Monday September 9, 6:45 am ET

In many ways, asbestos is more of a scourge in Europe than the US.

From the docks of London, Glasgow or Cherbourg to the cement factories of Belgium and the Netherlands, the deadly mineral was used for longer and to more devastating effect than almost anywhere in the world. Professor Julian Peto of Imperial Cancer Research of the UK has estimated that 500,000 people will die of asbestos-related cancer in western Europe during the next 35 years

Until now, the big difference between Europe and the US has been the way victims have been compensated. In much of continental Europe, medical and welfare costs were traditionally picked up by the state. In the UK, seeking compensation through the courts was notoriously difficult.

But recent legal breakthroughs in Britain, France and the Netherlands may change all that.

In France, where vast quantities of asbestos were once imported from Canada for use in shipbuilding and construction, lawyers are expecting a flood of new cases after a ruling from the French Supreme Court in February. Verdicts of faute inexcusable, meriting higher pay-outs, were upheld against companies including Saint Gobain, Valeo and Etex of Belgium. Actuaries estimate this ruling alone could cost French insurers $6.7bn during the next 20 years

"The social security system can no longer afford to pay all the compensation claims, so the French government is making it quicker and easier for victims to pursue companies directly," says Sebastian Delfaud of PwC.

The House of Lords in the UK overruled in June a series of lower courts when it decided that difficulties in deciding exactly which fibre of asbestos had caused cancer cells to develop should not prevent victims from pursuing specific companies. This should open the floodgates for thousands of victims who would have struggled to bring personal injury claims in circumstances where they were exposed by a number of different companies.

"The past 18 months have seen a lot of mesothelioma and cancer cases put on ice until this was sorted out and the insurers have had it easy," says Andrew Morgan, a solicitor with Field Fisher Waterhouse, a London law firm.

Since 1999, Dutch courts have allowed similar breakthroughs for thousands of victims, many of whom were exposed when asbestos-containing waste was given away for road surfacing and household paving.

"It is slowly dawning on companies in Europe that they are facing a crisis here," says Laurie Kazan-Allen, a London-based campaigner on behalf of victims.

PwC predicts Europe's "asbestos epidemic" will cost insurers EU32bn-EU80bn ($31.7bn-$79.3bn). Builders Accident and Chester Street, insurers in the UK, have collapsed as a result.

The European Parliament, which outlawed asbestos in 1999, is this autumn expected to push for a harmonisation of compensation payments - in most cases, upwards.

Another threat faces Europe-based multinationals. As well as those such as ABB, which are caught in the US crisis, many who used asbestos in the developing world long after it was banned in rich countries are finally being held to account.

Cape, a London-based insulation group, has until September 14 to pay the first of £21m ($33m) awarded to 7,500 South African miners after they won a High Court battle to have compensation claims heard in the UK. The willingness of UK courts to hear such cases and grant legal aid for overseas victims heralds the possibility of hundreds more cases being brought from Africa and South America, where asbestos continues to be used long after bans elsewhere.

Hairdryers Can Contain Asbestos - Britain

You might be interested to know that the British Social Services have accepted that my wife contracted Malig Meso through her work as a Hairdresser . She had worked in Salons in the 1960's and they accept that the asbestos heat shield in the old salon hairdryers was the probable source. I don't know if you have had any similar cases but it might prove a useful link for you. I should add that my wife stopped working in Salons about 1970 but such is the nature of this disease. Unfortunately her former employers are no longer in business but this may help you, help someone else.

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"Keep up your sterling work."- United Kingdom

Regards Robert Williams

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November 20, 20/01

Dear Sir,

After a little research I came across your name as being the leading lawyers for patients with Mesothelioma. So here I am contacting you in absolute desperation, and with fear and anger in my heart. Yesterday my father was confirmed to have Mesothelioma. The disease is also apparently preventing blood flow to his legs and feet. I am currently living in Venice, Los Angeles and my family lives in Liverpool, England. My father is about to be discharged from the hospital after telling him there is little they can do, is this absurd?

