ITS TENTACLES RUN DEEP.
ITS VICTIMS ARE MANY.
MOST OF WHOM HAVE NO IDEA FOR SEVERAL YEARS THAT THEY ARE EVEN
AFFECTED.
THIS MORNING, IN THIS BEHIND THE MYSTERY - RARE GENETIC DISEASES
SEGMENT, WE'RE GONNA DISCUSS A VERY UNUSUAL CANCER:
MESOTHELIOMA.
OUR GUEST THIS MORNING, OUR ATTORNEY MARC BERN, AND ALSO
PULMONARY SPECIALIST, DR.
DAVID KAMELHAR.
GOOD MORNING, GENTLEMEN.
GOOD MORNING, OLGA.
GOOD MORNING, DOCTOR.
GOOD MORNING TO YOU.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE.
DOCTOR, LET ME START WITH YOU.
TELL ME EXACTLY WHAT IS MESOTHELIOMA.
MESOTHELIOMA IS A CANCEROUS CONDITION OF THE MESOTHELIUM.
THE MESOTHELIUM IS THE DELICATE MEMBRANE THAT WRAPS AROUND THE
LUNG AND WHICH COATS THE CHEST CAVITY WHERE THE LUNG SITS.
DURING NORMAL BREATHING, THOSE TWO SURFACES GLIDE AGAINST ONE
ANOTHER FOR NORMAL, COMFORTABLE BREATHING THAT ALLOWS IRRITATION
NOT TO OCCUR IN THAT SPOT.
IF AN ASBESTOS IS INHALED, ASBESTOS MOVES ITS WAY TOWARD
THE EDGE OF THE LUNG AND REACHES THE MESOTHELIUM, REACHES THE
EDGE OF THE LUNG, AND CAN CAUSE INFLAMMATION IN THOSE DELICATE
CELLS.
ASBESTOS HAS BEEN DIRECTLY LINKED TO THIS MALIGNANT CHANGE.
ASBESTOS IS BY FAR AND AWAY THE MOST COMMON CAUSE OF
MESOTHELIOMA.
OKAY.
MARC, LET ME BRING YOU IN IT.
LET'S TALK ABOUT ASBESTOS.
TELL ME ABOUT IT.
ASBESTOS IS A NATURALLY OCCURING MINERAL THAT IS MINED.
AND FOR MANY, MANY YEARS, THE WORKERS IN THOSE MINES WERE NOT
TOLD ABOUT THE TERRIBLE DANGERS INVOLVED WITHOUT USING THE
PROPER RESPIRATORY EQUIPMENT OR OTHER THINGS TO PROTECT
THEMSELVES, PARTICULARLY FROM BREATHING IN THIS TERRIBLE,
TERRIBLE FIBER.
AND YOU KNOW, GENTLEMEN, THIS BRINGS TO MIND--AND CORRECT ME
IF I'M WRONG--THE WORLD TRADE CENTER, 9/11, AFTER THE FACT, SO
MANY RESCUE WORKERS, PEOPLE VOLUNTEERING, HELPING, AND THEY
WEREN'T REALLY WEARING ANYTHING TO PROTECT THEMSELVES AND...AM I
WRONG, DOCTOR, THAT MANY CASES CAME OUT AFTER THAT?
THE LATENCY PERIOD IS AT LEAST TEN YEARS.
MOST OFTEN THIRTY YEARS.
BUT CERTAINLY, THE 9/11 EXPERIENCE, THE WORLD TRADE
CENTER EXPERIENCE IS A VERY GOOD EXAMPLE OF PEOPLE WHO ARE NOW
BEGINNING TO FEEL THE EFFECTS OF INHALING MATERIALS THAT NOBODY
RECOGNIZED AS BEING PROBLEMATIC WHILE THEY WERE EXPOSED TO IT.
AND MARC, YOUR THOUGHTS?
WELL, SO MANY OF THOSE HEROES, THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO WENT DOWN
TO THE SITE, RESCUE AND RECOVERY WORKERS, WERE TOLD OF COURSE
THAT THE SITE WAS OKAY.
DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT.
THEY WEREN'T GIVEN THE PROPER RESPIRATORY EQUIPMENT.
AND HERE THEY WERE EXPOSED TO THIS TOXIC SOUP, WHICH INCLUDED
ASBESTOS AND OTHER VERY, VERY DANGEROUS MATERIALS.
AND SO TODAY, UNFORTUNATELY, WE'RE SEEING THE BEGINNING OF
THOSE EXPOSURES, WHICH NOT ONLY INCLUDES MESOTHELIOMA, BUT LUNG
CANCER, WHICH IS ALSO CAUSED BY EXPOSURE TO ASBESTOS.
DOCTOR, ARE THERE SYMPTOMS THAT ONE COULD BE AWARE OF?
SYMPTOMS OF MESOTHELIOMA ARE THE SAME SYMPTOMS OF ANY LUNG
CONDITION.
THE LUNG CAN MAKE YOU COUGH.
THE LUNG CAN MAKE YOU SHORT OF BREATH.
