According to a recent press release on mesothelioma research, the Department of Defense (DoD) Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program was appropriated $50 million in the Defense Appropriations Bill that the President signed in mid-November.
The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (Meso Foundation) is excited to announce that, for the first time, mesothelioma will be included as a research priority within the DoD's Medical Research Program, to begin February 2008. As a candidate research area within the program, mesothelioma investigators are eligible to compete for funding through the program's 2008 grant cycle.
"The Meso Foundation has been working with fifteen senators, led bySenator Max Baucus (D-MT), advocating the federal government to respond to the mesothelioma crisis through a commitment of new federal research dollars," said Chris Hahn, Executive Director of The Meso Foundation. "Our advocacy efforts in this area for the past several years finally paid off."
Federal medical research projects must be of clear scientific merit and have direct relevance to military health. Military relevance is a key feature of the Investigator-Initiated award, a connection that will not be difficult for mesothelioma researchers to establish for their grant applications.
There is a long history of asbestos exposure in military service, and a significant elevated risk of mesothelioma in the military population. In fact, approximately one third of mesothelioma cases have been shown to involve Navy and shipyard exposures. Given the long latency of the disease, even if exposures are reduced, mesothelioma will continue to affect the veteran and military population for decades to come.
This funding opportunity can serve as a vital resource to the mesocommunity and is another crucial step toward advancing the research andtreatment of mesothelioma. The Meso Foundation strongly encouragesmesothelioma investigators to consider submitting applications for fundingin 2008, as the interest and engagement shown by the community will likelybe a factor in whether mesothelioma is included as a candidate in future years.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Par unit buys licensing rights for malignant mesothelioma drug
Par Pharmaceutical Companies Inc.'s (NYSE:PRX) proprietary products division said Tuesday it has acquired the exclusive licensing and commercialization rights to Onconase from Alfacell Corp. (NASDAQ:ACEL)
Onconase is a drug used in the treatment of inoperable malignant mesothelioma currently in Phase III development.
Under the terms of the agreement, Par's Strativa Pharmaceuticals unit will make an initial payment of $5 million to Alfacell. It will also pay an additional $30 million upon approval of the drug by the Food and Drug Administration.
Alfacell will retain the right to co-promote Onconase in the future and is also entitled to royalty payments from sales, as well as possible milestone payments of an undisclosed amount.
Alfacell is a Bloomfield, N.J.-based pharmaceutical company. Its stock closed Monday at $1.75.
Par is a Woodcliff Lake, N.J.-based pharmaceutical company. Its stock closed Monday at $20.97.
Onconase is a drug used in the treatment of inoperable malignant mesothelioma currently in Phase III development.
Under the terms of the agreement, Par's Strativa Pharmaceuticals unit will make an initial payment of $5 million to Alfacell. It will also pay an additional $30 million upon approval of the drug by the Food and Drug Administration.
Alfacell will retain the right to co-promote Onconase in the future and is also entitled to royalty payments from sales, as well as possible milestone payments of an undisclosed amount.
Alfacell is a Bloomfield, N.J.-based pharmaceutical company. Its stock closed Monday at $1.75.
Par is a Woodcliff Lake, N.J.-based pharmaceutical company. Its stock closed Monday at $20.97.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Jury Awards $9 million to New York Mesothelioma Victims
On December 17, 2007, a New York City jury awarded a total of $9 million to compensate two New York City mesothelioma victims and their wives for damages caused by asbestos exposure. The two cases (Rosenberg and Casale) were joined for a single trial in New York County Supreme Court. The mesothelioma law firm representing both families is Levy Phillips & Konigsberg, LLP ("LPK") whom have represented New York families affected by mesothelioma for more than two decades.
The jury verdicts in these cases are being viewed as ground-breaking by mesothelioma trial attorneys, as the verdicts were handed down against companies against whom no jury verdicts had ever been returned in the long history of asbestos exposure litigation in New York City.
The case of Joel and Sharon Rosenberg v. Alpha Wire Company, et. al, Index No. 106697/06 involved the asbestos exposure that Mr. Rosenberg sustained as the result of working as a life-long electrician in New York with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers ("IBEW"), Local 3. The jury awarded $3 million for Mr. Rosenberg's pain and suffering and $1 million to Mrs. Rosenberg for loss of services and society. Mr. Rosenberg developed mesothelioma during his retirement while living in New Jersey. He died at the age of sixty-four.
The Casale case (Joseph and Dolores Casale, Index No. 104299/06), involved the asbestos exposure of Mr. Casale during his career as a steam fitter (also known as pipe fitter) in New York. The jury awarded a total of 5 million dollars in the Casale case: 1.5 million for Mr. Casale's pain and suffering up to the date of the verdict; 1.5 million for Mr. Casale's future pain and suffering; 1 million for Mrs. Casale's loss of service and society up to the date of the verdict; and 1 million for Mrs. Casale's future loss of service and society.
