| Australia: Asbestos sufferer and campaigner Bernie Banton dies at 61
Well-known asbestosis campaigner Bernie Banton died on November 27 at his Sydney home from asbestos-related peritoneal mesothelioma. Banton, who was 61, contracted the disease, along with asbestosis and an asbestos-related pleural condition, when working on asbestos products from 1968 to 1974 for building materials manufacturer James Hardie Industries (JHIL). Over the past three years Banton became the public face of a campaign against JHIL after it was revealed in 2004 that the Medical Research and Compensation Fund (MRCF) set up by the company to supposedly meet the claims of thousands of asbestosis sufferers had been deliberately under-funded. JHIL set up the MRCF in 2001, closing its two asbestos products subsidiaries in Australia and relocating its head office to the Netherlands.
LegalView Continues to Track Mesothelioma Information with Details of ...
Philip Northmore was employed as a dockyard worker where he was exposed to asbestos over several years. Northmore died at the age of 68 just as his daughter, Debbie Brown, is diagnosed with mesothelioma as well. LegalView.com is proud to provide readers of its mesothelioma blog with updated information on Brown, who recently launched her own Web site, Mesothelioma and Me, to help victims of mesothelioma.Mesothelioma is a rare and often fatal disease in which victims often are unaware that they even suffer from the cancer until it is far too late for treatment. Mesothelioma is nearly always caused by exposure to asbestos, which is a fireproof building material that was used in structures such as schools, government buildings and homes. The asbestos fibers are inhaled and form cancerous cells on the interior of the lungs.
New thalidomide trial possible after Alimta gets OK
THE Federal Government subsidy of the mesothelioma drug Alimta has paved the way for a national clinical trial of follow-up treatment using the controversial thalidomide. Alimta, a chemotherapy agent, was added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme yesterday, finally giving sufferers of the killer asbestos-related cancer access to cheaper treatment. Alimta, which can increase survival time and improve a sufferer's quality of life, has long been too expensive for many patients. Researchers say the subsidy has paved the way for a national clinical trial of thalidomide as a follow-up treatment for mesothelioma sufferers. The Australian Lung Cancer Trials Group plans to recruit 100 Australians who have had Alimta treatment to be part of the trial Dr Nick Pavlakis, head of oncology at Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital, will head the trial, which he hopes will demonstrate thalidomide can improve the quality of life of mesothelioma patients after Alimta chemotherapy.
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