The reason I am contacting you is for your expertise and any current information you may have on pursuing compensation. They have told him basically that once diagnosed with Mesothelioma life expectancy is six months. I cannot accept this. My fathers’ father died from this disease, as have several of his workmates; all of who worked in the Insulation industry in the UK. I understand everybody has to die some day, but this is way to soon for my father who is just fifty-six years old.

Another huge fear I have is the medical system in the UK, and I speak from first hand experience. After an accident several years ago I went to the emergency room where I was visually examined by a doctor and sent away with a ‘nothing serious’ report. This was despite the fact I had incredible shoulder pain. In a nutshell, I moved to America and the pain continued for months. I finally go to the hospital in Santa Monica, where to my surprise I am immediately x-rayed then an MRI is performed. The results showed a fractured humorous and separated Rotator cuff. Surgery was performed two days later. Now it all makes sense.

So yes I have first hand experience at the difference health insurance or money can make with regards to the treatment of a patient. However I currently have no money and nor does my family; in fact my grandmother is paying for my flight back home this Christmas (yes it’s been a tough year). God bless her.

The only power I have is the ability to acquire knowledge in the short time frame he has been given to live. I would like to find out as much information currently available with regards to any successful compensation awarded in the UK. Any lawyers you may know of in England you can point me to, in fact any direction you can point me in is appreciated.

I want to thank you in advance for any advice or help you may be able to offer.

Regards,

Terence

terence_jenkins@hotmail.com

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Roger,

I came across your site earlier this year when my father was first diagnosed with mesothelioma - I hoped it might give information about how to fight his illness. A short time later my father died (April 2001) at the age of 64. My father had worked with asbestos at a chemical plant when he was 16-18 years old. The consultant treating him stated he would support any claim for compensation.

I apologise for contacting you about a legal matter, rather than a medical one, but I am shocked at what has transpired since his death, and I am distressed that accountability for his contracting this disease is being avoided by society in the UK. I wonder if you could post this message on your bulletin board.

Last Thursday (29th August 2001) I attended an inquest into his death in Middlesbrough, England. Myself and the rest of my family were deeply distressed when the coroner concluded my father had died of mesothelioma, but that this had developed "spontaneously" and not as a result of exposure to asbestos, and that he had therefore died of "natural causes".

The basis for this finding is that an average fibre count for asbestos was found by the pathologist. The pathologist stated that it was "conventional wisdom" that 70% of mesothelioma was caused by exposure to asbestos, and 30% "spontaneously" (he went on to say no-one knew what the spontaneous cause was), and the coroner concluded that due to the average fibre count my father was in the 30% "spontaneous" group.

We are keen to establish if this is a fair conclusion, and I wonder if anyone reading this site can help with any of the following four questions

1/ Is 70% asbestos 30% spontaneous a fair ratio of the cause of mesothelioma? - everywhere else I have read on the web (including Roger's site) suggests it almost universally caused by asbestos

2/ Does an average asbestos fibre count mean that asbestos was not the cause? Or can this be the case and asbestos still have caused the mesothelioma?

3/ Does anyone else have experience of a coroner's verdict reaching a similar conclusion?

4/ Is there anything we can do about this?

Thank you for letting me use your site to ask these questions. Naturally we are keen that responsibility for causing the disease that took our father's life is attributed correctly - it may be that the coroner's verdict is fair, but it seemed at odds with everything we had ever heard about mesothelioma.

Thank you.

Rick Dent, London, UK.

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Dear Roger - I am 61 year old woman living in England. I was diagnosed as suffering from mesothelioma in January, 1999. I had been ill since May 1998 but it took until the following January for a diagnosis. I first started with a small amount of fluid on my right lung and feeling very poorly indeed. My white blood cells were very high and my blood plazma was also showing illness. I am not a medical person so did not fully understand. The doctors at first thought I had t.b. although they could not find it and they gave me massive dozes of antibiotics. A scan showed I had some gall stones and so my gall bladder was removed. You name a test and I have probably had it. However in January, 1999 I went into hospital for further tests and the operation I had opened up my back and they took biopsies which showed I had mesothelioma. This was a terrible shock. I had never heard of the illness. However, I was fortunate in that Newcastle General Hospital was running drug trials and I was lucky enough to be enrolled in one.

