| Change in Law Brings Hope to Mesothelioma Victims
LEGISLATION will be in place next month to give full compensation to former Halton dock workers devastated by asbestos-related cancer. Ministers announced last week they would amend the Compensation Bill to overturn a court ruling that would drastically cut payments. The move means the change should be law before MPs leave Westminster for their summer break next month and can be implemented from next April. Asbestos, which causes mesothelioma, was widely used as insulation and ballast in ships that docked at Runcorn. Thousands more workers were exposed to asbestos fibres at the borough's chemical works, where it was used to insulate pipes. Click here to read full story This entry was posted on Saturday, July 1st, 2006 at 10:10 am and is filed under Health Concerns, Toxic Substances.
Louis Winnick, 85, pushed low-income homeownership
MANHASSET, N.Y. Louis Winnick, an economist who helped guide the investments of the Ford Foundation and promoted low-income homeownership, has died. He was 85. Winnick died Saturday at a hospice in Manhasset, on Long Island. The cause of death was mesothelioma, a type of lung cancer that his daughter Pamela Winnick attributed to exposure to asbestos when he worked in the Brooklyn Navy Yard during World War II. Winnick was born in Romania and went to Brooklyn when he was 1. He graduated from Brooklyn College and earned a graduate degree in economics at Columbia University. He worked for the New York City Planning Commission and the Housing and Redevelopment Board before joining the Ford Foundation in 1962. He served as deputy vice president in the national affairs division from 1968 to 1986.
Jury Awards Shipyard Worker's Widow $10M
A jury awarded $10.4 million to the widow of a former shipyard worker who died of lung cancer after four years of working with materials that contained asbestos. The Newport News Circuit Court verdict in Wanda Jones' wrongful death lawsuit against three companies that manufactured the materials was handed down Wednesday, the first anniversary of the death of 60-year-old Buddy Jones. "It's a mixed day," Wanda Jones said. "At least there's been some justice and recognition for what he went through, certainly through no fault of his own. He just went to work and did what he was trained to do on the job." Her attorney, Robert Hatten, called the verdict a landmark because one-third of the judgment will come from John Crane Inc., which has refused to settle other asbestos cases.
Oregonian files asbestos suit in Madison County
An Oregon woman suffering from mesothelioma filed an asbestos suit against 63 defendants in Madison County Circuit Court July 18, alleging she was exposed to airborne asbestos fibers from family members' clothing.
Dolores Ernst claims her former husband, Robert Ernst, was employed from 1955 to 1971 as a salesman at various locations and her mother was employed as a factory worker at various locations including Chicago.
She also claims her aunt was employed as a factory worker at various locations including Chicago.
She alleges that her family members worked with and around asbestos-containing products.
"Dust created by working with and around asbestos and asbestos-containing products would permeate the person and clothing of the plaintiff's family members," the complaint states.
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