Jan Egerton Mesothelioma Story

Jan Egerton has been fighting Mesothelioma for eight years. Read her inspirational and brave story on http://www.jansjourney.co.uk/ , this is a truly remarkable lady. I was deeply moved by her story, her bravery and her sense of humour in dealing with this terrible disease.

Mesothelioma Action Day Friday 2nd July 2010.

New Research Could Help Provide Answers To Mesothelioma

The British Lung Foundation is working with the June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund to support new research which could lead to better treatments for mesothelioma, an incurable asbestos-related cancer that affects the tissues lining the outside of the lung and the chest wall (pleura).

Following a competitive grant application process, Dr Stefan Marciniak at the University of Cambridge was selected from a large field of excellent applicants, to be awarded the funding for his project, which will study the relationship between cell stress and mesothelioma. The grant is worth £118,839 and will run over two years.

Dr Marciniak heads a research group at the University of Cambridge. He is also a chest physician, specialising in diseases of the pleura. Through his research he hopes to gain a better understanding of why the cancer progresses. This will help scientists to create new ways of combating the disease.

The study will look at proteins which are produced by a part of the cell called the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Previous research by this group has shown that when these proteins are not made correctly, ER stress occurs and that ER stress is increased in mesothelioma cells. To investigate whether ER stress is linked to the progression of this cancer, the team will analyse tissue samples of mesothelioma. Furthermore, they hope to determine whether the amount of ER stress can predict the speed at which mesothelioma develops and the success of chemotherapy treatments.

Speaking about the research, Dr Stefan Marciniak, said: “I am thrilled to be awarded the June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund grant by the British Lung Foundation. As a chest physician I treat patients with pleural disease. I hope to be able to take my findings out of the laboratory to improve the treatments available to my patients in the future.”

Dr Noemi Eiser, Honorary Medical Director for the British Lung Foundation, said: “Someone dies from mesothelioma in the UK every five hours. Research grants, like the June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund, are so important in furthering our understanding of this cruel lung disease. This study could really make a difference to the way we treat people with the disease in the future.”

Spokesperson from June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund, Dr Kate Hill said: “The June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund is committed to supporting research that will find new ways to provide real benefits for patients. Choosing just one research study to fund from amongst the high quality applications we received was a difficult decision. We are convinced that Dr Marciniak’s work has the potential to make a major contribution to current knowledge about mesothelioma and its treatment.”

Later this year, the British Lung Foundation will launch their annual Action Mesothelioma Day on 2nd July. The day aims to raise awareness of the disease and improve the care and treatment for patients. It will also highlight the risk of asbestos exposure, particularly amongst the at-risk groups e.g. tradespeople.


For more information please contact Tova Turkel tova.turkel@blf-uk.org on 0207 688 5564 or Hayley Richardson hayley.richardson@blf-uk.org on 0207 688 5565.

CHARITY SPONSORED WALK

Charity sponsored walk on Sunday 2nd May (May Day bank holiday), from Holywell to Southern Water Plant, Pooh Castle, Prince William Parade Eastbourne, approximately 3 miles.

Meet at 10.45am - Start 11.00 am

We are raising money for Mesothelioma & Asbestos research.

Be a little angel and wear wings and a halo.

Following the walk there will be a barbecue and raffle at Eastbourne United Football Club Channelview Road.

Your support is appreciated so see you all there

Chris Morgan Story - Part Of The Health & Safety Hidden Killer Asbestos Campaign

Introduction To Asbestos 1959

The two video's show the startling difference between how asbestos is and was percieved. Marketed as a miracle mineral, little was known about the terrible effects it would have on the health of those working with it. Even when it was found to be harmful, employers & subsequent government choose to ignore the health issues. Asbestos remains the largest industrial killer of all time.