I had six courses of ALIMTA plus carboplatin. My treatment finished in August 1999 and I am still well enough to have an almost normal life. My husband takes good care of me and I eat well and take care of myself. I was well enough to visit the U S A October November, 1999. My son lives outside Sanfrancisco and we had a wonderful time. Our little granddaughter was born in September and it was lovely to see her. We are hoping to come again later this year but are having difficulty in getting medical insurance. That is just a little history of me and this terrible illness. I wish all your other readers well and hope they are as lucky as me in their treatment options.

Best wishes to all Barbara Schofield

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Monday April 30 116 PM ET

LONDON (Reuters Health) - As many as 4,500 Britons a year die from asbestos-related diseases, a figure that will rise to more than 10,000 deaths annually by 2020, according to a report by the UK's Trades Union Council (TUC).

The report, released Saturday to coincide with International Workers' Memorial Day, shows that over the past 4 years, 18,000 people in the UK died as a result of working with asbestos.

The highest death rates were in regions where shipbuilding, manufacturing, railway engineering and the docks predominate, according to the group. Workers in construction, engineering and shipbuilding are also at high risk.

Asbestos, often used as a fire retardant, has been known for many years to cause the rare lung cancer mesothelioma, a scarring of lung tissue called asbestosis and other lung diseases.

The report is part of the organization's effort to gain compensation for those affected by asbestos. ``These sad statistics are a legacy of our industrial past,'' TUC Regional Secretary Mick Connolly said. ``The tragedy is that many more people who were exposed years ago will die whatever we do now, so for them our priority must be to get them the compensation they are rightly entitled to.''

The union leader pointed out that ``there are millions of tonnes of the fatal fibre still in cement sheets, lagging for pipes and boilers, brake linings and a host of other products.''

The importation, sale or new use of all forms of asbestos was banned in the UK and Europe in 1999. In its new report, Mapping the Misery of Asbestos, the TUC also calls for a global ban on asbestos and a public register of the asbestos in buildings.

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January 28, 2001

Dear Roger

We have had the collapse of a major insurer in the UK. It could mean that many people suffering from asbestos diseases caused by exposures before 1972 who have not yet claimed will not receive compensation. The majority are likely to be mesothelioma victims.

In the UK employers' liability rather than product liability is the basis of most cases. The law in the UK is that workers who suffer an injury at work through the negligence of their employer can claim compensation by suing their employer in the civil courts. Employers have, since 1969, been required to insure themselves against such claims under the Employer's Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 (ELCI), but many large employers in heavy industry were insured long before that. Whilst it is legal for an organisation to self-insure, this is comparatively rare (it has become more common in the public sector and former public sector). The 1969 Act was introduced after particularly serious fire in a Glasgow (Scotland) warehouse when the victims were unable to sue for compensation because their employer had no insurance and went out of business as a result of that same fire.

ELCI is the policy responsibility of a department of the UK government. There have been fairly recent changes (mid-1990s) to take account of insurers' financial difficulties resulting from the Piper Alpha oil rig explosion (in the North Sea) in 1988 where over 150 workers died and large compensation bills arising from the growth of the numbers of mesothelioma cases.

Iron Trades was always one of the largest employer liability insurance companies. About 7 companies write 70% of all the policies but the Iron Trades was a specialist insurer concentrating on this field and the others all had a broader base to their risks. Many of Iron Trades policy-holders over the years were in traditional industries such as ship building and manufacturing. Its concentration on heavy industries led it to become the insurer most affected by the rise in asbestos-related disease claims over the last few decades. The likelihood that the number of claims will go up before it goes down particularly from mesothelioma is clearly a problem to them.

