Victims of asbestos related disease caused by exposure to W.R. Grace products may have to wait longer to receive compensation from the W.R. Grace Asbestos Bankruptcy Trust. Although the company has been in bankruptcy for eleven years, appeals may still be filed up until July 11th, 2012, contesting the U.S. District Court’s confirmation of the company’s reorganization plan.
From 1963 until 1990, W.R. Grace operated large scale vermiculite mines in Libby, Montana. The vermiculite W.R. Grace mined was used in production of it’s product Zonolite attic insulation. It is estimated that as many as 35 million businesses and homes were insulated with Zonolite attic insulation between 1920 and 1990. However, unbeknownst to the general public, the vermiculite being mined by W.R. Grace at Libby was contaminated with asbestos.
In 2005, W.R. Grace and 7 executives at the Libby, Montana site, were indicted and faced prosecution from the U.S. Department of Justice for “knowingly” harming the people of Libby, Montana, and concealing information regarding the health hazards associated with it’s mining operation. According to the indictment, over 1200 Libby residents were suffering from an asbestos ailment. The case went to trial in 2009. Ultimately the company was acquitted in criminal proceeding that lasted over four years with appeals reaching the Supreme Court.
W.R. Grace sought bankruptcy protection in 2001. The company has faced over 270,000 lawsuits stemming from asbestos related claims, with approximately 120,000 cases still unsettled. It was alleged by the Justice Department, that prior to filing for bankruptcy, W.R. Grace illegally transferred four billion to five billion to other companies, to shield it from the bankruptcy court. Thereafter the Court ordered approximately one billion dollars be returned to the company coffers.
It is anticipated that there will be many more claims filed with the W.R. Grace Asbestos Bankruptcy Trust, by individuals who were exposed to Zonolite vermiculite contaminated with asbestos, and have since developed asbestos related diseases.
Torch, hoping to gain notoriety and respect from the criminal underworld. His arsenal of weapons included and net he would throw at the Human Torch, that would covert heat to explosive charges. His criminal master plot was very similar to Asbestos Lady: he robbed banks after creating infernos surrounding them. In their first encounter Asbestos Man actually defeated the Human Torch, but he was eventually captured when The Human Torch created a fire so large, that all of the oxygen in a bank disappeared, making it impossible for Asbestos Man to breathe.
Every weekend in San Diego County, California, throngs of United States residents travel south across the border to Mexico, looking for bargains in Tijuana shopping malls. As the weekend ends, the line of cars coming back into the United States extends for miles. In 2005, 50 million people, and 17 million vehicles, traveled from Mexico, across the U.S. Border, into San Ysidro, California. There, U.S. Customs agents are tasked with trying to organize the mass exodus while at the same time protecting America from illicit drugs, human trafficking and terror threats. But recent reports from Mexico highlight a growing concern among public health and consumer safety advocates, that there is one menace that U.S. Customs agents are ill equipped to control. Consumers may be returning home to United States with products purchased in Mexico, that unbeknownst to them, contain a destructive poison indistinguishable to the naked eye, asbestos.
However, in the past non-profit organizations have found asbestos contaminating common consumer products such as children fingerprint dusting kits, in talcum powders, toy clays kits, hair rollers, hot plates, hair dryers and decorative floor tiles. Moreover, asbestos contaminated vermiculite, sometimes used as a packing material for products, is also a public health concern.
clinical trials. As mesothelioma is classified as a rare disease, often times hospitals and physicians conducting mesothelioma clinical trials have difficulty finding mesothelioma patients to participate in clinical trials. As a result, the clinical trial will actually pay for the cost of travel for the mesothelioma patient to the treating facility, as well as the costs for the medical care. Uninsured mesothelioma patients should discuss this treatment option with their medical provider. All clinical trials carry risks. Many mesothelioma clinical trials have been recruiting patients for year, and as a result have data that mesothelioma patients can review and consider prior to participating.