Bill to Fight Asbestos Waits in Congress While Substance Remains LegalChicago,Illinois - Amendment Allowing 1 Percent Is an Irresponsible Policy: U.S. Rep. Schakowsky
If you could virtually wipe out one form of cancer what would you do? There is a group of scientists and doctors that say it's exactly what Congress could do, but hasn't yet.
Carol Marin, Political Editor explains further.
The use of asbestos has been outlawed in more than 40 countries, including the entire European Union. In the U.S., however, even though it is known to cause cancer, asbestos use is still legal.
According to experts, as many as 10,000 people die every year from asbestos-related disease, including the kind of asbestos disease currently being fought by David White.
D. White: "I am a retired mechanical engineer and manager, 81 years old."
David White has a story to tell. He began experiencing a shortness of breath about a year and a half ago.
D. White: "I had significant exposure to asbestos and asbestos-containing products during my working years."
His diagnosis called mesothelioma a type of cancer.
C. Marin: "Do you have any doubt that your mesothelioma is from asbestos exposure?"
D. White: "None at all. No."
White has lived his entire life in northwest Indiana after being born in East Chicago. He fought in World War II, became a civil engineer and married Goldie in 1948. His marriage has lasted 60 years and along the way, there were four kids and nine grandchildren.
Goldie White: "He's a very good man."
A cancerous tumor on White's lung was removed last September, and now he receives treatment at the University of Chicago Cancer clinic every three weeks.
C. Marin: "Is there a cure?"
D. White: "No. I think that the thing that I'm most grateful for is the fact that I have a wonderful wife, I've had children and now the grandchildren."
His doctor is Dr. Hedy Kindler.
Dr. Kindler: "Mesothelioma is a scary cancer because it is caused by asbestos, a known substance. We do not know of a safe threshold for asbestos."
Asbestos has been long used because it is fire and heat-retardant. It is a naturally occurring mineral. In reality asbestos is all around us. It is found in the insulation and pipes and paint of older buildings and in the brake linings of cars. It can even be found in the sand at Oak Street Beach in Chicago. A Senate committee approved a bill to ban asbestos in Washington last summer, but in September an exception was unanimously added by the Senate that made it legal for products to contain asbestos at levels of 1 percent or less.
U.S. Rep. Schakowsky: "Our stance it that we believe one percent will still poses a threat."
U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky sits on the House committee that is hearing the bill named for a U.S. Representative who died of mesothelioma, Bruce Vento.
U.S. Rep. Schakowsky: "Bruce contracted mesothelioma because as a younger man he worked with it and it was a death sentence ... I think, is irresponsible public policy for us to allow it to continue." In a twist of fate, Dr. Kindler was well into her medical career and a leading international authority on mesothelioma when in 2001, her own father at 70 years of age, was diagnosed with the cancer.
Dr. Kindler: "My father was diagnosed in March and died in July. When my patients ask me what I would do if this were my father, unfortunately I can tell them from a personal perspective."
At this point, she has had some qualified good news for the Whites. At least for a while, new medicine has reduced White's tumor and prolonged his life.
D. White: "You know someday life is going to come to an end when you get in your 80s."
Goldie White: "I just figured that we'd be together a lot longer."
Dr. Kindler: "We've known for many, many years that asbestos has caused mesothelioma and we've known that this stuff is dangerous. It's about time that it gets banned it so more people, like Mr. White, don't have to suffer." The National Association of Manufacturers, which did not return repeated calls or e-mails, opposes a complete ban. The Web site indicates that asbestos lawsuits have caused over 70 bankruptcies and the loss of at least 60,000 jobs.
