Research needed for mesothelioma. Financial compensation after death is no panacea

Our plain-English summary of Research needed for mesothelioma. Financial compensation after death is no panacea, by E. Lanzetta (The American Journal of Nursing, 2003).

The study

• Author: E. Lanzetta
• Journal: The American Journal of Nursing
• Published: 2003;103(12):11
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This is not a research study. It is an opinion piece in the Viewpoint section of the American Journal of Nursing, written by a retired cardiology nurse. The author described a father-in-law, Les, who was diagnosed with mesothelioma on November 8, 2002. The article does not say which body lining was affected. He had been exposed to asbestos while doing various jobs in his family's tile and granite business. The article does not name a fiber type. Despite immediate referral to a large cancer center for surgery, he died seven months after diagnosis, at age 68. The author wrote that the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution (FAIR) Act of 2003, a Senate bill, did not provide funding for research or prevention. The author cited an estimate by Harvey Pass, MD, of the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation that $135 million could support research, early detection and prevention, compared with $114 billion planned for victim compensation. The author concluded that nurses should urge the Senate to include research funding in any asbestos compensation legislation. The article presents no original research data.

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: Opinion piece (Viewpoint column) by a retired cardiology nurse, including a personal account of one family member's illness; not a research study
• Who was studied: One person: the author's father-in-law, Les, diagnosed with mesothelioma on November 8, 2002, aged 68; the site of the mesothelioma (pleural, peritoneal or other) is not stated
• Exposure: Asbestos exposure while doing various jobs in his family's tile and granite business; no fiber type, product or dose is given
• Main results:
  • The author's father-in-law died seven months after diagnosis despite immediate referral to a large cancer center for surgery; he was 68 years old
  • The author stated that the FAIR Act of 2003 (S 1125), a Senate bill, does not provide funding for research or prevention
  • The author cited an estimate by Harvey Pass, MD, of the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation that $135 million could support research, early detection and prevention, compared with $114 billion planned for victim compensation
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that nurses should act as political advocates and urge the Senate to include funding for research in any asbestos compensation legislation

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Mesothelioma.

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• Compensation of pleural mesothelioma in France: data from the French National Mesothelioma Surveillance Programme — S. Chamming's, B. Clin, et al. (2013)
• Compensation for environmental asbestos-related diseases in South Africa: a neglected issue — N. Ndlovu, J.T. Naude, et al. (2013)
• Choice of rating method for assessing occupational asbestos exposure: study for compensation purposes in France — C. Gramond, P. Rolland, et al. (2012)
• Missed opportunities to counsel patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma about causation and potential compensation — W.G. Kuschner, R. Varma, et al. (2012)
• Criminal investigation follows report on asbestos compensation fund — B. Burton (2004)
• Yokohama declaration for fair and equal compensation for all asbestos victims and their families — B. Terracini (2008)

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