In the Casale case, the New York jury returned a verdict in favor of the Casales against a manufacturer of valves, as well as a manufacturer of steam traps. This represents the first verdicts involving valves and steam traps in the history of asbestos exposure litigation in New York, and is reportedly the first asbestos verdict in the nation involving the use of steam traps.
The LPK mesothelioma trial attorneys that obtained the verdicts in these cases were Jerome H. Block, Patrick J. Timmins and Holly C. Peterson. These mesothelioma trial attorneys at LPK (the attorneys for the Rosenberg and Casale families) have won numerous other landmark jury verdicts in the course of more than 25 years of representing New York mesothelioma victims.
For more information about this mesothelioma trial, LPK's mesothelioma trial attorneys, or for more information about mesothelioma and asbestos exposure, please call the mesothelioma attorneys at Levy, Phillips & Konigsberg LLP at 800-MESO-LAW or 212-605-6200, visit www.lpklaw.com or complete the email form on this page. You will also find informative medical and legal information about New York and New Jersey mesothelioma and asbestos exposure at www.nynjmesothelioma.com.
The jury verdicts in these cases are being viewed as ground-breaking by mesothelioma trial attorneys, as the verdicts were handed down against companies against whom no jury verdicts had ever been returned in the long history of asbestos exposure litigation in New York City.
The case of Joel and Sharon Rosenberg v. Alpha Wire Company, et. al, Index No. 106697/06 involved the asbestos exposure that Mr. Rosenberg sustained as the result of working as a life-long electrician in New York with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers ("IBEW"), Local 3. The jury awarded $3 million for Mr. Rosenberg's pain and suffering and $1 million to Mrs. Rosenberg for loss of services and society. Mr. Rosenberg developed mesothelioma during his retirement while living in New Jersey. He died at the age of sixty-four.
The Casale case (Joseph and Dolores Casale, Index No. 104299/06), involved the asbestos exposure of Mr. Casale during his career as a steam fitter (also known as pipe fitter) in New York. The jury awarded a total of 5 million dollars in the Casale case: 1.5 million for Mr. Casale's pain and suffering up to the date of the verdict; 1.5 million for Mr. Casale's future pain and suffering; 1 million for Mrs. Casale's loss of service and society up to the date of the verdict; and 1 million for Mrs. Casale's future loss of service and society.
In the Casale case, the New York jury returned a verdict in favor of the Casales against a manufacturer of valves, as well as a manufacturer of steam traps. This represents the first verdicts involving valves and steam traps in the history of asbestos exposure litigation in New York, and is reportedly the first asbestos verdict in the nation involving the use of steam traps.
The LPK mesothelioma trial attorneys that obtained the verdicts in these cases were Jerome H. Block, Patrick J. Timmins and Holly C. Peterson. These mesothelioma trial attorneys at LPK (the attorneys for the Rosenberg and Casale families) have won numerous other landmark jury verdicts in the course of more than 25 years of representing New York mesothelioma victims.
For more information about this mesothelioma trial, LPK's mesothelioma trial attorneys, or for more information about mesothelioma and asbestos exposure, please call the mesothelioma attorneys at Levy, Phillips & Konigsberg LLP at 800-MESO-LAW or 212-605-6200, visit www.lpklaw.com or complete the email form on this page. You will also find informative medical and legal information about New York and New Jersey mesothelioma and asbestos exposure at www.nynjmesothelioma.com.
Mesothelioma Treatment Options
Mesothelioma Treatment Options
Here’s a very informative article on treatment options for malignant mesothelioma:
Treatment of malignant mesothelioma can be very difficult for a wide variety of reasons. First and foremost, mesothelioma can be difficult to correctly diagnose and may not show up in a patient for decades. This can create problems for treatment because with mesothelioma, as with all cancers, treatment is more difficult the longer the disease has been allowed to progress.
In addition to the difficulties created by delayed treatment of mesothelioma, the disease often does not respond to traditional cancer treatments, further complicating treatment. Also, the organs that are involved in mesothelioma cannot be partially or wholly removed usually, which means that surgical options can be extremely limited. Lastly, the fact that the majority of mesothelioma patients are men of advanced age, usually over 50, means that some more radical treatment approaches cannot be used because of declining health due to old age.
All of this means that even newly diagnosed mesothelioma patients sometimes are given a very bad chance of recovery by their doctors. Statistics are hard to come by, but British scientists suggest that 10% of newly diagnosed mesothelioma patients will live for at least three more years; Only 5% will live five years or longer. For patients in the first stage, 50% live for at least two more years. However doctors can be mistaken, and a diagnosis of mesothelioma is in no way always tantamount to a death sentence. Famed scientist Stephen Jay Gould lived with peritoneal mesothelioma for nearly 20 years. He eventually died from a different type of cancer.
There are four stages of malignant mesothelioma, which measure how far the disease has progressed. How a patient's mesothelioma is treated depends largely on which stage he or she is in when the disease is found.Patients with Stage I or milder Stage II mesothelioma are generally offered one or more of the conventional cancer treatments: surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.
