The occupational healthcare program embodied in the recently enacted legislation has the potential for being the most extensive, effective and innovated system ever enacted for delivering medical care to injured workers.

 A recent report in Mother Jones reveals that soldiers, exposed to the dust and fumes from burn pits, coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan, are reporting illness at record numbers.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is soliciting suggestions and comments concerning workplace safety. OSHA's concern is that, "No one should have to be injured or killed for a paycheck."

A vaccine has been demonstrated as safe for potential use against mesothelioma. The research, conducted by Netherlands scientists was reported in an advance publication of  the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care.

Legal Talk Network Host and Attorney Alan S. Pierce welcomes Jon L. Gelman to discuss health care and workers’ compensation and the Occupational Disease Pilot Program:

The Official Committee of Asbestos Personal Injury Claimants (OCAPIC) has endorsed the Flintkote  Amended Joint Plan for Reorganization.

The St. Paul Travelers Companies, Inc. announced that it has executed an agreement resolving substantially all common law asbestos-related direct actions pending against its Travelers Property Casualty Corp. subsidiaries ("Travelers"). These actions allege, among other things, a general, non-statutory duty to disclose to the public the hazards of asbestos. The settlement, if it receives court approval, would also bar similar future direct actions against Travelers. 

PPG Industries (Pittsburg Corning Corp.) and its insurers plan to pay out millions of dollars to victims of asbestos disease. In a bankruptcy reorganization plan filed with the Court for its approval, it was announced that PPG intended to pay out $825 Million in cash over the next 15 years.

 "Sufficient evidence is now available to show that asbestos also causes cancer of the larynx and of the ovary."

The present economic downturn has been compared to the Great Depression of the 1930’s or the recession of the 1980’s. The factors that existed during ...

Our modern electronic world has many benefits and conveniences, but the free flow of information also creates privacy concerns. In the realm of health care, privacy protections are needed to preserve patients’ dignity and prevent harms such as discrimination. But such protections can also have unintended consequences for health care, and the health research that is vital for making medical advances. More than 10 years ago Congress called for a set of federal standards, now known as the HIPAA Privacy Rule, to protect the privacy of personally identifiable health information while still allowing the flow of information needed to promote high-quality health care.

On January 1, 2009 we relocated to newer and more modern office space.

The US Supreme Court has decided to review a decision interpreting a 1986 Bankruptcy confirmation plan order. The order formed the basis of a settlement by Travelers Insurance Company to resolve claims against it for conspiracy in concealing information about the dangers of asbestos.
 

Asbestos exposure continues to have high rates of death in the US.

The Canadian delegation to the Rotterdam Convention was able to lobby effectively to prohibit a ban on asbestos for another two years. The Canadian mines will continue to churn out the killer fiber and ship it to unsuspecting countries as a result of an effective major lobbying effort of the Canadians to sway the votes of India, Pakistan, Vietnam and the Philippines.

 At a recent hearing of the US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Senator Max Baucus presented a report revealing that the Federal government failed to take the appropriate action to declare Libby, Montana a public health emergency in 2002. The disregard of the federal government led to a lack of funding and manpower in cleaning up the asbestos contamination according to the Senator.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has established a resource on the Internet that provides a direct link to resources available concerning mesothelioma: treatment, prevention, genetics, causes, clinical trials, literature, statistics and research and related information.

The US Geological Survey has reported that NJ ranks 2nd highest in the number of naturally occurring asbestos sites (mines) in the Eastern US.

A new set of drugs has been reported responsive in treating mesothelioma, a tumor caused by exposure to asbestos fiber. The British Journal of Cancer has reported that cisplatin and vinorelbine effective in the treatment of mesothelioma.

Almost 45 years following the historic 1964 NY Academy of Medicine conference in New York experts continue to memorialize the history of asbestos related disease. Now enters, defense expert John E. Craighead, who has written his viewpoint on the subject.