Lost Or Missing Insurance Policies Leave Asbestos Victims Without Compensation

Emily Dugan The Independent - 29/11/2009

The industry's own scheme is supposed to track down missing details that would help claims. It has failed in its task in half of the cases
Insurance companies were yesterday accused of profiteering from victims of the deadly asbestos cancer Mesothelioma. Hundreds of victims of the disease are going without compensation because many of the insurance policies meant to protect workers allegedly have been lost.
A scheme to track down insurance details of defunct companies, run by the industry itself, is failing to find almost half of the policies which would cover victims' compensation. Untraced Mesothelioma cases save the insurance industry an estimated £60m a year, leaving sufferers and their families to struggle on government benefits that are a tenth of what they would be paid in a claim.
"It's an astronomical windfall for the insurance industry," said Ian McFall, head of asbestos policy at Thompsons Solicitors. "At best, they are culpable of mismanaging their policy record archives and at worst they're guilty of profiting from incompetence."
The Government admitted yesterday that the voluntary scheme, which is overseen by the Association of British Insurers (ABI), was "not delivering" and that the figures were not acceptable. The failure to find 48 per cent of policies for Mesothelioma sufferers has been described as "utterly shameful", particularly as many of the "lost policies" date from after 1972 when it was compulsory to have employer insurance.
Lord McKenzie, Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) minister, said of the ABI: "It is not delivering what we hoped for it. Far too many people are still not able to trace their insurance policies and access the compensation they deserve. This is not acceptable and more needs to be done to improve tracing rates."
The Government said the scheme had been such a failure that it was now considering the establishment of a "more formal" tracing office and the creation of a fund of last resort to compensate those whose insurers could not be traced.
"The insurers save millions of pounds by not finding these records," said Kevin Johnson, solicitor at the asbestos specialists John Pickering and Partners. "They profit from the failure of the tracing scheme, so why would it be in their interests to commit resources to it? The ABI tracing scheme has failed. You've got insurers policing themselves and the whole thing is fundamentally flawed."
The latest review of the Tracing Service shows that 387 Mesothelioma sufferers were left without compensation in 2008 after it failed to trace the insurers of the company that exposed them to asbestos. And the problems are not confined to asbestos: overall the ABI managed to trace only 45 per cent of the policies it was asked to find, leaving more than 3,000 people without hope of compensation.
For those exposed to asbestos before 1972, when employer liability insurance was made compulsory, the likelihood of getting compensation is low. Only 39 per cent of Mesothelioma victims who tried to trace insurance policies before 1972 were successful.
Despite the difficulties in tracing policies, the DWP confirms that only one person deals with Mesothelioma cases. Lawyers say he is "swamped" with claims.
Tony Whitston of the Asbestos Victims Support Group said: "The true value of proper compensation for dying asbestos victims is a sense of justice done and the solace that they are providing for those they leave behind. Robbed of their lives through no fault of their own, insult is heaped on injury as they fall back on taxpayer-funded, nominal, government compensation while insurers walk away from their liabilities with their back pockets stuffed with cash. This is utterly shameful."
An ABI spokesman said: "We would refute totally any suggestion that insurers are looking to profit by denying people compensation. The insurance industry is committed to providing compensation to mesothelioma victims."
A postponed meeting between MPs and government lawyers to discuss compensation for sufferers of the asbestos scars, pleural plaques, will take place this week. But Michael Clapham, chair of the all-party occupational safety and health group, said; "I don't think it will take us anywhere. The lawyers will just say the law can't be overturned; what's needed is political will."

Mesothelioma Cases Increase

27/11/2009 Daily Mirror

A type of lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos has almost doubled in 10 years, figures show.

Hospitals treated 7,349 cases of deadly Mesothelioma over the past year, compared with 3,773 in 1998-9. The increase underlines fears of an "asbestos timebomb" as the disease can lie dormant for decades.

The statistics were revealed in response to a Commons question from Labour MP Stephen Hepburn. He said: "We're seeing the legacy of workers exposed to asbestos in the 1960s."

