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Ben Dubose

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

#TRUCKING DANGER: SAY NO TO HB19 & SB17!

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Republished from Texas Watch www.texaswatch.org

Large truck danger

Year after year, Texas has the highest number of large truck wrecks in the nation. From 2016 to 2019, the number of truck crashes in our state increased by almost 30%. To protect the lives of Texas families, we need more safety measures, not less. Legislation pushed by trucking lobbyists will endanger all of us on the roads.

HB19 and SB17 will harm families devastated by 18-wheeler wrecks. These bills give trucking corporations less incentive to follow safety measures, which means you and your family will be at greater risk on the roads. The bills will make it harder to punish trucking companies through our courts when they violate safety standards. When bad actors do not follow the rules, they need to be held fully accountable by a jury of our peers in order to help protect us all. And when recklessness causes death, serious injuries, or the inability to work, trucking companies must take responsibility.

Please contact your Texas state legislators and let them know you oppose HB19 and SB17!

Thoughts on a Year in Pandemic

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Thoughts on a year in pandemic at DuBose Law Firm.

Everyday life was upended last Spring as the entire globe entered the COVID19 pandemic.  A year later and much is still in flux.  Certainly, incredible loss and tragedy became all too common.  Now though, a bit of hope is in the air.  The end of the pandemic isn’t here yet, but maybe we can see it off in the distance.

For DuBose Law Firm,  it’s been a year not only of challenges, but also of persistence and innovation.  Through it all, we’ve remained true to our core purpose: helping individuals who have been harmed.  

DuBose Law Firm pressed forward with the first ever remote live stream oral argument before the Tennessee Supreme Court,  an in-person bench trial in Texas and numerous depositions and hearings via Zoom. Like most businesses, we began working remotely in March 2020.  We’re also taking this time to use even more technology in our practice.  Finally, as we start to physically return to our desks, we’ve incorporated COVID19 policies and measures to ensure a safe work place.   

The pandemic didn’t just throw our practice a curveball – it threw sand into the wheels of justice.  Social distancing and other public health measures brought traditional American jury trials to a halt.  Courts responded by experimenting with Zoom trials.  Some started with jury selection via Zoom followed by socially distanced trials at the courthouse.  Other courts conducted entire trials by Zoom.  Now, increasing vaccination rates may soon bring us back to in-person jury trials.  Dallas County Courts, for instance, just announced that in-person jury trials will resume beginning in June.

We count our blessings and are proud of the persistence and hard work of our law firm over the past year to continue to help and support our clients.  While we can hopefully begin see the end of the pandemic taking shape, we will never forget this past year or the 565,000 Americans who have died to date from COVID19.

Please continue to protect yourself and your loved ones.  Continue to wear masks, socially distance and get vaccinated.  Better days are ahead. 

Global Asbestos Awareness Week

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Easily inhaled asbestos fibers

The theme of the 2021 Global Asbestos Awareness Week is “One Word. One Week. One World.” Since 2005, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) has hosted a week of education and action to end the use of asbestos. Though the dangers of asbestos have been known for decades, there remains a need to educate the public and those in office who can make a difference in its importation and use. April 1-7 of each year we are reminded that this danger still exists and threatens lives. Since the first Global Asbestos Awareness Week in 2005 until today, it is estimated 600,000 Americans lost their lives to asbestos-caused illnesses.

U.S. Senate passed 16th resolution for “Global Asbestos Awareness Week”

The Senate once again formally recognized the need for public exposure to the dangers of asbestos. Linda Reinstein, mesothelioma widow and ADAO co-founder, congratulated the Senate for the passage of S. Res. 145. Reinstein wrote, “We are grateful to Congress for passing this resolution and once again putting the dangers of asbestos exposure on the national radar, but we must do more.” She further emphasized, “With this continuation of use and an increase in imports, awareness of the dangers of asbestos, and an eventual ban on imports and use, are more important than ever. Unlike the more than 70 countries that have banned asbestos, Americans remain at risk of asbestos exposure every day from a variety of places, including our schools, homes, workplaces, and from unsuspecting products on consumer shelves like toys and cosmetics.”

What are the dangers of asbestos?

Asbestos is a mineral that can be used in the manufacture of many products, including insulation, shingles, brake pads, tile mastic, cosmetics and hundreds of other uses. Though it’s been known for over a century that asbestos exposure can be deadly – no matter the level of exposure ­– there is still no ban in the United States.

Inhalation of asbestos causes a spectrum of diseases including asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. There is currently no cure for mesothelioma – a disease which can be caused by even brief or intermittent asbestos exposures. 

How can Global Asbestos Awareness Week help?

Each year, goals are set to push forward the asbestos banning agenda. This year there are four main points:

            • Banning the mining, manufacturing, and use of asbestos

            • Preventing asbestos exposure

            • Increasing compliance and enforcement of existing laws and regulations

            • Strengthening international partnerships

Reinstein reported, “The United States imported nearly 30 percent more asbestos in 2020 than in the prior year. With this continuation of use and an increase in imports, awareness of the dangers of asbestos, and an eventual ban on imports and use, are more important than ever.”

What can you do to help?

If you suspect asbestos in your home or business built before 1980, have an abatement professional inspect before any remodeling or disturbance of the material. If you’ve been exposed, let your doctors know so they can create a baseline and monitor you for signs of asbestos disease.

During this Global Asbestos Awareness Week, let your congressional and senatorial representatives, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), know your concerns and the need for a ban. This is long past due; let’s make it happen!

