Mesothelioma Asbestos Lawyer, DuBose Law Firm, PLLC

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Ben Dubose

Ben DuBose has over eighteen years of asbestos and serious personal injury litigation experience, successfully fighting for hundreds of mesothelioma victims in courts throughout the United States

EPA Asbestos Risk Assessment Is Flawed

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asbestos risk - fibers
Dangers from asbestos

The dangers from asbestos were identified decades ago; still, the long-awaited Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) draft of its asbestos risk assessment is flawed. The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) is a non-profit independent organization dedicated to alerting the public and government agencies, especially the EPA, about the deadly risks posed by exposure to asbestos. Linda Reinstein, ADAO president, released this statement after reading the EPA’s assessment draft.

“For nearly four years, ADAO and other stakeholders have urged EPA to use the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act to ban asbestos in the United States. The risks of asbestos have been well-documented for decades. As it stands, the draft asbestos risk assessment the EPA has proposed will perpetuate the dangers of asbestos and undermine the chance for the national ban on asbestos the nation desperately needs.”

What are the risks?

Inhalation of asbestos fibers can lead to lung cancer, asbestosis, and the deadly mesothelioma. It is a silent killer as it can wait decades, up to 50 years, before it shows up and is diagnosed. These are preventable deaths. Yet, almost 40,000 people die from one of these diseases each year in the United States alone.

Even Bob Sussman, the former EPA Deputy Administrator, states the “EPA’s incomplete and un-protective risk evaluation is a big step back from the decades of high-quality work by government scientists on this extremely dangerous carcinogen.” Sussman also serves as ADAO counsel.

While the US refuses to ban asbestos, nearly 70 countries have – including most industrialized nations. The US continues to import and use tons of raw asbestos every year.

What can be done?

A host of experts and advocates agree that this mineral – asbestos – is a preventable risk for everyone. Asbestos exposure can occur through many circumstances, including job sites, remodeling, old buildings, even makeup marketed to teen girls. As Reinstein states, “The evaluation, as proposed, fails to protect the public from this deadly and knowable threat. EPA continues to drag its feet and has repeatedly put chemical company concerns before protecting the public. We urge them to act, but we can’t afford to keep waiting, which is why we call on Congress to pass the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act (ARBAN).”

If this concerns you, contact your congressional representative and tell them you want this bill passed.

Johnson & Johnson Discontinue Talc-Based Baby Powder

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After producing baby powder since 1894, Johnson & Johnson will discontinue talc-based baby powder in the United States and Canada. Years of charges their baby powder contained traces of asbestos brought lawsuits and public distrust. J&J suffered a loss in market value along with lessening sales. In 1980, J&J began selling a cornstarch version of the powder in response to the criticism. They will continue to market that product.

The connection between asbestos and talc

Talc is a mineral mined underground, as is asbestos. They are often found in close proximity to each other. The problem occurs because they can be mingled in the mining process.

Asbestos in any amount is not safe. For some women, the continual use over time led to ovarian cancer and for others, mesothelioma, a fatal disease.

Why are there lawsuits?

A congressional investigation uncovered internal documents showing Johnson & Johnson knew for over 50 years their baby powder contained asbestos. This knowledge was not passed on to consumers. Juries in many cases found Johnson & Johnson guilty, awarding large amounts to the plaintiffs. Testing found asbestos in many of the samples. However, Johnson & Johnson testified their testing did not find any trace in the same samples.

Though the product was marketed toward babies, most baby powder was purchased for adult women. As of this March, Johnson & Johnson had 19,400 lawsuits pending which involved the talc baby powder.

J&J decision to discontinue talc-based baby powder

Even as they announced the discontinuation, J&J stood by their assertion that there is no asbestos in their talc. They cite lessening sales caused by misinformation and litigation advertising. It appears they determined the best course for the brand was to remove this baby powder from their lineup of products.

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In a statement, J&J said it “remains steadfastly confident in the safety of talc-based Johnson’s Baby Powder.”

