Curing Mesothelioma: Who Will Take The Initiative?

Roger G. Worthington
Founding Director
MARF
As Presented at the First International Symposium on Malignant Mesothelioma
Las Vegas, Nevada
October 14, 2004

Mesothelioma does not respect the color of your collar, your rank, or your title. It doesn't care where you live, how fit you are, how much money you have, or whether you've done good deeds.

When I met Congressman Bruce Vento four years ago, the tumors had already taken his lung, pleura and diaphragm, and he was undergoing chemotherapy. His body was failing, but his will to help others remained strong. He knew that the power players-the government, the pharmaceuticals, the medical community, the trial lawyers and former asbestos companies-collectively had acquired great knowledge about mesothelioma over the last 50 years. So four years ago, Congressman Vento delivered a speech, an impassioned plea to the players to unite against the cancer which ultimately took his life.

Rather than fixing blame, Congressman Vento said we should try fixing the problem-the underlying public health problem. Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, another great American taken by mesothelioma, was known for using "Z-grams" to inspire his sailors. This morning, I'm going to relay some "V-grams" from Congressman Vento with the hope that you too will be inspired to help eradicate mesothelioma.

V-Gram No.1 to the U.S. Government: "Please fund mesothelioma research at a level proportionate to other cancers." {Slide 2}

Congressman Vento knew in 2000 that precious little public money was being invested in medical research to expand treatment options. Has the lack of investment changed?

The good news is our government continues to wage war against cancer. In the past few years, the budgets for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Cancer Institute (NCI) have steadily increased. In 2004, the NIH budget jumped to $27.8 billion {Slide 3}, of which roughly $4.7 billion was allotted to the NCI for research grants, cancer prevention, intramural research and Specialized Programs of Research Excellence or SPOREs. The SPORE program is designed to translate novel ideas from basic science into clinical therapies that potentially reduce cancer incidence and mortality, improve survival, and improve the quality of life. SPOREs have the power to set research priorities and target specific cancers.

As you can see {Slide 4}, since 2000-when Bruce Vento was diagnosed-through 2003, the budget for AIDS and the 17 types of cancer which the NCI tracks and targets has increased fairly dramatically. The overall investment jumped up as well {from $3.3 billion to $4.6 billion}. The good news is that public money is available.

The bad news is that precious little of that pile of public money has been invested in basic and clinical research for mesothelioma {Slide 5}. True, from 2000 to 2003, the amount spent on mesothelioma research almost doubled, but we were starting from what amounts to a pittance, when compared with the other cancers. Slide No. 5 lists the five most valuable grants which mention "mesothelioma," and note that two of the five largest grants appear to address the controversial question whether the SV40 monkey virus causes mesothelioma. MARF's bylaws prevent the funding of any grant of which causation is the principle focus.

Let's put these numbers into perspective {Slide 6}. In 2003, the most recent date for which data is readily available, far and away the largest slice of the NCI pie has gone into breast cancer ($564 million), prostate cancer ($311 million) and colorectal cancer ($267 million). On the intuitive premise that there is a positive relationship between the mortality statistics, the dollars budget and overarching public health priorities, I did some rough calculations. First, I found a cancer whose mortality data parallels mesothelioma: cervical cancer, which afflicts about 4,100 Americans yearly. I found that while we spent $17,340 per cervical cancer case, we invested only about $933 per mesothelioma case -- and that's assuming 3,000 deaths a year for the latter, a number which we can't really cite reliably since we do not have in this country a mesothelioma disease registry.

Now, we all know that every dollar spent on curing any cancer is a dollar well spent. That mesothelioma research has been historically under-funded comes as no surprise, but what's astonishing is the dramatic vastness of that disparity.

Nor is it encouraging to learn that the NCI does not regard mesothelioma as a research priority. I checked whether the NCI -- or any other government entity -- was soliciting research grants for mesothelioma. It turns out that the only entity out there setting mesothelioma research as any sort of priority is MARF. The NCI does not even include mesothelioma within their inventory of 20 cancers. {Slide 7}

It does not have to be this way. The NIH has boldly taken the initiative to fund research for other consumer product-related tumors and preventable diseases. Take AIDS, for example. In 1986, the disease was thought to be uniformly fatal. Fast forward about 18 years and some $29 billion later and what was once a death sentence is now a treatable disease. This is a testament to the life-saving benefits of a spirited and focused government-led campaign to wipe out a fatal disease. {Slide 8}