Iron Trades response was to ceased to accept new business in 1990, and in the late 1990s, the company was bought by an Australian insurer. However, they only bought the company's post-1990 liabilities. All liabilities pre-dating 1990 were hived off into a separate company, Chester Street Insurance Holdings Ltd. That company has gone into voluntary liquidation with assets of £200 million. About £60 million of that is considered to be needed to meet claims which have already been submitted, leaving £140 million to deal with all the other claims pending.

The impact on victims will be long term. There is an insurance industry scheme covering liabilities arising after 1972 called the Policy Holders Protection Board. It is designed to pay out on claims arising after that date (ie exposures after that date) as a result of insurance companies failing in this way. However, the £140 million has to be all gone before that kicks in.

Mesothelioma cases in the UK are estimated to be settling at the rate of about 600-700 a year at the moment, and sums between £50,000 and £500,000 plus legal fees and costs is the norm. The £140 million will only probably pay for about 1500 and 2500 cases. That's two to four years' worth of cases! Large numbers of victims therefore stand to lose out over the next ten to twenty years. Obviously most claims pre-dating 1972 will relate to people currently in their fifties or older. A lot of these will reach the courts in the next decade. I have very few cases where there is no relevant exposure pre 1972. Most claims will be at risk. It's a very worrying situation.

I'll keep you posted.

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September 18, 2000

Dear Sirs, It is know over a year since I lost my dad to Mesothelioma - but I still come back and check your site, for new information. I would like to thank you of behalf of my family for the information that has been on your site.I would like also to wish all the family's who are affected by Mesothelioma all the very best for the future and that you will stay in our prays. Yours faithfully Barry Town

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February 21, 2000

Dear Mr. Worthington,

My Name is Kim Reese and I am from England. I would just like to tell you how reading your report on mesothelioma has helped me understand more about this dreadful disease. My Dad worked in Southhampton Docks in the 1960s and asbestos was all around them. My Dad was disagnosed in September of 1999 and died February 4 of this year. My Dad also lost a lot of good mates through this terrible disease

My family are still trying to come to terms with all of this. And hopefilly one day there will be a cure for this disease. My Dad was only 63 years old but I know of some people being a lot younger than that.

My husband and I hope to do a few charity events this year to raise money for McMillian nurses and other charities connected to cancer.

Thank you for you report and findings and let’s all hope that one day no one else will have to go through what my family and thousands of others have already been through.

Your Faithfully
Mrs. K. Reese

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January 05, 2000

My name is Nigel Tomkins and I am a lawyer in England. I am with Freeth Cartwright Hunt Dickins, one of the UK's leading law firms. We have offices in Nottingham, Derby and Leicester. Disease claims are a big speciality of the firm and indeed my own number one area. We have a special unit dedicated to acting for the victims of asbestos related diseases.

In England it was only following the passing of the Limitation Act 1963 that the possibility of successfully taking court action for compensation opened up. Previously the time limit rules made it impossible.

On 6th October 1967 the writ in Smith v Central Asbestos Company was issued. Mr. Smith and his fellow workers McCourt, Drake, Dodd, Roof, Raper and Sampson had their cases pursued through the courts. They all came to trial together and were successful but the company appealed. The case was heard in the Court of Appeal on 20th to 23rd April and 26th May 1971 and the men again won. For the very first time, victims of negligent exposure to asbestos at long last recovered damages through the British courts.

Publicity surrounding the progress of the cases helped to raise the profile of the dangers of asbestos in the United Kingdom. On 14th May 1970 the Asbestos Regulations 1969 came into force to deal with the risks and provide a "safe future". Sadly, to a large extent, they have failed. Otherwise, by now the numbers of victims would have dropped dramatically.

That is not happening. The British Health & Safety Executive in September 1994 said that the death toll here from Mesothelioma alone is estimated to reach 5000 to 10000 annually. They stated that they estimated that for every death due to Mesothelioma there are a further two from asbestos induced lung cancer.

