FACT- Here We Go Again

If we've learned one thing, it's this: the asbestos industry is incapable of doing the right thing. Their history speaks for itself.  A legacy of lying, poisoning, cheating, obfuscating and denying. Billions spent on covering up their crimes. Thousands  of preventable and premature deaths. Millions spent on lobbyists to change the laws to make it harder for victims to get to a jury. Nary a nickel invested in prevention or cure.

Every few years, the Asbestos industry gathers up their favorite politicians and prop up another bail out bill. The last one they called the FAIR act even though a six year old understood that the bill was anything but fair. The most recent effort is another fine tribute to George Orwell's dire warnings of the encroachment of "doublespeak" -- the FACT act (Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency). It's mission is to make it more difficult for asbestos cancer plaintiffs to get a fair trial with a chance for a full, honest and fair recovery. But, again, even a six year old understands that the only thing "transparent" about the FACT act is it's grotesque support of the abusers and abject criminalization of the abused.

Please read the article below posted by Susan Vento, whose husband Congressman Bruce Vento died from mesothelioma 15 years ago. (Susan has spoken out about this bill as far back as 2013.)  Bruce was one of the good guys. At the time, we advocated that Congress recognize Bruce's work by creating a mesothelioma research and treatment plan in his name. Congress, alas, looked the other way. Instead of launching an effort to cure asbestos cancer, they've instead chosen to spend the people's time ginning up embarrassing corporate bail out bills. 

Stay tuned. Like the Terminator, they're back, and they simply will not stop, unless we stop them. 
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Asbestos Victims to Congress: Stop Fast-Tracking Legislation That Would Violate Victims' Privacy  By Susan Vento, May 13, 2015

The Truth Behind the FACT Act

Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen, a non-profit, consumer rights advocacy group and think tank based in D.C., shared some facts regarding the so-called “Furthering Asbestos Claims Transparency Act” (FACT Act) in an article published in Huffington Post this week.

“Astoundingly, the corporate advocates for this legislation try to portray themselves as victims of asbestos litigation.”

FACT supporters would have you believe that asbestos companies, which made untold millions selling deadly products for much of the last century, are being “victimized” and “ganged-up” upon by attorneys representing the persons who were injured or killed. Mr. Weissman reveals, however, that lobbyists representing the asbestos industry and its insurers outnumber asbestos victim advocates by seven-to-one. Of the top 50 lobbying entities most frequently mentioning asbestos, 1,362 of the mentions are from those associated with the asbestos industry, while only 186 of the mentions are from those associated with lawyers representing asbestos victims or labor unions.

“With insurers and asbestos-using companies outdistancing asbestos victim advocates by a seven-to-one margin, the disparity in insider political power is evident.”

Then there is the fact that the largest asbestos lobbyist is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce followed in no particular order by Koch Industries, Chubb Insurance, Ford Motor Company and WR Grace. Companies under the Koch “umbrella” and Ford are some of the most commonly-named defendants in asbestos cases. Not due to fraud, as they would have you believe, but due to the fact that they knowingly sold products that would cause many users to suffer painful and untreatable illness. The FACT Act is simply the latest effort to avoid responsibility for their grave and callous acts.

Mr. Weissman nails it with his closing thought; “It's hard to imagine that America would pay back the victims of a horrendous corporate cover-up by invading their privacy and victimizing them yet again.” 

Veterans Day Surprise Coming From Congress?

Written by Susan Vento and Judy Van Ness

This article was originally posted November 10, 2013, on chillicothegazette.com

On Monday, Americans will observe Veterans Day. Some people will observe it with a day off from work or checking out the special Veterans Day sales at department stores. But the real meaning of the day should be to think about the great sacrifices of the men and women who deserve to be honored. Instead, these same honorable men and women might be dishonored by a Congressional vote next week on the Furthering Asbestos Claims Transparency Act.

Asbestos, a known human carcinogen that has killed millions of people during the past several decades, has not been banned in the U.S. It remains a threat to Americans in our homes, schools and workplaces, and about one-third of all victims are veterans. Disasters such as 9/11 and Superstorm Sandy exposed many more people to asbestos dangers. Meanwhile, experts estimate that about 10,000 people die in the U.S. every year as a result of exposure to asbestos.

We watched our husbands die from mesothelioma, caused by asbestos. Former Rep. Bruce Vento died from mesothelioma 13 years ago, after being exposed to asbestos in three different worksites while working his way through college to become a junior high science teacher on the east side of St. Paul, Minn. Richard Van Ness died Aug. 30, 2012. His exposure began while serving in the forward engine room on the USS Charles R. Ware destroyer (1968-1971). Both men served their country with distinction and died needlessly. This makes us do everything we can to fight for other victims and families.