Tobacco is another example. Despite the hot button issues spawned by tobacco litigation (e.g., When did who know what about smoking and cancer? Who's at fault? Who must pay? How much?), the NCI has invested millions in specific tobacco-cancer initiatives since the early 1990s. In 2004, well after the big $246 billion tobacco settlement, the NCI set aside $552 million for research on prevention, treatment and detection of tobacco-related cancers, plus another $180 million for youth-targeted tobacco-use prevention programs. What the government can do to combat tobacco-cancer, it can also do for asbestos-cancer. {Slide 9}

One can argue that the government has a duty to fund mesothelioma research. A whopping 32% of all mesothelioma patients diagnosed in America served in the U.S. Navy or worked in U.S. Navy shipyards. 32%! Go back in time. Historically, millions of Americans have served in the Navy or worked in Navy shipyards since WWII. In 1980, the American Insurance Association in an unpublished risk analysis report studied the number of deaths due to mesothelioma and other asbestos diseases. They focused on shipyard workers only. They estimated that from 1941 to 1945 (during WWII), about 4.5 million U.S. workers were exposed to asbestos. Assuming a 30-40 year latency period, the insurance companies projected that a total of 410,000 of those exposed shipyard workers were expected to die from lung cancer or mesothelioma.

To put that number in perspective, during WW II, the number of U.S. soldiers who died in combat was 292,131. {Slide 10} For Navy sailors and shipyard workers, clearly the war didn't end on V-Day.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) has medical treatment programs for veterans exposed to Agent Orange, Gulf War toxins and radiation-induced cancers from nuclear bomb testing. It has a medical program for POWs. But neither the DVA, nor the Department of Defense (DOD), has any program for the detection, treatment or cure of mesothelioma. We can and we must do better.

Does Congress mandate medical research programs for any cancer? Yes. Surprisingly, Congress for years has tagged on to DOD appropriations bills a number of Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs. We generally don't think of breast cancer or prostate cancer as service-connected injuries or illnesses, but through 2003, Congress has directly mandated and funded programs for these cancers to the tune of $1.17 billion and $341 million, respectively. President Bush recently signed into law the FY 2005 Defense Appropriation Act, which continued to fund breast, prostate and ovarian cancer research, among others ($150M, $85M and $10M, respectively). Through the years, unfortunately, Congress has yet to specifically allocate any funding for mesothelioma.

For Navy vets who put their lives on the line to protect this country, the government's apathy is a bitter pill to swallow. I'm reminded of a career Navy officer, Don Thorp, who served under Admiral Zumwalt during the Vietnam War. A few years after he had life-sustaining surgery at UCLA, Don's tumors came back. When his doctor prescribed Interferon, which had been shown to effectively retard tumor growth for other MM patients, Don asked his local VA in Idaho for help. They refused to fill the order. Shortly thereafter, Don Thorp, who had railed against his government for "not solving the asbestos-cancer menace," which in his words, had "already taken too many good men and women down," himself joined the legions of Navy heroes taken by "this damn tumor." {Slide 12}

Navy veterans, like all mesothelioma patients, don't want lip service. They don't want sanctimonious sympathy or flag-waving speeches. They want what they gave: commitment, action, security, respect and results.

Before setting out to cure a disease, one must first acknowledge it exists. In 2003, a Congressman from Pennsylvania proposed a "National Mesothelioma Awareness Day." (H.Con.Res. 317). The resolution was intended to make the public aware of a number of disturbing facts about the scale and scope of the epidemic. The recitals included statements we all know to be true, such as: one month of exposure can cause mesothelioma 30 years later; asbestos was used in "virtually all" homes and schools built before 1975; treatments were inadequate, the survival rates were intolerably grim; and the rescue workers at Ground Zero were at an increased risk. Non-partisan, fairly undisputable facts. A slam dunk? No. The bill has been bottled up in committee for the past 11 months.

You may ask: Why would a congressman from Pennsylvania push this tragically obscure agenda? The answer is MARF. In particular, two ladies on MARF's Family Advocacy Board, both of whom lost their husbands to this disease. MARFites Nancy Buszinski and Alice Steigerwald recently persuaded the City of Pittsburgh to declare a Mesothelioma Awareness Day. This is the first time in U.S. history any government at any level has recognized Mesothelioma as a public health priority. Soon after, the Governor of Pennsylvania issued a resolution recognizing Mesothelioma Awareness Day. This is how revolutions are won, one city at a time.

V-Gram No. 2 to Asbestos Litigation Defendants: "Now it's time to clean up the mess."