To put these figures into perspective consider this: in the UK in 1996 were about 300 there deaths from Industrial Accidents. Deaths from Asbestos related diseases were over 3000. Clearly, however well intentioned, the 1969 regulations-- like the 1931 regulations before them-- simply did not do their job. We see more and more cases all the time.

Freeth Cartwright Hunt Dickins do have a couple of web pages which may be of interest. The first is our general asbestos page at web page at http://www.freethcartwright.co.uk/asbestos.htm   The second is our asbestos newsletter page at http://www.freethcartwright.co.uk/newsletter.htm   A new edition of the newsletter is due for publication soon. If you would like any more information I'll be happy to supply it.

Regards
Nigel Tomkins
Nottingham England
nigel.tomkins@virgin.net

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June 29, 1999

Dear Sir,
My name is Barry, and I live in England, I have just found your site, and have found it of great interest and support. But sadly I lost my dad (Bruce) in April of this year to MESOTHELIOMA, it was shocking that on the last two weeks of my dad's life the speed that the cancer took over. But as I said a great information site, I just wished I had found this before.

Barry Town
Barry@btown.freeserve.co.uk

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November 10, 1998

BBC. More than half-a-million people could die of asbestosis over the next 20 years, according to a senior doctor.

Dr Robin Howie, of the British Occupational Hygiene Society, told a conference in Clydebank, near Glasgow, that hundreds of thousands of tons of asbestos currently in buildings needed to be removed.

Stricter controls were needed on the removal of the substance, he said.

Clydebank (a shipyard town) is the town with the highest death rate from asbestos poisoning in the UK. The main disease caused by asbestos inhalation is asbestosis, which includes the scarring of lung tissue, lung cancer, mesothelioma (cancer of the lining of the chest and lungs) and fluid on the lungs.

Locky Cameron, a spokesperson for Clydebank Asbestos Group, said: "We need to put pressure on the government to introduce a ban, but also a ban on importing asbestos.

"We also need to remove brick walls and red-tape so that sufferers can get compensation as quickly as possible." "My husband's life was cut short because of the disease," she said. "I don't want other people to have to go through what I did and will campaign strongly if it means it will help others."

Dr Howie said: "The rise in the number of sufferers means there will be increased demand on the health service, particularly in this area where there is a high rate of cases.

"More health and safety officials need to be deployed and sent into buildings where people are dealing with asbestos on a more regular basis."

He said that people who worked with asbestos and who smoked were particularly at risk.

He said: "We need to tell people who are in contact with asbestos to stop smoking now if they want to prevent the disease."

Official figures suggest that 10,000 people a year will be dying of asbestosis by the year 2020 because of lack of action on asbestosis in previous decades. Up to 3,000 die currently.

September 30, 1998

My name is Jennie Joesbury and I am from Gosport near Portsmouth, my father was in the Royal Navy and served for 22 years, he was diagnosed with having Malignant Mesothelioma in January 1998, and he died on 16th September 1998. He was 55 years old. I too like Penny Milne am outraged and angered by the governments attitude to compensation because they are ex-service. My dad served his country and did everything that was expected of him and in return they gave him a death sentence. I have tried to email Penny Milne without any success, so if anybody happens to be in the same situation as I am or Penny if you read this my email address is JJoes@mcmail.com. All I want to know is which way do we go now as every direction I have turned so far has hit a brickwall.

Jenny Joesbury

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September 3, 1998

BBC ONLINE: A woman who contracted cancer years after inhaling asbestos particles from her husband's work clothes has been awarded £110,000.

Mrs Ann Macpherson, whose husband died of the same disease in 1995, now has mesothelioma.

Derek Macpherson worked at an aluminium processing plant near Banbury, in Oxfordshire.

His 57-year-old widow is one of a growing number of people who have become ill from asbestos dust unwittingly brought home by other members of the family.

