October 20th, 2004

They’ve already tried it once and now they’re all set to have another bash at it. Some member of US Congress seem determined to have an asbestos trust fund in place before the year’s out. However, despite the sum of the total trust fund rising dramatically from the paltry figure proposed in the failed bill earlier this year, there is still much unrest with regard to who will – or won’t – benefit from this bill.

Much of the unrest comes after the publication of the Senate’s criteria for identifying and treating mesothelioma and asbestos-affected victims. The criteria put forward by the Senate differs quite radically from that published by the American Thoracic Society.

Medical specialists claim that the criteria and the trust fund in general will leave many victims out in the cold. Many patients’ medical bills alone come to between $400,000 and $800,000 and this trust fund and the unrealistic criteria could mean that many victims spend their last days simply trying to raise the money to pay for pain relief and a last stab at treatment.

Dr. Michael Harbut, co-author of the ATS study and chief of the Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Wayne State University stated: "On the basis of the current science and medicine, the diagnostic criteria in Sen. Hatch's bill are outdated, incorrect and incomplete, and if enacted into law, will harm untold numbers of patients."