Linda Reinstein, president of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Association, published this remark, “Americans should be able to trust they are safe from asbestos. Johnson & Johnson spent decades misleading the public to think their often asbestos-contaminate baby powder was safe when they knew it was not. Today’s announcement that they will stop selling this potentially deadly product is a victory for public health. A small and influential group of chemical companies in America still rely on asbestos and have stood in the way of a national ban of this deadly substance. We can’t wait for them to follow J&J and see the error of their ways. Congress must pass the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act (ARBAN) and ban asbestos once and for all.”

The Life or Death Decisions of Autonomous Vehicles

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Though not seen often – yet – autonomous vehicles are on the streets bringing the advantages of artificial intelligence (AI). The goal is to make driving decisions without the human tendencies toward distraction or impaired driving. These autonomous vehicles also must make life or death decisions when an unexpected event occurs. On what basis are these critical decisions made? Can this be programmed into a software driven car or truck?

Autonomous Vehicles Making Life or Death Decisions

Can moral decisions be programmed? If a self-driven car judges a potentially fatal accident is imminent, does it choose to sacrifice passengers or pedestrians? Does the number in each group matter; two passengers or five pedestrians? What if the passengers include a child and the pedestrians comprise a group of elderly citizens? Should it endanger passengers to avoid hitting an animal? These and millions of other difficult scenarios have been discussed for years. There is even a website platform, the Moral Machine, created by MIT Media Labs where anyone is invited to make judgements in these situations. So far, people in over 200 countries have contributed.

What does data show?

Interesting data has been uncovered from the Moral Machine regarding the decisions people would make. In general, there is a consensus to save children over adults. Yet, in Far Eastern countries, the elderly would be saved first. So, even areas of the world come to different decisions – Western, Eastern, Southern – especially in complex situations.

Nicholas Evans, philosophy professor at the University of Massachusetts, writes, “You could program a car to minimize the number of deaths or life-years lost in any situation, but then something counter-intuitive happens. When there’s a choice between a two-person car and you alone in your self-driving car, the result would be to run you off the road. People are much less likely to buy self-driving vehicles if they think theirs might kill them on purpose and be programmed to do so.” What people say in surveys versus what they would want to happen if they, or loved ones, are involved varies greatly.

Though extremely difficult to program to fit so many scenarios, there must be moral programming for the AI to make the autonomous vehicles accepted. This is especially true since there is not a global consensus for the morality of any given situation. In addition to life or death decisions, the vehicle is computing routes, traffic, obstacles, speed, condition of vehicle and countless other parameters.

What is next?

The ultimate goal is reducing accidents exponentially. Until almost all vehicles are controlled by AI and can interact, that will not happen. Even then, everyone who has anything electronic knows that there can be bugs and glitches, service going down, hackers, and the unknown.

Once there is an accident, there will need to be a decision on liability. These computer-driven vehicles will be equipped with essentially “black boxes” that record the previous 30 seconds or so of data. This information will make it easier to reconstruct what occurred, but who is to blame? What stage of the vehicle’s development created this accident: software developer, vehicle manufacturer, communication provider, or one of the other multiple vendors supplying parts?

Much is still unknown as this is a huge change in transportation globally. As more and more of these vehicles are introduced to our streets and highways, data collected will lead to more answers and probably more questions as well.  

Mountain View Generating Plant Is A Dallas Legacy

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Mountain View Generating Plant is a Dallas legacy, though much of its past had undesirable consequences.  

Mountain Creek Lake sounds like such a pleasant place to relax and enjoy the scenery. In actuality, the lake was built, not for relaxation, but as a cooling reservoir for the Mountain View, more generally known as Mountain Creek, power plant. The plant was built starting in 1938, with additional units built in 1945, 1949, 1956, 1958, and 1967. Through the years, it was also called the Dallas Power and Light Mountain Creek Station, Mountain Creek Steam Electric Station, and Mountain Creek S-E Generating Station.

Mountain View Generating Station
Mountain View Generating Plant early photo.

