| Bernie Banton will only last days, says doctor
Mr Banton, 61, is bedridden in Concord Hospital, in the terminal stages of mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer. His oncologist Professor Stephen Clark said Mr Banton had responded well to hospital treatment but staff were working towards releasing him. "He expressed the desire last week to be at the hospital," Prof Clark said. "But he, at the same time, made a pact with his wife that he would die at home." Mr Banton is seeking compensation from James Hardie, his former employer, over developing mesothelioma, with which he was diagnosed in August. Prof Clark today told the Dust Diseases Tribunal Mr Banton's condition had deteriorated rapidly in recent weeks and he didn't have long to live. "I think his life expectancy is ...
Thalidomide to be trialled against mesothelioma
NOTORIOUS morning sickness drug Thalidomide, which caused severe birth defects in the 1950s and 1960s, is about to be trialled as a treatment for asbestos-related mesothelioma. Cancer specialist Nick Pavlakis said Thalidomide had been shown to inhibit blood vessel growth within tumours and he planned to test its value in mesothelioma patients. He hopes to recruit about 100 patients Australia-wide for the study, which will compare those receiving chemotherapy with others given the standard treatment as well as Thalidomide. "We want to find out after they've had chemotherapy . . . if we give Thalidomide can we then control the disease for longer and maintain quality of life for longer?" Professor Pavlakis said. He said the results of the trial would be combined with a similar study taking place in the Netherlands.
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.
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