos they had on hand will quickly be depleted.

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.

Read more here.

December 14, 2011 – Malignant pleural mesothelioma typically begins in the lining of the chest cavity and then spreads to other organs and parts of the body. For many years, researchers have believed that blood platelets, the cells that normally promote blood clotting and wound healing, promotes the spread, or metastasis, of cancer.  New research published by researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology presents an even clearer picture of platelets’ role in how cancer cells break away from the original tumors and spread to other organs and tissue. These findings may be instrumental in developing treatments for the prevention of the advancement of cancer, including mesothelioma, if caught before it spreads, or metastasizes.

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.

Read more here.

November 21, 2011 – Philadelphia asbestos attorney Benjamin Shein was recently quoted in an article about asbestos “think tanks” and their impact on mesothelioma litigation.   The recent article on LegalNewline.com specifically discussed the Collegium Ramazzini, an independent international academy founded in 1982 by Irving J. Selikoff and other scientists. Irving J. Selikoff is known for his research linking inhalation of asbestos particles to mesothelioma and other diseases. His research has lead to the regulation of asbestos.

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.

November 9, 2011 – Philadelphia asbestos attorney Benjamin Shein of the Shein Law Center was recently interviewed as an expert in the news article, “The Science of Asbestos: The Arguments for Juries”  by Michael P. Tremoglie of Legal Newsline.com.  The nationally recognized Internet-based newswire focuses on cases and issues that impact business. One such issue is the “science“ of asbestos in a mesothelioma case.  Although there is no dispute that asbestos causes mesothelioma, there is disagreement as to the effects of chrysotile asbestos, the most-common type of asbestos used in industrial and commercial products.

In the article, Mr. Shein was asked to discuss how he addresses asbestos “science” when trying his cases. He explained that he relies first on the widely accepted premise that all asbestos, including chrysotile, causes mesothelioma. Then he presents witness testimony regarding his client’s exposure to asbestos. When faced with a defendant’s argument that his client’s asbestos exposure was “too small” or “too long ago” to have caused the mesothelioma, he points to federal safety standards from EPA, NIOSH and OSHA that maintain that any exposure above background is unsafe. Click here to read the full article.

November 3, 2011 – The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) Co-Founder and President, Linda Reinstein, is providing a public voice for the victims of Mesothelioma and their families. She recently presented at one significant public health and advocacy event and is scheduled to speak at another.  At the American Public Health Association’s 139th Annual Meeting and Exposition on October 29 through November 2, 2011, Ms. Reinstein presented the latest information on asbestos awareness and asbestos ban efforts across the globe, highlighting the power of social media as a unifying force for worldwide connections and the power of knowledge. She will present her important message again at the Canadian Workers Health and Safety Centre’s  annual gala on November 4^th.

The ADAO’s mission  “includes supporting global advocacy and advancing asbestos awareness, prevention, early detection, treatment, and resources for asbestos-related disease.” Ms. Reinstein regularly speaks at health and environmental forums in support of the ADAO’s efforts to educate the public about the need for an asbestos ban, to promote recognition of medical resources, and to build a global community of support and comfort. The ADAO’s recent web live-streaming of the documentary “Breathtaking”  about one family’s struggle with mesothelioma was an example of its efforts to use social media to combine education, advocacy, and community to provide a unified voice for asbestos victims. The Shein Law Center is a proud supporter of the ADAO.

For more information on Ms. Reinstein’s presentations, click here.

October 31, 2011 – OncoLink.org  is an informative, comprehensive website presented by the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania for the purpose of helping “cancer patients, families, health care professionals and the general public get accurate cancer-related information at no charge.” The site has a wealth of resources for Mesothelioma patients , including an overview of the disease of mesothelioma, treatment options, clinical trial matching, support groups, “Ask the Expert” opportunities, and conference information. Currently, the site contains the transcript of the web chat held during Penn Medicine’s Focus on Mesothelioma Conference on October 14, 2011. Also, the Abramson Cancer Center’s page on the Penn Medicine web site contains a video of the Conference  where presenters discussed various mesothelioma topics of interest to patients, physicians, researchers and advocates.