Save the Date! April 13 – 15, 2018 Arlington, VA
This year’s ADAO annual Asbestos Disease conference will follow Global Asbestos Awareness Week. It will once again be held at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View hotel.
Registration and the conference schedule are all available online.
2017 Virtual Miles4Meso 5K ~ The Fastest You Will Ever Run (same story from 2016)
JOIN US!
I don’t know that my dad would’ve appreciated a virtual race to the real thing, except in those last months, maybe. The tales he could tell about how fast he’d run, despite the tumors, the stitches, and the inability to eat – the embellishments would run amok no doubt.
For me, on the other hand, I appreciate a good virtual run! I’d rather be with my teammates in Alton, IL, don’t get me wrong, but trying to keep up with work, school, step kids, the husband and pet sitters, it can get costly quickly to travel. Last year I took the dogs to Asheville, NC and ran for Ginger Horton in her 1st Mesothelioma Miracle 5K.
This year I’m staying home and running the 8th Annual Miles for Meso Alton, IL ~ Durham Davises Chapter. It’s the one time of year I commit to running. Since my father died, it’s something I find terribly difficult to do. In honor of him and for Mesothelioma Awareness Day, I try to set aside the feelings of loss and revel in the miracles of those still struggling to survive.
I hope you will join me in supporting my dad and his noble cause to #ENDMeso. ~Courtney
Follow me on IG @sathopper & on Twitter @NCVideoSpot
Save The Date
ADAO’s 13th Annual Conference
February FACTs
February 3, 2016, Washington D.C. –
Ahh Washington politics. If you missed the Senate Judiciary Hearing on the FACT Act, it’s available online. It is titled The Need for Transparency in the Asbestos Trusts (click the title to watch).
I find it particularly amusing, there is no hearing on The Need for the United States to Ban the Use/Import of Asbestos. Instead, Senators like Jeff Flake & Orrin Hatch, would rather misdirect Congress and the people of the United States to “transparency” in legal matters, than address the fact that a toxic substance has not been banned in our country. Flake and Hatch are doing NOTHING to stop the USE of asbestos. Instead they are pandering to a large group of businesses who don’t want to pay into the Trusts set up for dying patients, with terminal disease because asbestos laced products are still available.
Let’s cut through the bullshit. Had Congress banned companies and the military from using asbestos, or banned the use/importation of asbestos across the board, there would be fewer people trying to pull money from these scared Trusts. Had business owners been more interested in keeping their employees safe, than their pockets lined, this would be less of an issue now.
Where is the Transparency in corporate use of asbestos? Senator Blumenthal made an excellent point. Why isn’t there a map of it’s use? The people who used it? This so called “FACT Act” wants a list of victims, and medical & legal histories, and social security numbers – but heaven forbid there would be a list of who used and who continues to use asbestos and where.
I’m nearly 100% sure the republicans who have signed on to this bill have no connections to asbestosis or Mesothelioma. Not one of them understands how it is to be repeatedly misdiagnosed, to have no where to turn especially early on, any idea of the support groups out there or how much it will cost to go through life saving measures – that 9 times out of 10 – won’t save you. If they did, if they were part of this special group that no one wants to join, they would fight for the victims and not the companies who created this problem.
No one was watching, but I live tweeted during the hearing. I point out a few things I felt are very important to know going forward. No one responded, not from any office. Certainly not from Thom Tillis’ campaign, who I’m ashamed to admit is from the state I currently call home. After repeatedly asking him to oppose the FACT Act, not only has he signed on, but he felt it necessary to ask questions in support of the FACT Act, not to garner any new information.
I wish Congress Republics (and the few Democrats abstaining) would stop blaming the victims and fight for a real ban on asbestos. The subterfuge has got to stop.
Director ADAO: Asbestos, Mesothelioma Activists Take Stand Against FACT Act
From the beginning, we, at the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), have been concrete in our stance to protect asbestos victims’ civil rights. ~ Linda Reinstein, ADAO
Don’t be bamboozled by the propaganda from those pushing for this special interest bill. Instead, learn about the top five reasons why the FACT Act must be stopped:
- The last four digits of asbestos victims’ Social Security numbers will be published on a public website for anyone to access.
- Additional barriers will be created that will delay access to compensation and justice on behalf of the victims.
- The security of asbestos victims will be threatened by revealing financial information, and opening the door to online identity fraud.
- The increased likelihood of discrimination will jeopardize asbestos victims and their families.
- Publicly lists “the name and exposure history of a claimant and the basis for any payment from the trust make to such claimant.”
The New House Bill | FACT Act – Passed by the House
The Hudson Valley News Network (Kathy Welsch) recently ran a story on a Senator local to them. I picked up it via a Facebook posting from ADAO Director Linda Reinstein.
It’s a great article and you should read it in it’s entirety.
It starts by saying:
Schumer explained that recent legislation – the House-passed Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency (FACT) Act – passed by the House of Representatives would require those veterans who are sick and possibly dying from asbestos poisoning to disclose their personal information online, including their work histories, health records and parts of their Social Security Numbers, in order to receive financial compensation from companies that knowingly used this dangerous material.
After a recent, disappointing vote in the House to pass the FACT Act, it is nice to hear from those who oppose this Bill. Hundreds of asbestos-related deaths have occurred in New York each year. Within the article is a census breakdown from 1999 until 2013. Thousands more deaths are happening all around us – and a portion of Congress, and by in large Republicans, seem to think it is fine to re-victimize people already devastated by death or severe illness on the basis of a fraud that has yet to be proven. It’s disgusting. And shameful.
If I can quote a quote: “I am all for rooting out fraud,” said Schumer, “But we should do it with a scalpel, not a sledgehammer – especially when we are talking about our veterans.”
Patient Survey
It’s been a long time! My apologies for not writing more. Thank you Kirsten for getting me back here.
The request is this:
Dear Meso patients, this looks to be an interesting study on how patients prefer to receive test results. If you have a few minutes, perhaps you will consider taking their survey? Just click on the Monkey.
Many thanks! ~Courtney
#ENDMeso
Excerpt From: Get The FACTs
**The following is part of a greater article written by Gary Cohn for the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance Blog. Read the full text here.
Proposed Bill Set to Silence Mesothelioma Victims …
“We are the real people who matter in this debate, and yet the supporters of the FACT Act would not allow any of us to testify,” the letter said. “We may have been shut out of the hearings, but we will not be silenced.”
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One of those who are speaking out is Courtney Davis of Durham, North Carolina, whose father Larry Davis died of mesothelioma in 2012. In an interview, she says that in many cases the FACT Act would make it difficult for asbestos victims to receive compensation or receive justice before they died. “These people don’t have a long time to live,” she says. “The people who are dying will never see those who essentially killed them punished. The timetable is just too short.”
If the FACT Act is adopted, she says, “The devastating consequences to the victims will go on forever.”
The Daily Show and Asbestos Canada …
If you have seen this, you should. It’s horrifying. It makes me want to cry. And I laugh at it’s ridiculousness. It was a favorite of my dad’s … http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/fgl4ph/ored-to-death
Fingers Crossed: In Regards to the FACT Act
Action Against Asbestos 