Charity Day 2009

With Your help we raise just over two thousand pounds in this year charity day, so a huge thank you to everyone for again supporting us and for remembering dad with such affection.

We are going to organise a sponsored walk in the summer from Holywell to Poo Castle (Southern Water Building Langney Point), so a nice little stroll.

Gary Maynard won the golf this year, so well done to him and to all the other golfers who took part, thanks to you all.

The 2010 charity day will be held on Saturday 25th September with the golf again at Horam Park Golf Club.

For more details go to http://www.bobtolleyfund.co.uk/

Phase II Clinical Trials Begin In Australia

The Sydney Morning Herald has reported that biotechnology company Bionomics is set to begin a Phase II clinical trial of its anti-cancer drug, BNC105, at up to 12 cancer treatment centers across Australia. The company plans to include 60 Mesothelioma patients in the drug trial.

According to the Herald report, this Phase II study comes on the heels of a successful Phase I clinical trial of Bionomics’ BNC105, which was administered to patients with advanced cancers at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the Western Hospital, Austin Health and the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Bionomics has contacted the Australasian Lung Cancer Trials Group (ALTG) and the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre (CTC) to conduct the clinical trial. No date has yet been set for the trial start.

BNC105 is described as “a novel anti-cancer agent which is both a vascular disrupting agent (VDA) and an inhibitor of cancer cell proliferation.”

For more information about the Phase II clinical trial of BNC105 for mesothelioma patients in Australia, email clinicaltrials@bionomics.com.au. You can also find out more information about ongoing clinical trials in Australia and New Zealand by visiting the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) at www.anzctr.org.au.

AsbestosTimebomb - Government's Response

Details of Petition:

“We urge the Prime Minister to work towards implementing the five campaign demands. These are: A £10 million National Centre for Asbestos Related Disease to find better treatment, alleviate suffering and find a cure for mesothelioma. Compensation reinstated for victims of “pleural plaques” – scars on lungs caused by asbestos – after it was scrapped two years ago. Fair and equal compensation for asbestos disease sufferers who can’t trace the insurers of the bosses who exposed them, through a new Employers’ Liability Insurance Bureau paid for by the insurance industry. A public register of all asbestos surveys carried out on public buildings. The Health and Safety Executive must be given the resources to meet its own targets for inspecting asbestos removal work.”"

Read the Government’s response
On 17 October 2007, the Law Lords unanimously upheld a Court of Appeal decision that the existence of pleural plaques does not constitute actionable or compensatable damage. The Court of Appeal decision marked the end of a period during which it was possible for damages to be awarded for negligent exposure to asbestos, which had led to the presence of pleural plaques. In light of representations made by individuals and organisations who strongly disagreed with the Law Lords’ decision, the Government published a consultation into the issue on 9 July 2008, seeking views on the most appropriate means of responding to the House of Lords decision on pleural plaques.

In total, the Government received 224 responses to its consultation paper, as well as reports on the medical evidence on pleural plaques prepared for the Chief Medical Officer for England and Wales and by the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council. As Jack Straw indicated in the House of Commons on 21 July 2009, the Government will give further consideration to the issue of compensation for pleural plaques before publishing a final response.

The Daily Mirror’s campaign also calls for the establishment of an Employers’ Liability Insurance Bureau, which would act as a fund of last resort for claimants with mesothelioma who are unable to trace insurers. This would operate on a comparable basis to the Motor Insurance Bureau, where there is a similar captive insurance liability market, which covers accidents involving uninsured drivers. The Government appreciates that there are strong views in favour of an Employers’ Liability Insurance Bureau and is looking at this matter closely. While the Government does want to ensure fairness to individuals who cannot trace their insurer, it is conscious that there are complexities associated with an Employers’ Liability Insurance Bureau that would require insurers to take on a cost that they did not have an opportunity to reflect in their business models. The Government is looking closely at the arguments for and against an Employers’ Liability Insurance Bureau, in the context of the wider work on tracing.

