Press Release
Don't Be Fooled — Asbestos Still Legal
10,000 Die Each Year
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congress has established April 1, April Fools' Day, as National Asbestos Awareness Day. But don't be fooled — the U.S. Congress has yet to establish an asbestos ban even though it is undisputed that asbestos is a lethal substance that can cause incurable cancers and other diseases after only minimal exposure. The hazardous nature of asbestos is at the core of the Justice Department's indictment of W.R. Grace — use of a dangerous product by fraudulent means — and why 25 of the world's top industrial nations have banned the deadly mineral from use in any product.
Most Americans don't know that asbestos remains a legal ingredient in more than 3000 products in the United States. Tens of thousands of tons of asbestos are unknowingly consumed in household products each year. No governmental labeling is required, notwithstanding the lethal nature of the product.
Susan Vento, Chairperson of the Committee to Protect Mesothelioma Victims and wife of the late Congressman Bruce Vento, who died of mesothelioma, says "many manufacturers and other businesses used the product fully aware of these dangers but sought to conceal the matter from its workers and the public. As a result, tens of millions of Americans, like my husband, were exposed and consequently have been severely injured or killed."
Yet, next week Congress will seek to relieve certain companies from liability through the creation of a national trust fund. They will seek to do so by eliminating the right of asbestos victims to go to court and will instead impose a national settlement of all claims, in the present and the future, under the terms that the companies have requested.
The bill is being sponsored by Senator Specter in his role as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. It may be introduced in the Senate as early as next week. This bill would provide $140 billion for current and future asbestos victims. Even the Congressional Budget Office has noted that this amount is insufficient to fairly compensate victims. In addition, the bill cuts off victims at an arbitrary date, leaving out those who were exposed to asbestos after the cutoff date, such as New Yorkers who were near the World Trade Center when the towers collapsed.
Vento adds "most people do not know that it only takes ONE breath of asbestos to develop an asbestos-related disease. A countless number of New Yorkers inhaled the deadly air on September 11." These and other victims deserve fair treatment, but they will not get it under the bill being drafted in the Senate.
For more information on mesothelioma and the asbestos bills, visit www.asbestostruth.org.
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The Committee to Protect Mesothelioma Victims (CPMV) is an organization founded by asbestos victims and their families and friends. CPMV works to raise awareness on national asbestos issues and ensure that victims' rights are properly represented and protected on both a local and national level. For more information, www.asbestostruth.org.