What was the Mountain View Generating Plant? 

Mountain View was a steam generating power plant that ran turbines, which then generated electricity. Steam plant built in this time period commonly had pipes, steam-lines and steam driven equipment which were extremely hot and therefore were built using asbestos-containing insulation. In addition, gaskets and rope packing were made from asbestos and used on steam flanges and steam powered equipment, like pumps, valves, turbines, and boilers. Steel surfaces also had fireproofing made from asbestos. 

Workers at most power plants through the 1980s were likely exposed to asbestos. In fact, if a power plant was built before 1980, it is almost a certainty that asbestos was in the facility or in the products made there. Because asbestos is comprised of microscopic fibers that are easily inhaled, workers in the plant – and sometimes their families – daily inhaled these fibers, creating a health problem for the future. Asbestos diseases are often fatal, especially mesothelioma. Other diseases include lung cancer and asbestosis. After an individual is exposed to asbestos, it can take 20 to 40 years or more for symptoms to develop. There is no safe level of exposure to asbestos.

What has happened to Mountain View?

In 2018, Exelon Generation Co LLC, going through bankruptcy, sold Mountain Creek along with three other power plants to their creditors.  Two of the generators were retired by that time.

Photo Courtesy of Edwin J. Foscue Map Library, Southern Methodist University

Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage

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It is a sad situation when a victim of a serious car accident discovers that their auto insurance policy doesn’t provide them with the type of protection they need.  Or, if the insurance company for the person at fault denies coverage for the collision.

Although the law requires that all Texas drivers have auto liability insurance, not everyone follows the law.  In some instances, many drivers only carry the minimum auto insurance requirement, which is $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident.  If you are involved in a car accident, your medical bills alone can exceed $30,000.00.  Your auto liability insurance policy alone won’t help you recover those medical costs if the driver at fault either didn’t carry insurance or didn’t carry enough to cover your damages.  In that situation, if all you have is liability insurance, through no fault of your own you would be on the hook for your own damages, like your medical bills.  That’s where Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage comes into play.

Even if you’re the most learned and careful driver on the road, your skills won’t protect you alone from other drivers with no insurance or not enough insurance.  You should consider UM/UIM (uninsured/underinsured) auto coverage.  With UM/UIM coverage, you’ll be able to recover your losses such as medical bills or lost wages.

In Uninsured Motorist coverage in an auto policy, you are essentially buying auto insurance for another driver who causes an accident and did not have auto liability insurance of their own.  In Underinsured Motorist coverage, claims are paid up to the policy limit of the underinsured driver and the insurance company pays the balance of the coverage that you purchased in your policy.  In other words, if the underinsured driver was only able to cover $10,000 in your damages, and your policy limits for underinsured drivers with your insurance company covers damages up to $60,000, the insurance company is required to pay the remaining amount of damages after the first $10,000 is collected from the other driver’s insurance.  

UM/UIM insurance also covers you and any household family member riding in any car as well as any non-family members riding in your insured auto.  Most UM/UIM policies will provide coverage for hit-and-run accidents, as long as there was physical contact between the vehicles and the accident was promptly reported.  Typically, UM/UIM coverage will pay for losses including medical bills, personal injuries, lost wages and property damage.

Although Texas law does not require you to purchase UM/UIM coverage, your insurance company must get you to sign a valid written waiver in order to exclude the coverage from your policy.  Many drivers carry UM/UIM coverage without even knowing it, and some drivers think they have it even if they don’t.  Those who choose not to buy UM/UIM coverage should think again.  It is usually quite inexpensive, even as little as $43 per year, and can provide much needed coverage if you are injured in an accident with an uninsured or underinsured motorist.

So, if you are a Dallas resident, you should check to see if you have UM/UIM insurance coverage.  Should the unfortunate happen and you are involved in a wreck on the Dallas roadways, UM/UIM coverage will provide you some insurance protection if the driver at fault is either uninsured or underinsured.

Personal Injury on Your Property: What is Covered?