The FACT Act is a cruel twist on a cruel disease, one that blames the victims for whatever meager compensation they might receive for lives cut dramatically short. It blames families that have to watch loved ones struggle to take their final breaths and smears them by saying they get too much. It is no more than blatant catering to the highly-financed interests of the asbestos industry, the American Legislative Exchange Council, the National Chamber of Commerce and Georgia Pacific, owned by the Koch brothers. It is not about transparency at all.

Instead, the FACT Act would require the unbelievable disclosure on a public website of asbestos victims’ personal information, including the last four digits of their Social Security numbers, financial information, information about their children and other sensitive data that could subject victims and their families to identity theft and possible criminal victimization. The bill is completely lopsided — asbestos companies have no such “transparency” requirements. It passed the U.S. House Judiciary Committee 17-14 in the spring with the committee refusing to hear from victims and families who will be affected by the bill's exposure of their personal information.

The bill’s supporters mistakenly claim it is needed to prevent fraud by asbestos victims when filing claims to company trusts and accuse the asbestos victims of ripping off the system. The asbestos company trusts were structured to enable the companies responsible for the lethal poisoning of workers to use bankruptcy reorganization to continue operating.

The Government Accountability Office analyzed many company trusts and found no evidence of fraud. Instead, a recent newspaper investigation of claims found only 0.35 percent of “anomalies” and those included clerical errors by the claims administrators of the company trusts.

If anyone is getting ripped off, it’s the asbestos victims and their families. The Rand Institute found the median payment is 25 cents on the dollar to asbestos victims, with some payments as low as 1.1 percent of the claim filed. H.R. 982 victimizes all asbestos victims, including veterans, exposing them to identity theft and further harm.

Susan Vento, widow of former Rep. Bruce F. Vento, D-Minn., and Judy Van Ness, widow of Richard Van Ness, are with the Asbestos Cancer Victims’ Rights Campaign.

Wall Street Journal Continues to Side with Asbestos Companies on Allegations of Asbestos Trust Fraud

The Wall Street Journal is continuing its practice of spreading asbestos trust fraud propaganda in its recent piece, “Exposing Asbestos Fraud.” The piece alleges that the judiciary is standing in the way of justice and that a judge ruling against a corporation while keeping the proceedings closed to the public is proof that there is fraud occurring in the asbestos trust system.

WSJ claims that North Carolina Federal Judge George Hodges is being “pushed” by plaintiffs’ attorneys to force Garlock Sealing Technologies to deposit an additional $1.3 billion into a bankruptcy trust for future asbestos claims, while Garlock feels that the $125 million trust they were forced to set up in 2010, after filing for bankruptcy in an attempt to secure immunity from lawsuits filed by persons injured by its asbestos products, should be more than enough to suffice.

WSJ asserts that plaintiffs’ attorneys filing claims with multiple bankruptcy trusts while pursuing others in court is a scam. WSJ, asbestos manufacturers and industry-backed government representatives like to call this practice “double-dipping.” Asbestos manufacturers feel that even if a plaintiff was exposed to asbestos through use of their products, if they were also exposed through use of another manufacturer’s product, they should only receive compensation for their deadly disease from one. This is not a scam, and there is nothing fraudulent about it, the majority of people who suffer from asbestos related disease were exposed to a wide variety of asbestos products from different manufacturers which ultimately caused their disease.

Lest we forget, the companies who manufactured and sold asbestos containing products up into the 1970s and 1980s knew for decades the harm caused by asbestos and kept it hidden, paying “scientists” and “industrial experts” to create false scientific articles, reports and evidence that asbestos was safe. Very much like what the Canadian government and asbestos industry were doing up into 2012, while Russia and other countries with thriving asbestos industries continue this practice today.

WSJ also criticizes Judge Hodges for closing his courtroom to the public during proceedings. WSJ and the industry would have you believe that keeping settlement information between different defendants confidential is deceitful. The truth is that settlements are the result of defendants deciding that the risk of going to trial before jury is too high, and it would be more beneficial for them to settle outside of court.

WSJ has previously expressed ardent  support of the deceitfully clever bill known as the Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency Act, the FACT Act, which would require asbestos trusts to file quarterly reports disclosing personal settlement information on claimants in an attempt to limit the payouts of other defendants, who are also found liable for causing a victim’s exposure. WSJ reported on rampant fraud occurring in the trust system, the sponsors of the bill even quoted WSJ’s “investigative reporting” as evidence at the bill’s hearing, but as we discussed here, both parties failed to present any actual evidence of fraud.

WSJ continues to claim that fraud is occurring in the trust system but still offers no actual evidence. They state that Garlock was forced into bankruptcy because of fraudulent claims, again with no evidentiary support. If Garlock was forced into bankrupty, it was due to being tried and found guilty for causing harm to thousands of people in court systems all over the country. WSJ also alleges that Judge Hodges’ ruling against Garlock must be wrong simply because they are not privy to the transcripts. WSJ seems to believe that they should be able rule over these cases, and it’s a good thing they do not, as they have made it clear who they think the real victims are.