Vento wanted what we all want: to rise above the blame-game mentality, eliminate the shameful waste, and aim our guns at the common enemy. {Slide 14} The history of asbestos litigation is not inspiring. The disease has been known since the 1940's. The first lawsuits were filed in the 1960's. Since the dawn of the new century, 40 companies have sought Chapter 11 reorganization. It's been estimated that by 2003, $70 billion has changed hands. Of that astronomical transfer of money, less than half has trickled down to the victims.

Wow. More than half of the billions have gone to lawyers and their courtroom science-causation experts, who themselves have siphoned away millions of dollars persuading juries that asbestos is as toxic or plutonium or benign as mother's milk, depending on who's buttering their bread. The popular press wants us to believe that most of the money was gobbled up by trial lawyers. However, a study backed by a reputable asbestos claims adjuster shows that of every dollar spent in asbestos litigation, 37 cents goes to the defense teams, 27 cents to the plaintiff's lawyers, and the rest goes to the victim-36 cents. {Slide 15}. Another study shows that after fees and costs, only 40% of the money consumed by asbestos litigation winds up in the victim's pocket. Either way, from a public health crisis point of view, this is no way to stifle an epidemic or clean up a toxic mess.

The meter doesn't stop running if the company goes into Chapter 11. How much of the debtor's assets are carved up by the bankruptcy lawyers, bean counters and bankers? The figures are not readily available. You have to pour through piles of SEC filings. Just for the six debtors we looked at-and there about 40 cases pending-the professionals are making out very well. {Slide 16} Although none of these six debtors are legally obligated to clean up their mess or fund medical research, they together will spend about $1.3 billion for the freedom to walk away from their asbestos liabilities. $1.3 billion for fees and costs alone. Just for six debtors, not all 40. You can see why Fortune Magazine calls this "the great money barbeque."

At the end of the estimated 5 to 6 years it takes for an asbestos debtor to emerge from the Chapter 11 liability acid wash, what will be left for the claimants? Again, I didn't look at the estimated value of all 40 Chapter 11 debtors. But if you add up the projected value of the respective asbestos victims' settlement trust funds, you're looking at around $20 billion. {Slide 17} David Austern of the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust recently forecasted the aggregate present value of all pending reorganizations at $65 billion.

As things stand now, the debtors have no plans to set aside a dime of the trust money for medical research to detect, prevent, treat or cure mesothelioma.

In fact, at least one debtor, Owens Corning (OCF), flat out failed to honor its promise to help fund medical research for mesothelioma. In 1999, OCF agreed to serve on MARF's Board of Directors. They pledged $1 million to MARF's peer-reviewed research grant system. To our knowledge, at that time, no other asbestos defendant had ever donated a nickel to curing mesothelioma. We cheered. OCF told us funding research was a "sound business decision." We agreed. But after sending us their first installment, OCF filed for Chapter 11 protection. The move provided bankruptcy lawyers with a fat cash cow to feast on for next the 5 to 6 years (estimated fees around $350 million), but left MARF with an unsecured I.O.U. of $900,000. {Slide 18}

Now that's sad on many fronts, but what hurts most is the knowledge that OCF could easily pay their debt to MARF. OCF's business continues to be strong, so strong that they can afford to sponsor a NASCAR race car, which costs between $6 million and $18 million a season. {Slide 18}

Aside from the projected billions and billions that will be available when the 40 asbestos debtors walk away from the Chapter 11 courts, it comes as no surprise that the solvent defendants remaining have a good deal of money. The RAND think tank estimates that over 6,000 companies have been sued in asbestos litigation. If you look at the numbers for only 12 of the current corporate defendants, the combined stockholder's equity is $278 billion and the market capitalization is $666 billion. {Slide 19} Like Sam Rayburn used to say, "A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon we're talking about real money."

We all know that industry has always had the wallet, now it's simply a question of whether they have the will, and the heart.

Bruce Vento was an advocate in the truest sense. An advocate is one who defends, comforts, and pleads the cause of another. Congressman Vento's constituents' priorities became his priorities. When he was stricken with mesothelioma, Bruce Vento asked trial lawyers to take up the chief priority of cancer patients as their own: more and better life.

Have we? Have trial lawyers added "getting client more life" to our traditionally narrow role as zealous compensation-getters? Have defense lawyers urged their corporate clients to fess up, do the right thing, put people over profits and clean up their mess? Has anyone really tried to use the tort system to make a mesothelioma patient "whole"-that is, terminal cancer free? Or make the parties who opened the asbestos Pandora's Box accountable for all of the social costs? Let's take a look.