Time bomb

Mrs Macpherson was diagnosed last year and has retired from her job at Horton General Hospital, in Banbury, last October on grounds of ill health.

She pursued a claim against her husband's employers, backed by her union, Unison.

Mrs Macpherson, who has one daughter, said working as a medical secretary had helped her cope with losing her husband.

"I had just started a new job as a secretary when I had to give it up because I became too ill to carry on.

"Asbestos is a time bomb ticking away that can strike years later."

BBC Online. 9/3/98

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August 31, 1998

BBC NEWS: Asbestos diseases are caused by inhaling asbestos dust, a mineral commonly used in the construction industry until the 1970s. The main diseases caused by asbestos inhalation are asbestosis - the scarring of lung tissue, lung cancer, mesothelioma (cancer of the lining of the chest and lungs) and pleural disease. Pleural disease includes calcification of the lungs and pleural effusion (fluid on the lungs).

Over 3,000 people a year die of the disease in the UK and numbers are predicted to rise to 10,000 a year by 2020. Those infected are mainly builders, plumbers and shipyard workers, but teachers, children and nurses are believed to have been put at risk since asbestos was used in the construction of several schools and hospitals.

Families of those who work with asbestos can also be infected if asbestos particles are brought into the home on clothes. It can take up to 40 years for symptoms to show.

What are the symptoms?

The main symptoms include shortness of breath on exertion, a persistent cough, chest pain or tightening of the chest, nail abnormalities (such as ridges developing on the nails or white streaks on the nails) and thickening of the fingers and toes.

What is the treatment?

There is no cure for asbestos diseases, but, as severity depends on the length of exposure and amount of asbestos dust inhaled, early identification through chest x-ray can prevent further exposure and worsening of conditions.

People who develop mesothelioma have a particularly bad prognosis. Around 75% die within one year of diagnosis. Mesothelioma can take between 20 and 40 years to develop after exposure to asbestos dust.

Other cancers related to asbestos include lung cancer (worsened by cigarette smoking) and cancers of the oesophagus, stomach, colon and rectum.

People with pleural diseases can have their lungs drained at intervals to relieve the build-up of fluid.

Some people with asbestos diseases may need oxygen masks to help them breathe. Asbestosis, for example, leads to a thickening of the lower part of the lungs, making them less elastic and causing breathing problems.

Action to prevent infection.

The UK Health and Safety Commission announced in August that white asbestos could be banned by next year except in circumstances where no alternative material can be found. Discussions are taking place between September and the end of the year. Brown and blue asbestos have already been banned.

Trade unions have brought several successful cases against companies whose workers have developed asbestos diseases.

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Dear sir

I am desperately trying to find info on the web regarding research and or organizations relating to asbestosis in the UK. This is a private cry for help as my dad has had this illness for 3 years now. The British medical profession appear to be very reluctant to impart any information to the layman as they seem to think that a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing!!
Well done on your web site it is much appreciated.
Any help would be gratefully received

Dee O'Brien

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July 31, 1998

My Father died three years ago from malignant mesothelioma. He was 54 when he died and he had served 26 years in the Royal Navy. The Coroner attributed his death to contact with asbestos during his naval career. He was one of a group of British ex-servicemen barred by law from claiming formal compensation through the Courts. Through this web site, I came into contact with the wife of a sufferer in the same position as my Father; she was not aware of our campaign to get the law changed and when we discovered that we shared the same sense of anger and insult, I think it helped us both. As a result we now have another Member of Parliament on our side and I have since created a web site which I hope others in our position will find and join our campaign to win compensation for ex-servicemen suffering from asbestos-related diseases. I would be very pleased to hear from anyone else in our position.
Penny Milne
p&d.milne@hantslife.co.uk
www.fortunecity.com/millenium/quarrybank/243 pennymilne@yahoo.com

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June 24, 1998

Good Morning,

Yesterday we had confirmed that my mother has mesothelioma.

She lives in the UK, Newcastle.