Federal Task Force OKs Free Lung Cancer Early Testing

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Free lung cancer screening

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) says the benefits of free lung cancer early testing could be significant – especially for women and Black people. This task force is an independent assembly of 16 physicians and scientists who evaluate medications and tests. As a federally appointed group, they have recommended major changes in how, who and when people should begin this testing for lung cancer.

Under the Affordable Care Act, private insurers must cover services, without patient cost-sharing, that receive “A” or “B” recommendations from the task force.  The lung-cancer screening recommendation received a “B” rating.  Medicare also generally follows the group’s recommendations.

Why invest in these additional scans?

Lung cancer is the leading cause of death from cancer. While lung cancer diagnoses are fairly low before the age of 50, it increases rapidly after that age and especially after 60 years of age.

However, the survival rate is higher when the disease is caught in the earliest stages.   The conclusion of the task force was that broadening eligibility for lung cancer screening would save a substantial number of lives each year. 

How should people be tested?

Testing would begin with an annual low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) scan. People with cancer have a much better chance of survival when diagnosed early. This type of screening identifies small possible cancers and has shown a substantially reduced risk of dying from lung cancer.

However, it does have limitations. LDCD doesn’t detect all types of lung cancer. When it does detect cancers, it may not be at an early stage and does not ensure an avoidance of death from the disease. Detection of a false positive is also a possibility. This may mean additional tests and anxiety for the patient.

Who should receive lung cancer early screening?

According to the USPSTF 2021 recommendations:

Adults 50 – 80 who have smoked approximately 1 pack a day for 20 years.

In all cases, the testing is for people who currently smoke or quit within the past 15 years.

Those who develop lung cancer from exposure to asbestos would definitely benefit from earlier and frequent testing. Smoking paired with asbestos exposure leads to a much greater risk for lung cancer than those with similar smoking habits and no asbestos exposure.

What age should testing begin?

According to the new proposed guidelines, testing would start at 50 for those who meet the qualifications. This should be followed with annual checkups.

Is this covered by insurance?

Through a provision of the Affordable Care Act, since this lung cancer recommendation has a “B” rating from the task force, costs are covered by private insurers. There is also no cost-sharing by the patient. Medicare generally follows the task force’s guidance.

Varying opinions on lung cancer early testing

“We have to find these lung cancers early. It’s a very minimal test,” according to Roy S. Herbst, a lung-cancer specialist at the Yale Cancer Center. He is enthusiastic that identifying this cancer at an early stage means a better chance of treating or curing it. Estimates claim fewer than 5 percent of eligible Americans have had screening for lung cancer.

On the more cautious side, Daniel S. Reuland, professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, co-wrote an analysis of pros and cons. In that analysis he said, “Screening high-risk people with low-dose CT can reduce lung cancer mortality but also causes false-positive results leading to unnecessary tests and invasive procedures, overdiagnosis, incidental finding, increases in distress, and, rarely, radiation-induced cancers.” Follow-up tests can be costly and cause anxiety. He and other physicians believe that along with the screening must be shared decision making between doctors and patients. The pluses and minuses need to be explained to the patient before testing.

Dr.  John Wong, a member of the task force and an internist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, believes finding a potentially lethal cancer at an early stage far outweighs the harms. Though follow-up tests from a screening might cause some anxiety, “if you miss a lung cancer, then it might spread and shorten your life.”

New Turn for Asbestos Reporting Under TSCA

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asbestos photo

A court ruling in the final days of 2020 for asbestos reporting under the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) may finally steer the EPA’s review of asbestos back in the right direction.

How the incoming Biden Administration responds to these developments will impact whether asbestos is finally labeled a toxin under TSCA and the extent of new asbestos reporting requirements for continued industry use of asbestos.

Background

A 2016 bipartisan amendment to TSCA created an agency review standard that seemed likely to result in asbestos finally being identified by the EPA as a toxin.  However, the EPA under the Trump Administration created a very narrow analysis based on too little information.  Legal challenges to that approach, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, slowed the final scope and status of the EPA’s asbestos risk analysis. Though the EPA released the first part of its risk evaluation on December 30, 2020, a federal district court decision handed down on December 22, 2020 could force the EPA to drastically change its assessment.    

Court ruling involving asbestos reporting

The federal district court ruling involved two cases – one brought by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) and a second filed by several states attorney generals.  Judge Edward Chen, in his 36-page ruling, found that the asbestos-containing products identified by the agency during the rule making process “appear to be only the tip of the iceberg.” Chen also held that gaps in the agency’s information create risk evaluation models which don’t have the ability to “make accurate assessments that capture all ‘reasonably available’ data.”

The Court ordered the EPA to make significant changes to its TSCA Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) Rule to close several loopholes. These include considering more in-depth information about potential uses of asbestos for its risk evaluation.  Judge Chen’s order also addressed closing two additional loopholes:  ending the reporting exemption for products with “impurities” (like asbestos contaminated talc products) and requiring current processors of asbestos products to report those uses. 

What happens next?

Assuming the Biden Administration chooses not to appeal Judge Chen’s order,  the district court’s opinion will require EPA to amend its TSCA Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) Rule to require additional asbestos reporting from companies using asbestos and raw material that may be contaminated with asbestos – such as talc-based cosmetics. The data gathered through additional reporting may require the EPA to revise its conclusions or conduct yet another evaluation.  

This will impact not only the EPA’s Part 1 – risk evaluation of current asbestos uses, but Part 2 as well – risk evaluation for legacy uses of asbestos. Safer consumer products and cosmetics could also be the upshot of more stringent asbestos reporting requirements.