Asbestos Disease Clinic in Libby, Montana, Must Pay $6M for False Claims
An acclaimed health clinic in a small Montana mining town known for treating asbestos patients has been ordered to pay almost $6 million in penalties and damages.
The Center for Asbestos Related Disease clinic, known as CARD, faced a federal False Claims Act case filed by BNSF Railway in 2019. In June a jury found the clinic filed 337 false claims for patients who received Medicare and other benefits that they were not qualified to accept.
U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen wrote in a July 18 order that the clinic demonstrated “a reckless disregard for proper medical procedure and the legal requirements of govern...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - August 10, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Daniel Mojica Tags: Asbestos (general) Legal Source Type: news
Mesothelioma Immunotherapy Receives Orphan Drug Designation
A novel therapy for mesothelioma has been given orphan drug designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Avenge Bio, a biotechnology company working on a new treatment platform for immunotherapy, announced it was granted the designation for its drug AVB-001 in June. It is currently enrolling patients in ongoing phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer, primary peritoneal mesothelioma and fallopian tube cancer.
AVB-001 is a new treatment being developed by Avenge Bio using its LOCOcyte immunotherapy platform to treat solid tumors. It’s a first-in-human, si...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - August 9, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Lynette Zilio Tags: Clinical Trials/Research/Emerging Treatments Source Type: news
Mesothelioma Baby Powder Lawsuit Costs J & J $18.8 Million
A jury has ruled that Johnson & Johnson must pay $18.8 million in monetary damages to a California man who developed mesothelioma after long-time exposure to the company’s talc-based baby powder.
The decision was made following a six-week trial, the first centered around talcum powder that J&J has encountered in nearly two years. This comes as the company continues to settle thousands of other similar suits.
Emory Hernandez Valadez, 24, said he had been using talc-based Johnson’s Baby Powder since childhood. Because of Valadez’s failing health, the case was cleared for trial. It was an exception to the...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - July 31, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Legal Mesothelioma Source Type: news
J & J Files Sues Researchers Over Studies of Asbestos in Talc
Johnson & Johnson is suing doctors who published studies connecting the company’s talc-based personal care products to cancer. LTL Management, a newly-formed subsidiary that absorbed J&J’s talc liability in 2021, filed the lawsuits in May and July in federal court.
The litigation is seeking monetary damages and a retraction and/or a correction over studies that claimed the products contained talc tainted with asbestos and could cause people to develop mesothelioma cancer.
Attorney Mark Lanier represented 22 women in a successful talc lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson in 2018. He recently t...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - July 27, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
J & J Sues Researchers Over Studies of Asbestos in Talc
Johnson & Johnson is suing doctors who published studies connecting the company’s talc-based personal care products to cancer. LTL Management, a newly-formed subsidiary that absorbed J&J’s talc liability in 2021, filed the lawsuits in May and July in federal court.
The litigation is seeking monetary damages and a retraction and/or a correction over studies that claimed the products contained talc tainted with asbestos and could cause people to develop mesothelioma cancer.
Attorney Mark Lanier represented 22 women in a successful talc lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson in 2018. He recently t...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - July 27, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
Johnson & Johnson Bankruptcy Talk: Q2 Earnings Soar, But Litigation Looms On Horizon
Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to pay nearly $19 million in damages by a California to a mesothelioma victim • The company has proposed a $8.9 billion settlement to end tens of thousands of cases and stop new ones from coming through • The stock declined at the news, but gained 6% at the…#johnsonjohnson # #healthcare #qaisvaluevaultkit #hernandez #erikhaas #babypowder #ltlmanagement #newjersey #chapter11 (Source: Reuters: Health)
Source: Reuters: Health - July 24, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Researchers Use Marine Bacteria to Reduce Asbestos Toxicity
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Earth and Environmental Science have found that bacteria from extreme marine environments may potentially detoxify asbestos. The process involves bioremediation, which is a branch of biotechnology that uses living organisms such as bacteria to remove contaminants or toxins from the environment.
The study found that marine microbes are a better option for asbestos bioremediation than soil bacteria or fungi that have been tested in the past. Researchers decided to try the microbes because they use inorganic compounds and can interact with several mine...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - July 18, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Asbestos (general) Asbestos Exposure Source Type: news
EPA Finalizes Comprehensive Asbestos Reporting Rule
On July 6, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced its final rule requiring comprehensive reporting on asbestos. The new directive, issued under the Toxic Substances Control Act, requires importers and manufacturers of asbestos-related products to report use and exposure information from the past four years.