She has had discomfort for a year know and it keeps comming and going. In the UK they tested for cancer only earlier this year, it was negative, as was other tests carried out.

Myself, her son Michael and my wife live in Cleveland Ohio, USA. Last week she came to the States to visit on vacation. My wife arranged an appointment at Cleveland Clinic Foundation, where she works, in an attemt to get to the bottom of it.

First lab work then within a week a biopsy operation, comfirming the doctors suspicions. Dr Ahmend is head of the department a Dr Rice carried out the operation.

Dr Rice told us about the disease and that depending on what state the mesothelioma is in (which will be confirmed next week after pathology work returns) how to treat it.

However in England Dr Rice said that they choose more often than not, not to treat it. My mother is in excellent health, 62 very outgoiong and full of vitality.

What can we do? Is there somewhere in England we can go or talk to?

Sincerely

Michael Pearson

June 30, 1998

Since talking to you last week with reference to my mother Margaret Brown, you recommended talking to Steven Mutsaers (International Secretary for Mesothelioma).

He in turn highly recommends Dr.Robin Rudd (leading UK research physician in the UK) and Prof Albelda here in the USA. Both firm believers that GENE THERAPY is the way to go!

We have contacted both of the above and have an appointment set up in London with Dr. Rudd for July 10th at St. Bartholomew's Hospital.

Prof Albelda's colleague Dr Sterman we spoke to also, who appears to have exciting results, although a ways from a cure. They wish for us to send all medical records, which they shall review with a possibility of beginning Gene therapy early fall.

Your most Sincerely,
Michael Pearson

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April 15, 1998

My father Alan Edworthy died peacefully in St. Elizabeth Hospice, Ipswich, UK on 26th March 1998. He was diagnosed with pleura mesothelioma in November 1997. He was 57 and has left his wife and three children in shock at the speed of recent events. However, his case may help to prove the mind body link. His main concern before he died was to sell his business to secure my mothers future. He achieved this on March 10, 1998 up until which his physical decline was as predicted. Once he achieved this it was almost as if he flicked a switch in his mind to say I am ready to go. Sixteen days later he was gone.

I would be happy to counsel anyone on the effects of this devastating disease.

Mark Edworthy
Tel: UK 0171-328-9333
E-Mail : edworthy_mark@bah.com

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January 25, 1998

I have just read your article on MM and am encouraged by your positive approach.

My father was diagnosed with MM in May 97 and since then has been losing weight and has had to have fluid drained off his abdomen. He also had pernicious anaemia which appears to have now been cured by vitamin B12 injections.

I would like to know if there are any drugs which can be pumped into the abdomen to prevent the fluid recurring or at least slow down it's production.

Thanks
Neil Ledward
ledwa@email.msn.com
6 Main Street
Gamston
Nottingham
NG2 6NN
U.K

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January 10, 1998

Dr Graham Bonwick wrote:

Thanks for providing an extremely useful collection of information. My father in law (late 50s) has recently been diagnosed as having pleural mesothelioma (which affects only a small part of one lung presently) but he has been sent home from hospital, having been told that there is no point in treating him and that he has 12 to 18 months to live. The information on these pages has suggested that this might not be the case and offers some hope. If anybody can provide details of UK-based support groups, web discussion groups, legal action assistance etc. I would be grateful.

P.S. His exposure to asbestos or asbestos containing products was likely to have occurred during only a six month period with a previous employer.

Dr Graham Bonwick
Middlewich
Cheshire
UK
grahamb@clara.net

Dr. Bonwick: For more information about surgical oncologists in the UKwho may have experience with mesothelioma, you may wish to contact DR. Steven E. Mutsaers, Centre for Cardiopulmonary Biochemistry and Respiratory Medicine, UNiversity College London Medical School, The Rayne Institute, 5 University Street, London, Tel 44,171.209.6008, email: s.mutsaers@ucl.ac.uk. He is the Secretary of the International Mesothelioma Interest Group (IMIG) and he might know of medical specialists with working knowledge of the tri-modal therapies perfected in Boston, New York, etc.