Treatment Options:
Surgery
For early-stage patients, surgery for mesothelioma aims to cure the disease by literally cutting the cancer out of the patient's body. The most common type of surgery for pleural mesothelioma is a pleurectomy/decortication, which is where doctors remove all or part of the tissues lining the lungs and chest cavity.
Radiation and Chemotherapy
In addition to or instead of surgery, doctors may offer an early-stage mesothelioma patient chemotherapy, radiation or both. Radiation and chemotherapy are designed to kill the cancer cells without killing the patient.
Unfortunately, in order to kill the cancerous cells, these treatments often kill healthy cells as well. This is why cancer patients often lose their hair, have trouble eating and feel generally weak and sick during treatment. Doctors who prescribe chemotherapy or radiation may also suggest dietary supplements or other measures to control these symptoms.
Chemotherapy gives patients a drug designed to attack the cancer cells as they divide. The drug is swallowed or injected into the bloodstream regularly over a period of weeks or months, in cycles that give a patient some recovery time in between treatments. Patients can live at home and just go into a doctor's office for the treatment; sometimes, they can even have the treatments at home.
Radiation therapy seeks to kill the cancer cells with high-energy rays of radiation, such as x-rays, that stop them from growing. With external-beam radiation, patients will be subjected to directed rays of radiation directed as specific parts of the body affected by cancer. This treatment lasts about 30 minutes a day and is given in the exact same way each day over a period of weeks.
*****
If you, a coworker or a family member has been exposed to asbestos, contact the law firm of LEVY PHILLIPS & KONIGSBERG, LLP. LPK has been a pioneer in representing victims of asbestos exposure, and is one of the nation’s premier law firms in the areas of toxic torts, product liability, personal injury, and discrimination law.
Here’s a very informative article on treatment options for malignant mesothelioma:
Treatment of malignant mesothelioma can be very difficult for a wide variety of reasons. First and foremost, mesothelioma can be difficult to correctly diagnose and may not show up in a patient for decades. This can create problems for treatment because with mesothelioma, as with all cancers, treatment is more difficult the longer the disease has been allowed to progress.
In addition to the difficulties created by delayed treatment of mesothelioma, the disease often does not respond to traditional cancer treatments, further complicating treatment. Also, the organs that are involved in mesothelioma cannot be partially or wholly removed usually, which means that surgical options can be extremely limited. Lastly, the fact that the majority of mesothelioma patients are men of advanced age, usually over 50, means that some more radical treatment approaches cannot be used because of declining health due to old age.
All of this means that even newly diagnosed mesothelioma patients sometimes are given a very bad chance of recovery by their doctors. Statistics are hard to come by, but British scientists suggest that 10% of newly diagnosed mesothelioma patients will live for at least three more years; Only 5% will live five years or longer. For patients in the first stage, 50% live for at least two more years. However doctors can be mistaken, and a diagnosis of mesothelioma is in no way always tantamount to a death sentence. Famed scientist Stephen Jay Gould lived with peritoneal mesothelioma for nearly 20 years. He eventually died from a different type of cancer.
There are four stages of malignant mesothelioma, which measure how far the disease has progressed. How a patient's mesothelioma is treated depends largely on which stage he or she is in when the disease is found.Patients with Stage I or milder Stage II mesothelioma are generally offered one or more of the conventional cancer treatments: surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.
Treatment Options:
Surgery
For early-stage patients, surgery for mesothelioma aims to cure the disease by literally cutting the cancer out of the patient's body. The most common type of surgery for pleural mesothelioma is a pleurectomy/decortication, which is where doctors remove all or part of the tissues lining the lungs and chest cavity.
Radiation and Chemotherapy
In addition to or instead of surgery, doctors may offer an early-stage mesothelioma patient chemotherapy, radiation or both. Radiation and chemotherapy are designed to kill the cancer cells without killing the patient.
Unfortunately, in order to kill the cancerous cells, these treatments often kill healthy cells as well. This is why cancer patients often lose their hair, have trouble eating and feel generally weak and sick during treatment. Doctors who prescribe chemotherapy or radiation may also suggest dietary supplements or other measures to control these symptoms.
Chemotherapy gives patients a drug designed to attack the cancer cells as they divide. The drug is swallowed or injected into the bloodstream regularly over a period of weeks or months, in cycles that give a patient some recovery time in between treatments. Patients can live at home and just go into a doctor's office for the treatment; sometimes, they can even have the treatments at home.
Radiation therapy seeks to kill the cancer cells with high-energy rays of radiation, such as x-rays, that stop them from growing. With external-beam radiation, patients will be subjected to directed rays of radiation directed as specific parts of the body affected by cancer. This treatment lasts about 30 minutes a day and is given in the exact same way each day over a period of weeks.
*****
If you, a coworker or a family member has been exposed to asbestos, contact the law firm of LEVY PHILLIPS & KONIGSBERG, LLP. LPK has been a pioneer in representing victims of asbestos exposure, and is one of the nation’s premier law firms in the areas of toxic torts, product liability, personal injury, and discrimination law.
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