The reporting rule comes out of the EPA’s Risk Evaluation of Asbestos Part 2, which is focusing on legacy asbestos and disposal. This includes details about any products containing the carcinogenic mineral and applies to all six types of asbestos. Data acquired from this new rule will help inform and g...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - July 18, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Asbestos (general) Asbestos Exposure Source Type: news
Jury Finds Libby CARD Clinic Guilty of Filing False Asbestos Health Claims
The Center for Asbestos Related Disease, located in a small Montana mining town and current asbestos Superfund site, is now entangled in fraudulent asbestos health claims costing the government more than a million dollars.
A federal jury ruled in late June that the CARD clinic in Libby, Montana, submitted 337 false asbestos claims that made patients eligible for Medicare and other benefits they should not have received.
BNSF Railway filed a lawsuit against the clinic under the federal False Claims Act in 2019, alleging CARD failed to get outside confirmation that more than 300 patients had an asbestos-related disease...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - July 11, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Asbestos Exposure Legal Source Type: news
J & J Must Stop Claiming Plaintiff Support of $8.9B Talc Settlement
A federal bankruptcy judge ordered a lawyer for Johnson & Johnson to stop making unsubstantiated claims about support for an $8.9 billion settlement for talc victims without being able to back them up.
The order came during a multiday court hearing in late June in Trenton, New Jersey. Plaintiffs’ attorneys investigated Johnson & Johnson’s public statements that claimed the company had “secured commitments from over 60,000 current claimants” in support of the settlement.
Many plaintiffs claim Johnson’s Baby Powder and other products that contained toxic asbestos in their talcum powder caused ov...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - July 10, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Walter Pacheco Tags: Asbestos Exposure Legal Source Type: news
Phase 3 Keytruda, Chemotherapy Mesothelioma Trial Shows Promising Results
Pharmaceutical company Merck says use of its immunotherapy drug Keytruda in conjunction with chemotherapy increases the survival rate for people with advanced pleural mesothelioma, according to the latest results of a phase 3 clinical trial.
The results were announced in June at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. They showed Merck’s use of the anti-PD-1 treatment combined with chemotherapy reduced the patient’s risk of death by 21%.
Clinical trial results of the multimodal treatment using immunotherapy and chemo also showed a median overall survival of 17.3 months in comparison...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - June 26, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Clinical Trials/Research/Emerging Treatments Mesothelioma Source Type: news
UK Parliament, Riddled With Asbestos, Faces Restoration Delays
Lawmakers say that Britain’s Palace of Westminster is at risk of demolition because the iconic and historic structure needs several costly repairs, including asbestos removal.
Nearly 120 workers and other people inside the palace were potentially exposed to asbestos during a 2022 renovation in the speaker’s residential space. In addition to asbestos and its cancer risks, the building is rife with leaks and is crumbling in areas.
Some are worried the entire structure, in which both houses of Parliament meet, is at risk in the event of a catastrophic incident. A report from the House of Commons Public Accounts Comm...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - May 25, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Asbestos Exposure Mesothelioma Source Type: news
Canadian Government Creates New Asbestos Abatement Rules
Beginning in January 2024, the Canadian province of British Columbia will be the first in that country to require asbestos abatement companies to have government-issued licenses to work.
Canadian workers’ compensation statutory agency WorkSafeBC is developing requirements companies must meet to become fully licensed in the safe removal of asbestos.
Canada banned asbestos in 2018, but many of its older buildings erected before the 1980s may still contain the toxic mineral. Unions have been pushing for strict in-person training instruction for abatement workers. The new qualifications are likely to set the bar and m...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - May 25, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Asbestos Exposure Mesothelioma Source Type: news
CARD Clinic in Libby Designated as Center of Excellence
Lawmakers in Montana have declared the Center for Asbestos Related Diseases, also known as the CARD Clinic, as a Center of Excellence.
The Montana House of Representatives passed a resolution in May 2023 recognizing the clinic’s importance. Lawmakers say the clinic based in Libby, Montana, played a significant role in an asbestos contamination Superfund that began receiving national attention in 1999.
CARD Clinic, which opened its doors in 2000, includes a staff of asbestos disease specialists such as researchers, nurses, doctors and respiratory therapists. It is dedicated to the diagnosis and long-term care of Lib...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - May 18, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Amy Edel Tags: Asbestos Exposure Mesothelioma Treatment Source Type: news
Australian Asbestos Ghost Town Cemetery Raises Questions
Western Australia’s most notorious ghost town known for widespread asbestos contamination and mesothelioma has been razed. But loved ones wonder how they can visit family and friends buried in the town’s cemetery.
Demolition of the abandoned town of Wittenoom had begun in May after a brush fire in late 2022 destroyed the town’s few remaining structures. Prior to its demolition, authorities had blocked off roads and other access routes to keep curious onlookers from visiting the toxic town.
Despite Wittenoom being wiped off the map, officials said the town’s cemetery wouldn’t be touched. But they haven’t e...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - May 17, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Asbestos Exposure Mesothelioma Source Type: news
