Archive for February, 2012

Engineer Creates ‘Frankenkindle’ for Sister Suffering from Cerebral Palsy

An electrical engineer from California has taken utilized his technical know-how and created a “FrankenKindle” to help his sister who suffers from cerebral palsy. Using a “hacked” Kindle eBook reader, six large buttons taken from a V.Reader childrens’ eBook device, a few planks of wood, and an array of wiring and circuitry, Glenn from Santa Cruz, [...]

Asbestos Consumption Increase Leads to ADAO Call for Import Ban

The Co-Founder, President & CEO of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization is urging the government to take action and ban the importation of asbestos following the release of a report that documents a spike in U.S. asbestos consumption during the first half of 2011. Linda Reinstein, who founded the ADAO after her husband became sick [...]

Asbestos Exposure Led to the Death of a Woman in England

More than 25 years after leaving her job as a machinist at a factory in England, a woman has died from mesothelioma that ws likely caused by asbestos exposure. According to the This Is Lincolnshire, 47-year-old Larraine Kirk developed mesothelioma 25 years after she worked as a machinist in a factory between 1980 and 1984. [...]

Landfill Contaminated With Asbestos

Elbert County in Denver, CO has a unique asbestos abatementproject to tackle – that of a public landfill and trash compactor site. The site has historically been used to dispose of roofing and building materials, much of which was from before the mid 1970’s when buildings were routinely constructed with an abundance of asbestos. The [...]

Mesothelioma Clinical Trials Overview Series Part One

Mesothelioma in any stage is challenging to treat because it tends to spread from the mesothelial lining along nearby surfaces, nerves, and blood vessels. This makes it very difficult, except in rare situations, to completely get rid of it with surgery and chemotherapyor radiation therapy. Additional treatment options are being developed over time through the [...]

Mesothelioma Clinical Trials Overview Series Part Two

Phase 0 mesothelioma clinical trials are designed to determine if and how a new mesothelioma drug might work in a human.Mesothelioma patients are currently not eligible to enroll in phase 0 studies, but they may be in the near future. Phase 0 studies for mesothelioma often use only a few small doses of the new [...]

Mesothelioma Clinical Trials: Part Three

Phase III clinical trials typically enroll a large number of patients. These studies are often done in many different locations at the same time. They are likely to be offered by community-based oncologists. Typically, drug treatments that have been proven relatively safe in phase I and that have been found to work against mesothelioma in [...]

Missouri Asbestos Lawsuit Settles for Record Amount

In what was described as the largest asbestos settlement in the history of Missouri, the family of a deceased Jackson County Courthouse employee has settled her asbestos lawsuit for $10 million. The lawsuit was filed by Nancy Lopez against the U.S. Engineering Co. over the company’s failure to take proper precautions to protect courthouse workers [...]

Occupational Exposure to Asbestos in VA Power Plant

When repairs were needed on an old nuclear power plant in Surry, VA, contract workers were called in to do the work. Hundreds of workers were hired including electricians, pipe fitters, generallaborers and other contractors from eight different companies. When a dozen workers were caught in a cloud of asbestos after cutting some old pipe, [...]

Relative of Asbestos Mine Founder Opposes Jeffrey Mine Funding

The great-great niece of the founder of the first asbestos mine to ever open in Canada is speaking out against the continued production of asbestos at the Jeffry Mine in Quebec. Susan Henry is the descendant of Andrew Stuart Johnson, who founded the Johnson Mine Company in Thetford Mines in 1878. However, despite her heritage, [...]