First, just how well have the lawyers done? Using the Connecticut Valley Claims model, again assuming that $70 billion has changed hands, through 2003 defense lawyers have gobbled up about $26 billion in fees and costs. Plaintiffs' lawyers took home about $17 billion. The grand total was roughly $42.8 billion. That's a whole lot of billable hours and contingency fees, with no guarantees that any of it will actually wind up preventing or treating the disease. Looking forward, RAND and others project another $100 billion "wealth transfer" by 2015. That means another $64 billion in lawyer fees and costs.

MARF's fundraising mantra is that stakeholders should consider donating at a level commensurate with their knowledge of the epidemic, their compassion for the injured, and their wealth. Since 2000, 40% of MARF's coffers have come from trial lawyers, 31% from mesothelioma patients, 21% from family and friends, and 6% from the corporate defendants. The defense lawyers have yet to step up with a single donation. Not a penny. I don't think anyone will disagree that we can all do much, much better. We can and we must.

Since we posted a slide on the wealth of the top 12 corporate defendants, I'll do the same for the top asbestos trial lawyers. Lawyers aren't obligated to report their wealth publicly, so we'll have to rely on the accuracy of the scribes over at Forbes Magazine. {Slide 22} These numbers were reported in 2001, well before Mr. Joe Rice and Mr. Ron Motley earned their billion-dollar fees from the big tobacco settlement. Of all those big shooters, only one has donated to MARF. Of the 11 top corporate defendants, five (5) have donated to MARF (to be sure, in amounts which represent a tiny fraction of their wealth).

To put these numbers in perspective, one of MARF's original donors, Barbara Hoffacker, who lost her husband in 2001 to mesothelioma, pledged her entire six-figure settlement to MARF. She was not a wealthy widow. But she is giving every penny.

V-Gram No. 4 to Drug Companies: "Solving Meso's mysteries can help cure other cancers."

Vento knew that few drug companies would be willing to invest millions of dollars in a drug for a cancer that afflicts "only" 3,000 to 4,000 Americans yearly. {Slide 23} However, Bruce was also a high school science teacher, and he understood that his tumor was a microcosm of other solid tumors. He knew that if we could find the Achilles heel for mesothelioma, that discovery could lead to cures and treatments for other cancers.

Was Vento right? Look at Eli Lilly's experience with Alimta, the new chemotherapy recently approved by the FDA as a frontline therapy for non-resectable mesothelioma patients. Since 1983, Lilly invested about $1 billion in bringing Alimta to market-a drug which extends the median survival to 30% over conventional cancer drugs {which translates into about three more months' survival on average}. {Slide 24} Did Lilly invest the $1 billion to target a cancer that strikes around 3,000 Americans yearly? Probably not, as just recently the FDA approved Alimta as a second-line therapy for Non Small Cell Lung Cancer, which afflicts over 100,000 every year. And now Lilly is seeking approval for pancreatic, colon and breast cancer. Lilly is forecasting $1 billion in sales per year over the next few years, and more to come, which I'm sure makes a lot of their stockholders happy.

Fighting and winning wars is something we expect our government to do. Most surveys show that Americans put fear of cancer over fear of terrorism. Nevertheless, our country is today spending about $6.5 billion a month to wage war in Iraq, which is almost $2 billion more than we allocate to the NCI to research all forms of cancer for an entire year (i.e., $4.7 billion).

Whether the drug companies will invest in preventive drugs or vaccines for mesothelioma remains an open question. It takes about 15 years and a war chest of about a billion dollars to bring a drug to market. I'll leave it to the experts to answer the question whether any drug companies will attempt to get FDA approval for Cox II inhibitors, like Celebrex, or statin drugs, like Lipitor and Lovastatin, as "mesothelioma-prevention drugs."

V-Gram No. 5 to MARF: Meso "patients need advocates in the labs and in Congress." {Slide 25}

Vento rallied MARF in its first year of business to get busy in the corridors of power. How have we done? MARF continues to be the only private or public entity that solicits and funds quality research grants aimed at early detection, targeting growth factors, novel therapies (e.g., gene therapy, immunotherapy, anti-angiogenics, etc.), biomarkers and pain management. We've funded 15 grants for a total of $1.3 million. {Slide 25}

We've also worked with Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) on the Ban Asbestos in America Act (SB 1125). At the Senator's request, MARF proposed a $140 million Mesothelioma Research & Treatment Program. The program would fund 10 centers of merit at $2.5 million per year for five years, establish the Elmo Zumwalt Mesothelioma Registry and the Bruce Vento Tissue Bank, and fund medical training, public education, a web-based medical clearinghouse, and an annual symposium. Senator Murray happily incorporated MARF's novel program into the bill, but sadly, the bill has yet to attract a Republican co-sponsor. So, while asbestos products continue to pour across the Canadian border, and every day about ten Americans are told they have "incurable" mesothelioma, the legislative remedy that would help fix the problem sits all but forgotten in committee.

