Until now only two things have been certain about the rare cancer called Mesothelioma: First, that it is with near certainty caused by exposure to asbestos; Second, that the disease is terminal. Mesothelioma affect some 3,000 victims each year – mostly retired blue collar laborers who were exposed years ago to the lethal substance when they were employed as steam fitters, electricians, construction workers, electricians, ship builders and the like.
Weitz & Luxenberg P.C., the law firm most associated with battling on behalf of Mesothelioma victims and their families looks forward to a time when victims’ lives can be significantly extended and their quality of life significantly enhanced.
For a quarter century, Weitz & Luxenberg, with national headquarters in New York City has won, for decades, noteworthy verdicts and settlements for victims of this dread disease and other victims of catastrophic torts. “But no amount of money can compensate for the loss of a loved one whose only crime was laboring for an honest living,” say the founding partners Perry Weitz and Arthur Luxenberg. “Which is why we are significantly supporting the promising Mesothelioma research being conducted at the Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center (VIC) of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) – the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School.”
“We decided to inject a meaningful personal gift into the VIC/MGH effort because clearly their novel approach to cancer immunotherapy holds the greatest near-term promise for our clients and other victims like them” say the partners. VIC/MGH has made significant progress in developing a protein engineered to combine molecule targeting tumor-cell-surface antigen with another protein that stimulates several immune functions. These have already shown prolonged survival in animal models.
With the gift from Weitz and Luxenberg it is hoped that the research can be accelerated in order to bring hope of prolonged life, and enhanced quality of life to Mesothelioma victims who currently can expect no more than two very painful years after a diagnosis has been made.
“As one of the best law firms representing the interests of Mesothelioma victims nationwide, we wanted to put our money behind a medical research team of equal quality and prominence”, say the partners. “VIC/MGH is today America’s greatest hope for the medical breakthrough that will help our clients.”
