CANADA DELAYED ASBESTOS REPORT
International medical report links Canada’s multimillion-dollar asbestos industry to lung cancer

April 16, 2009 – A health report by a panel of international experts linking the multimillion-dollar Canadian asbestos industry to lung cancer has ignited a new debate over the future of Canada’s lucrative asbestos industry – a controversial issue in Quebec where the nation’s asbestos mining industry is based.

At the center of the controversy is the report’s conclusion that there is a “strong relationship” between lung cancer and the chrysotile asbestos that is mined in Quebec, specifically in Thetford Mines, a community of 26,000 residents located south of Quebec City. Thetford Mines currently generates some 550 jobs.

Canada is one of the world’s largest exporters of chrysotile asbestos, and exported more than $100 million worth of the toxic ore last year to Third World countries where regulations are lax and a lung cancer lawyer or a mesothelioma lawyer are unheard of.

Canada delays release of asbestos report

Health Canada, the nation’s federal health agency, received the report from the panel in March 2008, but delayed its release by more than a year, according to Canadian news service Canwest, which had to wait 10 months to receive the report under Canada’s Access to Information act.

A spokesperson for Health Canada attributed the delay to “time necessary to carefully review the findings of the report, and to consult other federal and provincial partners.”

Canada asbestos report chairman weighs in

Panel Chairman Trevor Ogden, editor-in-chief of The Annals of Occupational Hygiene based in Britain, confirmed in his introductory letter to the newly released report that there is a strong connection between Canada’s chrysotile asbestos and lung cancer. The panel found the relationship between chrysotile asbestos and mesothelioma “much less certain.”

Regarding the panel’s position on the link to mesothelioma, the chairman noted that his panel was comprised of members “who in the past have expressed strongly opposed views on this subject.” They even included an industry consultant who had previously been retained by asbestos producer Union Carbide Corp. and Canadian and California asbestos mining companies.

“I think the bottom line here is that all forms of asbestos cause both mesothelioma and lung cancer,” said another panelist, Leslie Stayner, director of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Illinois School of Public Health. “We will probably for many years still be debating this question of relative hazard of chrysotile. The fundamental question of whether it’s hazardous or not is clear. I think the answer to that is, yes, chrysotile is a hazardous substance.”

Top-ranked law firm for asbestos injuries

After 22 years of winning record-breaking verdicts and settlements for U.S. workers diagnosed with asbestos-related mesothelioma and lung cancer, Weitz & Luxenberg is pleased to announce that it has expanded its asbestos injury practice to Canada.

Workers or family members who have been diagnosed with a job-related asbestos disease, such as lung cancer, asbestosis or mesothelioma, and who wish to pursue monetary compensation for their family’s future well-being, can now file an asbestos lawsuit with confidence, the kind of confidence that only a New York-proven asbestos-injury law firm like Weitz & Luxenberg can inspire.

Please use the communication form on this page. There is no charge. The consultation is free and there is still no cost to you until the firm secures a verdict or settlement in your favor. Contact us today for a free evaluation of your case.