Mesothelioma Legal Blog

It’s a favorite pastime of about 44 million Americans – riding all-terrain vehicles or off-roading, as it’s sometimes called. It can be dangerous because of the severe injuries that can happen in a crash. But is there another potential risk? This study examined the connection between individuals who off-road and asbestos exposure. Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral in the United States and other countries. After mining, builders often used it in construction until the Environmental Protection Agency banned the toxic material in 1989.

Mesothelioma is a rare and deadly form of cancer, often affecting the thin lining of tissue around the lungs or abdomen, caused by exposure to a flaky white mineral called asbestos. One of the most striking characteristics about the disease is the latency period between asbestos exposure and showing cancer symptoms. Typically, the latency period for mesothelioma is anywhere from 20 to 50 years after exposure, which can complicate diagnosis since many symptoms present themselves as age-related conditions.

A virtual mesothelioma cancer trial recently got underway via Zoom in a Washington state court with each side presenting their opening arguments to the 16 person jury in Seattle. King County, Wash., is one of the most active jurisdictions in the country when it comes to virtual hearings during coronavirus pandemic. The judge presiding over the case did so from her courtroom, while all the other parties logged into Zoom from their remote locations.

Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral once commonly used in many industrial, commercial, and military applications for its heat-resistant properties. Sadly, the substance is also causally related to developing mesothelioma, a rare and deadly form of cancer that typically affects the thin lining of tissue surrounding the lungs and abdomen. Despite what many asbestos-industry advocates purported throughout the years, there is no safe or acceptable level of asbestos exposure, nor is there any type of asbestos less prone to causing mesothelioma.

A recently published study from the Netherlands appears to indicate that a combination of a pair of immunotherapy drugs can help improve the prognosis of mesothelioma patients with tumors that are not able to be removed through surgery. The experiment, named checkmate 743, compared the use of first-line nivolumab and ipilimumab versus platinum-based chemotherapy in a group of over 600 mesothelioma cancer patients, and showed significant tumor shrinkage for a large portion of the participants who were given the two-drug combination.

10 U.S. states and the District of Columbia recently filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to force the agency to tighten rules regarding the oversight of asbestos and reduce the possible harm to the public posed by the mineral’s use. The suit is being led by the states attorneys general of California and Massachusetts, Xavier Becerra and Maura Healey, with Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, and the District of Columbia joining.