The Government understands the situation facing those individuals who struggle to trace a relevant insurance policy. While the vast majority of individuals, around 98 per cent, are able to find an employer or insurer to claim against, this does not in any way reduce the distress and difficulty faced by those who cannot. The Government also fully accepts that these individuals are disproportionately likely to be suffering from diseases such as mesothelioma and that, on top of a terrible disease, they face a lack of compensation. This is why the Government set up the Pneumoconiosis etc (Workers’ Compensation) Act 1979 and 2008 Mesothelioma Scheme.

It is, of course, also important that we continue to look for ways of improving tracing levels. The Employers’ Liability Code of Practice, a voluntary code operated by the insurance industry, was established in 1999 to ensure insurers retain, and do their best to search, those Employers’ Liability policy records that exist. While the code has led to some improvements, there are still too many people who are left without help. The Government has been working hard across Government departments and with the insurance industry on this matter. We havemade it clear to the industry that we think there is room for improvement and that the industry must do all it can to make this happen. The industry has responded positively to this challenge and the Government is currently exploring with them a number of options for improving the situation. One possibility is the introduction of an Employers’ Liability Tracing Office, which would build and maintain a database of all current and future Employers’ Liability policies and those historic policies that have been identified. A Tracing Office along these lines would be a significant benefit to many thousands of people, helping them to trace policies and receive compensation in the future.

Work with the Association of British Insurers on the possibility of a Tracing Office, and other proposals, continues and the Government hopes to be able to say more following the Summer Recess.
The Daily Mirror’s campaign also calls for the establishment of a National Centre for Asbestos-Related Disease to advance medical research in this area. The Government believes a powerful case has been made and, as Jack Straw made clear on 21 July 2009, is currently considering proposals to make the UK a global leader in research for the alleviation, prevention and cure of asbestos-related diseases. This work is on-going.

Finally, the campaign raises concerns about the level of resourcing in the Health and Safety Executive to meet targets for inspecting asbestos removal work and calls for a public register of all asbestos surveys carried out on public buildings. The Health and Safety Executive has recruited the number of inspectors agreed in ministerial targets set at the last Spending Review. However, the primary duty to manage risk rests with the duty-holder of the premises. Inspection is an intervention for checking and enforcing duty-holders to manage their responsibilities, and is not a replacement for them.

Since 2004, there has been a legal duty on those in control of buildings to manage asbestos, which the Health and Safety Executive believes is sufficient provided there is compliance. It requires duty-holders, those with maintenance and repair responsibilities for non-domestic premises, to take reasonable steps to identify the location and condition of asbestos-containing materials. The duty-holder must then use this information to make a written record and management plan to ensure that the risks of exposure to asbestos are properly managed. It is also a requirement of the legislation that this information is made available to anyone liable to disturb it, such as contractors or maintenance workers.

The meaning of ‘public buildings’, to which the Daily Mirror campaign refers, has been clarified as ‘non-domestic buildings’. Such a register would therefore cover all buildings to which the ‘duty to manage’ regulations apply, and compliance with these duties achieves the objectives of the campaign. A national register for public buildings would be costly to administer, problematic to accurately maintain and have little or no effect in reducing the health risks associated with asbestos. The Health and Safety Executive has been successful in increasing levels of awareness through targeted media campaigns, such as the recent ‘Hidden Killer’ campaign and this approach, in conjunction with a robust enforcement strategy, is the best way of reducing the number of deaths caused by exposure to asbestos.

The Health and Safety Executive is also responsible for the Asbestos Licensing Permissioning Regime. This is the primary tool for regulatory control of asbestos removal contractors carrying out high risk asbestos removal work. The work of licensed contractors is monitored, including by inspection, to ensure compliance with the requirements of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2006 and any conditions set out in the particular licence.

Old Asbestos Ads (click on picture to see enlargement)