Category Archives: Mesothelioma

Workers will be hurt by reversal of EPA asbestos ban

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Donald Trump-branded asbestos being exported from Russia.

The EPA is now allowing for asbestos to be used in manufacturing  again. In fact, asbestos sold by a Russian company is actually branded with the President’s face.  What does this mean for workers? Potentially this would be bad, real bad, for many workers in manufacturing and frankly anyone who may come in contact with asbestos. 

For decades it has been common knowledge that exposure to asbestos causes Mesothelioma (a fatal cancer of the mesothelial lining in the lungs). In fact, it is estimated that each year 2,000 to 3,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year in the United States, with 40,000 annual deaths attributed to exposure to asbestos.

Here is a vivid description of how asbestos effects the body posted by a user on Reddit:

Imagine swallowing a big handful of straight pins. Now instead shrink them down until they’re microscopic. Now multiply the number you had by tens of thousands (if not millions, billions, etc. Difficult to truly get a reasonable scale here). That’s what’s happening to your lungs when you inhale asbestos fibers.

This is what you’re dealing with. You inhale it, it goes through your airways causing microtears which lead to inflammation. That’s not a huge deal until it happens on a large enough scale (such as asbestos exposure). To make things worse, it will stick into the linings of your airways, lungs, etc. It doesn’t go away. Everywhere they stick in is going to be permanently inflamed. Chronic inflammation can damage your DNA and can lead to cancer. A lot more goes into it than that, but you can safely say chronic inflammation is bad news regardless of why it’s happening.

Another way of thinking of it: asbestos is like a splinter that will never go away. Except now you have millions of them and they’re all throughout your airways.

In other words, this is a substance that literally kills people, and has been known to kill people for decades. While exposure to asbestos may provide workers’ compensation benefits and tort recovery for the exposed worker and/or his family, it would be better for all to simply not be exposed to the substance at all.

The EPA’s rule on asbestosis is the just the latest move by the agency that increases the risk of workers’ being exposed to toxic substances on the job.  While former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt was forced out over numerous charges of petty corruption and became a laughingstock and lightening rod for critics of the Trump administration, Pruitt’s anti-workplace safety agenda continues under much less controversial successor.

In a bit of positive news for workplace safety, last Thursday the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the EPA to ban the use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos. It will be interesting to see if the ban is challenged and the outcome of a potential Supreme Court case.

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

This entry was posted in Asbestos. EPA, Mesothelioma and tagged , , .

7 Tips for Healing

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I tell every client and potential client I speak with, “It is better to have a good life than a good case.” I am trying to emphasize that people need to deal with their injury or illness positively. I know this is easier said than done and a recent bout with a root canal and reminded me how hard it must be for my clients whose pain never goes away. The following brief article by my wise and thoughtful friend Len Jernigan has some suggestions on how to move ahead and hopefully regain a good life.  Hopefully these suggestions will help some of you.

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Many people are confronted with death or disability whether as a result of an accident or otherwise. We do our best to help those who were wronged by another or hurt on the job to receive compensation for their injuries. But compensation cannot cure the underlying problem, only help to make life more bearable. True healing is as much a mental as a physical process.

The following tips for healing have been adapted from the writings of Dr. Bernie Siegal, the author of many books including Love, Medicine, and MiraclesPeace, Love, and Healing; and 365 Prescriptions for the Soul. We hope you find these tips helpful in your healing process.

  1. Accept your illness: you know the illness is there, but you also know the future will be something you can handle so it’s no longer a burden.
  2. See the illness as a source of growth: our primitive nervous system tells us Continue reading
The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

This entry was posted in Mesothelioma, social security disability, Workers' Compensation and tagged , , .

World Trade Center dust and 9/11 first responders with cancer, time for U.S. Government to stop withholding benefits

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This guest post comes to us from our colleague Edgar Romano at Pasternack Tilker Ziegler Walsh Stanton & Romano, LLP in New York.

First Responders at the World Trade Center

first responders remove smoldering debris

Many courageous first responders, who saved lives at Ground Zero, have since been diagnosed with cancer, and yet the U.S. government does not pay for their treatment. This Saturday, September 10, CNN will air Terror In The Dust, an investigation by chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta into the consequences of the deadly dust produced by the World Trade Center’s collapse. Gupta speaks with 9/11 heroes and medical experts about the consequences of the carcinogen-filled dust.

A new study released earlier this week by the New York City Fire Department provides good evidence of a link between 9/11 first responders and cancer. The study showed a 32% greater incidence of cancer among firefighters who worked at Ground Zero than those who did not.

The NIOSH study concluded that the 9/11 debris did contain known carcinogens.

The U.S. government does not pay for cancer treatments of 9/11 first responders. This is because Continue reading

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

This entry was posted in 9/11, Firefighters, First Responders, Government, Mesothelioma, Police, Workers' Compensation and tagged , , , .