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Residents insist that improvements in their communities—like roads and schools—can’t take place without using the asbestos that’s there. But rather than requiring realistic precautions when disturbing asbestos that would protect workers and residents, the law grants legal immunity to “owners of contaminated gravel, construction companies, landowners, workers and communities” if health hazards develop.​

Though developers had all their financing arrangements firmly in place, they didn’t anticipate having to pay an extra $2 million for a surprise issue: just before the deal was signed, the Lincoln Alliance building in downtown Rochester, NY, scheduled to be rehabbed into lofts, retail and office space, was revealed to be full of asbestos.

A recent asbestos removal in a Senate subway tunnel was supposedly done in legally safe ways. But police officers who had to be on duty nearby say they should have been outfitted with protective gear. Members of the police union have filed a formal complaint against the department with the union’s Office of Compliance.

Long-term follow-up data from a recent clinical trial show that a vaccine made from genetically modified human cancer cells may extend survival times for some patients with late-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). While the study did not include mesothelioma (meso) patients, it still holds promise for researchers to eventually find a similar treatment for meso.

A recent study showed that many victims of all types of lung cancer feel stigmatized in our society simply for having the disease. Because it is so often associated with smoking, lung cancer is thought of by many people as a preventable disease. There persists the sometimes-silent but still-painful judgment: it’s your fault you have it.