Mesothelioma patients and their families must manage significant physical, mental, and emotional challenges. While traditional chemotherapy treatments have proved helpful in reducing cancer cells, the treatment process can be grueling, with lasting side effects. New treatment options are often requested by patients who are seeking alternatives to traditional chemotherapy treatments. New Drugs Present New Challenges […]
Clinical trials involving terminally ill cancer patients are risky, but they are worth the risk if the drug being tested can offer the patient a longer life expectancy. When the clinical trial includes a placebo pill to compare the effectiveness of the drug being tested, those terminally ill cancer patients face the possibility of receiving […]
A York, Pennsylvania environmental services company is facing hefty fines for failing to protect its employees from asbestos exposure. Three workers from First Capital Insulation Inc. were exposed to the carcinogen while removing thermal pipe insulation from an unoccupied home on North Second Street in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. According to the Occupation Safety and Health Administration […]
Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca announced on April 15, 2015 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug status to tremelimumab, a new drug with the potential to significantly improve treatment options for mesothelioma patients. Tremelimumbab is a monoclonal antibody which acts by binding to proteins present on the surface of activated T-lymphocytes […]
Allegations that Johnson & Johnson waited eight years to remove its power morcellator from the market – despite knowledge of the inherent dangers posed by the device – have prompted the FBI to launch a criminal investigation, according to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal. Although the surgical tool has not yet been […]
Mesothelioma patients may have new hope for improved survival rates, according to a study conducted at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Particularly in patients with peritoneal mesothelioma, there have been considerable improvements in treatment options that have had a positive impact on patients’ long-term prognosis. Peritoneal mesothelioma is one of […]
Patients with mesothelioma may have a new treatment option available to them in the near future. Opdivo, an FDA-approved immunotherapy drug that is currently used to treat non-small cell lung cancer, may also have promising effects on the treatment of mesothelioma. It is likely that new immunotherapy drugs will follow as a result of the […]
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) Action Fund recently released an analysis of federal trade data that more than eight million pounds of asbestos have entered U.S. ports since 2006. In response to this disturbing information, the Action Fund has established a national campaign called Asbestos Nation, which aims to raise awareness of the dangers of […]
Senators Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) recently focused their attention on the 1986 law created to protect students, teachers, and employees in the United States from asbestos exposure. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) Action Fund supports the Senators efforts to evaluate the safety of the schools throughout the country. The 1986 Asbestos […]
Recently in Washington, D.C., sponsoring Senators Edward Markey and Dick Durbin introduced the Reducing Exposure to Asbestos Database (READ) Act to revise the Asbestos Information Act of 1988. The READ Act will make information on asbestos products available to the public so that Americans can see where they are being used in the U.S. The […]
