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.

 

Need Your Support

Seriously this is SO easy. They’ve done all the work.

Simply click the image, it redirects you, click the Action Center, fill in your name, submit and DONE!!

 

Changes to the Meso Foundation Symposium

I’m well behind the updates to this year’s Meso Foundation Symposium. I ran into a huge road block in my personal life trying to make sense of a Meso related death and all that has happened since and I have clearly not been strong enough to keep up like I did when I was up keeping this site for my father.

A lot has changed, even in the last year, and things are changing within the Foundation and with the Symposium. But rest assured the most important things will absolutely be the same.

There will be an incredible outpouring of support and caring. People like Mary Hesdorffer will be there with amazing insight and availability (don’t get me wrong, she’ll be super busy, but somehow she defies the space-time continuum with personal conversations and help). The Meso Foundation team will put on another outstanding conference and the attendees will all have experiences to share. If you haven’t made plans and can, definitely go. You will find a support group who will help you every step of the way. And as I read earlier, ‘give yourself permission’ to miss something or cry or express yourself. I didn’t and it only hurts me now.

A few things to note this year … there are 2 events happening. 1st the International Symposium on Malignant Mesothelioma and 2nd the Mesothelioma Scientific Seminar. You will be able to see much of the event via their LIVE STREAM . It has moved from Vegas last year back to the DC area. The host hotel is the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center. Also as you may have seen it is much earlier in the year from the 2012 Symposium.

For more info check out the Meso Foundation website http://www.curemeso.org  and Like their Facebook page & find communities.

Up for a Vote HR 982 – My letter went something like this:

It may not be perfect, and it’s a little on the late-ish side, I just hope it conveys my message.

Good morning Congressman,

My name is Courtney Davis and I spoke to AJ yesterday about urging you to vote NO on H.R. 982 (Furthering Asbestos Claims Transparency Act). I am new to your district and wanted to follow up. I also wanted to say that despite my somewhat disjointed thoughts on the phone yesterday, AJ was very nice and I felt as though he was interested in passing along my concerns.

My father died last year as a result of asbestos poisoning. The 6 years he suffered with this disease (Mesothelioma) were unbearable. At first (2^nd & 3^rd) he was misdiagnosed, he almost died because of a small incision to his colon, and then continued to fight bravely for 5 more years to get funding, & more information to victims, caregivers and law makers about the devastating effects of asbestos.

My concerns with House Res 982 (FACT Act) are similar to my concerns w/ the new NC voting regulations. Yes, there may be 1 person out there trying to derail the system- isn’t there always, but that does not outweigh a person’s civil liberties. Both of these would restrict good people from getting their voices heard and ultimately discriminatory!

It was awful watching my dad waste away as he could not eat real food for the last year of his life because of multiple tumors in his abdomen. He was a marathon runner, who could no longer exercise. And we would frequently have to clean a stint in his belly that would get clogged w/ bile because his organs were no longer functioning properly because of a man-made-cancer.

 I say man-made because although these giant businesses knew asbestos was harmful, they continued to use it! It was up for a ban decades ago, but the Bill was voted down. We still have asbestos in our everyday lives: siding, brake pads, insulation, etc. Corporations knew asbestos was deadly and yet the industry hid the real facts and continued to put people, like my dad, at risk. And there are huge bills associated w/ treatment and there is no cure. This Resolution will put social security numbers on a list on a public website, delay possible compensation and basically tell the nation that Big Business means more than the little guy making things happen – and dying for working hard.

Thank you for your time. I sincerely look forward to living in your district!

For more information on the effects of asbestos go to:

https://actionagainstasbestos.wordpress.com/larry-davis/

Sincerely,

Courtney Davis

To find your Rep: http://www.house.gov also see ADAO for a template and more info: http://www.asbestosdiseaseawareness.org/archives/24133

 

 

 

Did You Know?

Did you know that the 1939 classic film The Wizard of Oz had a scene in which asbestos was poured down on it’s main characters?

Asbestos used as snow

It was once considered a “miracle mineral”.

And now we know it is the #1 real for the deadly cancer Mesothelioma.

This happened in malls and stores around the country too.

But it looked so pretty … pretty deadly.

 

H.R. 982: Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency (FACT) Act of 2013

According to the US Government Printing Office the full title is as follows:

Thank you Sokolove Law for the amazing info graphics.

“To amend title 11 of the United States Code to require the public disclosure by trusts established under section 524(g) of such title, of quarterly reports that contain detailed information regarding the receipt and disposition of claims for injuries based on exposure to asbestos; and for other purposes.”

As many of you already know, the use of ASBESTOS was never really banned here in the U.S. ASBESTOS exposure is currently considered the leading cause of the terribly debilitating and deadly disease Mesothelioma. It is a cancer that attacks the mesothelium, basically the layer of cells that surrounds our body’s organs. In my father it did not attack his lungs as it has many of it’s victims, but rather the linings of his lower internal organs. Ultimately the meso tumors grew so large around his intestines, they blocked his bowel and forced him onto a purely medical, liquid diet. He grew weaker and thinner and he was unable to move around, let alone continue to run marathons and have a pint at the pub.

Just a couple of weeks before my dad, Larry Davis, died.

Fortunately he had health insurance at the time of his diagnosis, however the extent of the bills I can only imagine, was overwhelming. Had it not been for his lawyer and their hard work advocating for victims of Mesothelioma, then my father would have never seen the producers and users of asbestos punished for killing him.

From what I understand this FACT Act, H.R. 982, currently before the 113th Congress, was designed to cut down on potential fraudulent claims that asbestos is killing people. I can promise you that my father did not make up this disease. I can promise you that he was not pretending to die. And there are millions of other victims who also died as a direct result of asbestos poisoning … and only 1 claim of fraud in those millions has been identified.

So instead of creating a Bill to ban the use of asbestos completely, Congress is working to approve a bill that may very well place road blocks in the way of patients seeking financial help and compensation for their pain and suffering and medical bills. This bill is also expected to totally invade the privacy of the little guy, the victim and the family, by allowing these giant corporations who’ve continued using this known carcinogen to access client information including confidential settlements, exposure points, work history and the like. Effectively making each victim’s personal information available outright and creating a situation where these businesses can continue to pass the buck or at the very least continue to look for loop holes and outs and prolong the potential (and sometimes essential) compensation.

To help & support victim’s rights you can log on to on www.cancervictimsrights.org now and sign up to TAKE ACTION.

Also write your congressmen & women and let them know you have SIGNED THE PETITION.