MARF proposed the same plan to Senators Orrin Hatch and Bill Frist in connection with the FAIR Act of 2004 (SB 2290), which as many of you know would replace the civil tort system with a compensation trust fund valued anywhere between $140 and $156 billion. Although Sen. Hatch's office advised that the proposal made sense, was inexpensive, and actually "sweetened" an otherwise contentious bill, he and Dr. Frist formally rejected most of our proposal, incorporating only about $50 million for 10 centers of excellence over five years. They did acknowledge that Navy veterans have "suffered excessively" from the war-related disease. In any case, the trust fund bill is probably dead for the foreseeable future.

The need to cure mesothelioma has always been drowned out by rancorous compensation issues. Which begs the question: what does it take for Congress to propose, debate, and vote on a stand-alone bill that creates and funds a mesothelioma research and treatment program? Here's a disease that has taken war heroes, celebrities, rock stars, judges, doctors, teenagers who got sick by hugging their fathers, and young men who got sick by going to work. The tumor doesn't respect political party affiliations or bank accounts.

In pondering this question, I recently came across two newspaper articles that intrigued me. One reported that the CDC recently funded the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation $500,000 per year for three years. The foundation is to use the money to increase awareness of blood cancer treatment programs. The CDC had the money thanks to the work of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), who sponsored a bill signed by President Bush that awarded about $5 million to the CDC for Multiple Myeloma Research. Senator Hutchison's brother has multiple myeloma.

The second article I stumbled upon was about the Garret Smith Memorial Act (2004). The bill, yet to be signed into law, authorizes $82 million for the funding of grants to local governments for the development of mental health programs for the early detection, prevention and treatment of potentially suicidal youngsters. The bill was sponsored by Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR), whose son, Garrett, took his own life while attending college at Brigham Young University.

The common thread: both bills were designed to prevent, detect and treat public health problems most of us don't think about, and both were spearheaded by someone in power whose own life had been touched by tragedy. It makes me wonder. When Congressman Vento died from mesothelioma, the two senators from Minnesota, Mark Dayton and Paul Wellstone, stood next to Bruce's widow, Susan Vento, at a press conference in Washington, D.C. Both Senators spoke passionately about the need to support the Ban Asbestos Act. Not long thereafter, Paul Wellstone, who publicly embraced Bruce Vento as his mentor, suddenly and tragically died in a plane crash.

When that plane went down, this country not only lost another great public servant, we also lost an advocate who likely would've worked with MARF to establish a mesothelioma research and treatment program. Wellstone would've taken up Vento's fight as his own.

More than anything, Vento was not about making speeches. He was a fixer of problems. In that spirit, MARF proposes the following solutions. {Slide 27}

First, the trustees of the dozens of bankruptcy trusts out there need to allocate a percentage of the victim's settlement trust to medical research. A trustee owes a duty of good faith, care and loyalty to the trust beneficiaries-these are people, not numbers. When the asbestos debtor scrapes the barnacles of asbestos liability off its hull, it will set sail full steam ahead in the open seas of the marketplace. But meanwhile there will still be 27 million Americans waking up in the morning with occupational-exposure levels of asbestos fibers in their lungs. There will still be millions of homes, churches and schools contaminated with asbestos. Paying out compensation does not necessarily resolve the underlying public health crisis. By setting aside debtor money to prevent, detect, treat and cure the cancer, money that can be used to develop vaccines, biomarkers, and novel treatments, the trustees will be serving present claimants suffering from mesothelioma, and hopefully prevent future claimants, which of course will help preserve the corpus of the trust.

The cash pool is deep, and it's wide. There are 40 asbestos trusts in the making. The projected value of only 10 of those trusts will approach $20 billion dollars. Manville projects an aggregate value of $65 billion for all of the currently pending chapter II reorganizations. If we set aside only 1% of the value of the overall compensation pool, there would be $650 million available to launch a full-scale assault on the beast. Can you imagine the strides we can make with $650 million? We've always heard that mesothelioma is "incurable." How can we conclude that when we have never even seriously tried to cure or treat it? To tame this beast, it's going to take passion, smarts, will and money. We've got the first three covered. With $655 million, we'd now have the weapons we need to bring this tumor to its knees.

