Examination of the health effects of asbestos and methods of mitigating such impacts: testimony at a U.S. Senate hearing

Our plain-English summary of Examination of the health effects of asbestos and methods of mitigating such impacts: testimony at a U.S. Senate hearing, by L. Reinstein (New Solutions, 2007).

The study

• Author: L. Reinstein
• Journal: New Solutions
• Published: 2007;17(4):377-9
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This article is not a research study. It is the text of testimony the author gave to the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on June 12, 2007, published in the journal's "Voices" section. The author was introduced as a co-founder and executive director of the International Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization. The author spoke as the widow of a man who died of mesothelioma in May 2006 after a three-year illness. The testimony named sources for some of its figures but gave no full references or study methods. It cited a Center for Disease Control report that asbestosis deaths rose from 77 in 1968 to 1,493 in 2000. It also cited a Sarnia study in which 65% of victims had asbestos-caused cancers and 35% had asbestosis. The author said that "our data," which were not described, show the new patient profile to be a 51-year-old woman, whereas in 1990 the average patient was a male aged 70. The testimony also stated that mesothelioma medical expenses can exceed $1 million per death. The author called for eliminating asbestos exposure while investing in research for a cure and improved treatments.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Published testimony given at a U.S. Senate committee hearing, printed in the journal's "Voices" section (advocacy statement, not a research study)
• Who was studied: No study population. The speaker was a mesothelioma widow and co-founder and executive director of the International Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), speaking on behalf of asbestos disease victims and families
• Exposure: Asbestos in general. No fiber types, products, jobs or doses were specified
• Main results:
  • Personal account: the author's husband died of mesothelioma in May 2006 after a three-year illness
  • The testimony cited a Center for Disease Control report (no full reference given) that asbestosis deaths rose from 77 in 1968 to 1,493 in 2000
  • The testimony cited a seven-year Sarnia study (no full reference given) in which 65% of victims had asbestos-caused cancers and 35% had asbestosis
  • The author stated that "our data" (source and methods not described) show the new patient profile to be a 51-year-old woman, while in 1990 the average patient was a male aged 70
  • The testimony stated that mesothelioma patients' medical expenses can exceed $1 million per death
• The authors' conclusion: The author called for eliminating asbestos exposure while investing in research for a cure and improved treatments

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma.

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