Best Wishes to your family.

Roger Worthington, Esq.

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January 2, 1998

This is a letter from a lawyer in the United Kingdom, Mr. Nigel Tomkins.

The view in the UK appears to be that surgery is not thought to be effective in most cases. It seems that the results don't show any increase in survival time overall.

Some surgeons do operate in the UK, but no one does it as a routine procedure. Goldsmith at the Bromptom in London is the best known. Only if a case is found early does it seem to be considered. The main idea is to control the build up of fluid. Sometimes they use a surgical procedure called a shunt which can be very effective in dealing with fluid build up. There are other procedures all basically designed to control fluid accumulation.

I'm afraid some people think the reason for the difference between the US and UK approach has a lot to do with the way things are paid for. Here it makes no difference to the doctor what he or she does. In the US of course they are paid for every procedure.

There are, however, also drug treatments in use. To say that there are drugs which can stem the fluid is an over simplication. Things are not as straightforward as that but some can help. Steroids in tablet form or by injection are used by some specialists and help a bit. They also seem to improve general well-being. Tetracycline and/or Bleomyacin are used, too. Nothing solves the problem, but they sometimes help relieve pain and retard pleural effusions.

If I get any other information I'll pass it on. I'm in regular contact with a lot of the UK specialists. I'm giving a lecture to the Royal College of Physicians in London on 1st April. I was to lecture at a seminar on Asbestos in Paris next month but that has now been moved to Barcelona in June. In any event they may provide more opportunities to pick some more brains.

It's an awful disease. Although I've been handling cases for so long it still makes me very angry that so little was done to protect people at risk for so long when so much was known about the risks.

Yours Sincerely

Nigel Tomkins
nigel.tomkins@virgin.net

RGW's reply:
I look forward to hearing from you when you return from the next seminar at which the UK doctors may discuss mesothelioma treatment options. I think it's far too easy to suggest that the difference in medical philosophy between the UK and US has to do with compensation or capitalism. True, the EPP is a radical and expensive procedure, and the risks are high, but I doubt very much that the doctors in the US who are performing it are getting rich. Most of the MM patients are not very well-off , retired, working class folks who are living on a pension or social security with minimal health insurance. I think the thoracic surgeons in the US who aggressively treat mesotheliotics are motivated by a number of things, such as the overriding need to help dying patients, the prestige of utilizing cutting edge medical technology, and the thrill of helping a patient who has been handed a death sentence beat the odds.

Nigel replies:

I'm sure you are right and doctors do try to do the best they can for people as they see it. Here of course all treatment given is totally free and won't have an effect on the level of compensation. There is perhaps less inclination by the medical people here to try newer expensive treatments unless they are convinced there are proven benefits as the state funding system is always stretched.

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July 1, 1997

14 months ago my father was diagnosed as having mesothelioma. He was given Chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy followed by another Chemotherapy treatment and in November a scan had showed that the cancer had been held in check. After Christmas he was given further chemotherapy. About this time he developed three distinct lumps which protrude out of his back and are in the position where he had tubes to drain fluid from the pleural cavity. These lumps enlarged and cause him a considerable amount of pain. He underwent further localized radiation which finished on May 9th. The lumps have reduced in size but he still suffers, at times from excruciating pain. A further scan in June has revealed that the Mesothelioma has spread almost all over the right lung. His left lung is completely healthy, he now needs urgent treatment to stop the mesothelioma spreading to his healthy side. He has been treated at the Charing Cross Hospital in London and has been told that he can not have any more radiation they might give him another course of Chemotherapy. I would be grateful if you could suggest any further forms of treatment that he could try, to stop any further spread.

I have read of the following treatments:

Interferon
Tuxol
Gene therapy

Would any of these be of any use?

It would be better if my father could be treated in Britain, but we are prepared to travel anywhere in the U.S. for any treatment that would extend his life.

Yours Sincerely,

Christine Wright