Second, Congress must establish a Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program for Mesothelioma. The program would be modeled after the CDMRPs for breast cancer ($1.3 billion from 1992 to 2002) and prostate cancer ($395 million from 1997 to 2002). If the DOD is the appropriate agency to manage breast and prostate cancer research, then certainly it can be counted on to administer a program that will directly benefit Navy veterans who have suffered excessively from this war-related cancer.

Third, Congress must consider a cancer tax on the sale of asbestos-containing products (ACPs). In 2002, 6,805 metric tons of asbestos in various products were sold in the U.S., mainly roofing, friction and gasket materials (down from 9,000 metric tons in 1995). All of the asbestos was exported from our neighbor to the North, Canada. Senator Murray's office estimates that the value of all ACPs sold in the U.S. approaches $290 million. MARF believes that all asbestos products should be banned, but absent a ban, we should at the very least impose a 25% asbestos-cancer tax (just as it does for cigarettes). An asbestos-cancer tax would yield revenues of about $72.5 million a year, all of which should be used to fund a medical program. {Slide 28}

Fourth, if Congress ever does approve a Federal asbestos compensation trust fund, it must contain funding for a mesothelioma medical program. The value of any such trust will of course be hotly debated. I don't think any party, however, would seriously object to MARF's $140 million proposal. In the words of a lawyer in Senator Hatch's office, "$140 million in a 140 billion dollar bill is nothing."

Fifth, the NCI needs to fund mesothelioma research proportionate to research programs for other cancers. The NCI has funded research for cervical cancer the last several years for on average about $67 million per year. In the same period, it's funded mesothelioma research on average about $2 million per year. Both cancers have similar mortality statistics (about 4,000 deaths per year). Moreover, we urge the appointment of a Mesothelioma Czar who can set the roadmap initiatives, recruit the best talent, and target the most promising therapies.

Sixth, Congress should consider imposing a surcharge on Asbestos injury settlements and punitive damage awards. Many states already require a portion of any punitive damage award to be paid into a crime victims' relief fund. We recently polled a number of mesothelioma patients on the question of whether they would be willing to pay a percentage of the gross amount of their settlement or jury award into a medical trust fund. Virtually everybody agree to contribute, some as high as 50%! Almost 80% agreed that the bankruptcy trusts should set aside funds for medical research and the majority pegged the amount at around 20% of the corpus. One proviso was that the patients wanted the lawyers for both sides to contribute their pro rata share.

As one mesothelioma patient put it-a doctor from North Carolina who has undergone an EPP- "I'm sure the stress levels of the lawyers are high, but we victims do the overwhelming majority of the suffering."

In 2001, the manufacturers and insurance carriers reportedly paid out $1.7 billion in litigation costs and compensation. A 2% surcharge on that amount would yield revenue of $34 million, all of which can be deposited in a mesothelioma medical research and relief trust fund, managed by a Mesothelioma Czar. With yearly revenues of $30 to $35 million from the manufacturers and their insurers, the government would not have to foot the bill, even though it certainly should contribute its share. By the way, I nominate Dr. Harvey Pass to be our first Czar (he'd look great in a Russian crown and ermine cape).

Seventh, we must continue to press everyone with a financial, medical or personal interest to donate to research commensurate with their knowledge of the epidemic, their compassion and their wealth. Thanks to the generosity of a fellowship of plaintiffs; a good number of trial lawyers; an army of friends and families; and a handful of responsible manufacturers, MARF has funded $1.3 million in treatment-oriented medical research. This year we have 31 grants under review.

As Warren Zevon would have said it: "Send lawyers, guns and money," the asbestos-cancer epidemic has hit the fan." We've got the lawyers. All they need to do is make their clients' fight for more life their own. We've got the guns-some of the best medical talent in the world, a small but growing cadre of incredibly optimistic doctors and scientists who are fully committed to reversing the apathy and defeatism. And the money is out there. Lots of it. When we put all these resources together, when we roll up our sleeves and declare war on the common enemy, only then can we finally stuff this nasty tumor back into its hole.

A final Vento-Gram to all the patients. "Every single day a patient lives, hope remains that a cure can be found. If we know that our best and brightest are working on fixing the problem, we'll have greater reason -- greater hope -- to continue the fight."

Roger G. Worthington

Founding Director
Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, Inc.
Email: rworthington@rgw-pc.com
October 14, 2004

References