THERE COULD BE PAIN IN THE CHEST, AND PERHAPS OTHERS, BUT
THERE'S NOTHING UNIQUE TO MESOTHELIOMA.
ALL RIGHT, GENTLEMEN, I WANT YOU TO STAY RIGHT THERE BECAUSE
WE'RE GONNA TAKE A QUICK BREAK...
(MUSIC).
...AND AFTER THE BREAK, WE'RE GONNA RETURN AND TALK ABOUT
WHO'S AT RISK.
WHO IS EXACTLY AT RISK.
YOU MIGHT BE ACTUALLY SURPRISED TO LEARN HOW CLOSE THIS COULD
HIT HOME.
IT'S VERY SURPRISING.
STAY WITH US.
WELCOME BACK, EVERYONE.
BEFORE THE BREAK, WE WERE DISCUSSING MESOTHELIOMA.
WE ARE REJOINED BY PULMONARY SPECIALIST, DR.
DAVID KAMELHAR, AND ATTORNEY, MARC BERN, SENIOR
PARTNER WITH THE NATIONAL LAW FIRM, NAPOLI BERN RIPKA
SHKOLNIK.
GENTLEMEN, LOOK AT THESE NUMBERS--AND I'D LIKE OUR
VIEWERS TO LOOK AT THIS AS WELL--AND THIS WAS ASTONISHING
TO ME.
APPROXIMATELY THREE THOUSAND NEW CASES OF MESOTHELIOMA ARE
DIAGNOSED EVERY YEAR.
AND THE THREE THOUSAND DOES NOT COUNT THE MANY THOUSANDS OF
ADDITIONAL CASES OF LUNG CANCER, WHICH ARE ALSO KNOWN TO HAVE
BEEN CAUSED BY EXPOSURE TO ASBESTOS.
MANY OF THESE ARE WORKERS, CONSTRUCTION WORKERS, MOST OF
THEM HAVE BEEN WORKING AROUND OR NEAR IT, BECAUSE ASBESTOS IS
EVERYWHERE.
BUT THAT DOESN'T INCLUDE ALL OF THEM.
WE HAVE MANY CASES OF PEOPLE WHO ARE AT HOME.
IN FACT, DOCTOR, YOU HAVE AN AMAZING STORY AND A VERY SAD
ONE, DIRECTLY RELATED TO THIS.
IT WAS REALLY ONE OF THE FIRST CASES OF MESOTHELIOMA THAT I
SAW, THAT I WAS INVOLVED WITH.
IT WAS A GIRL WHO, WHEN HER FATHER WORKED IN THE BROOKLYN
NAVY YARD, HE CAME HOME, AND SHE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR WASHING HIS
CLOTHES.
AND FROM THAT EXPOSURE, HE HAD THE ASBESTOS ON HIS CLOTHES.
SO IF THERE IS SUCH A THING AS SECOND-HAND EXPOSURE, I THINK
THAT'S A GOOD EXAMPLE OF IT.
SHE DEVELOPED MESOTHELIOMA.
OBVIOUSLY, SHE KNEW THAT SHE HAD ASBESTOS IN HER ENVIRONMENT
BECAUSE HER FATHER WORKED THERE, BUT IT'S THE HAIR DRYERS, THE
TOASTERS, THE OTHER HOME IMPROVEMENTS...
MARC, IT'S ALMOST LIKE MATERIALS, PRODUCTS THAT WE USE
EVERY DAY.
ABSOLUTELY, AND THIS IS WHAT WE CALL "TAKE HOME EXPOSURE."
CAN WE TALK ABOUT SOME TREATMENTS?
THE BEST TREATMENT IS SURGERY.
IF THERE IS A LOCALIZED CASE, WHERE THERE IS ONE AREA OF CHEST
WALL THAT IS INVOLVED, THEN THERE IS STILL ROOM FOR THAT.
MARC, LET ME END WITH YOU.
IF SOMEONE OUT THERE MAYBE KNOWS OF SOMEONE THAT'S BEEN EXPOSED
OR WONDERS IF THEY'VE BEEN EXPOSED, WHAT OPTIONS DO THEY
HAVE?
THEIR REAL OPTIONS ARE HOPE.
THEY HAVE TO REMAIN HOPEFUL.
AS DR.
KAMELHAR HAS INDICATED, THERE ARE...
THEY CONTINUE TO DO WORK EVERY DAY, BUT THEY MUST, MUST GET
MEDICAL HELP AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, GENTLEMEN.
THANK YOU, OLGA.
BOTH OF YOU FOR YOUR TIME.
DOCTOR, THANK YOU FOR CREATING AWARENESS.
AND YOU, MARC.
THANK YOU.
(MUSIC).
AND TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ASBESTOS AND ITS CONNECTION TO
MESOTHELIOMA, THE DEADLY FORM OF CANCER, AND TO LEARN MORE ABOUT
YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS, GO TO THIS WEBSITE.
THAT'S NAPOLIBERN.COM.
NAPOLIBERN.COM.