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Individuals Injured by Asbestos Exposure Oppose Specter's Trust Fund LegislationBNA DAILY REPORT FOR EXECUTIVES Representatives of people who are seriously ill from asbestos exposure April 25 told a senior staffer for Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) that they do not support a bill (S. 852) that would create a $140 billion trust fund to compensate workers exposed to asbestos. "No one wants this bill. No one," said Linda Reinstein, executive director of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Association, founded by individuals with asbestos-related lung disease and their family members. Referring to the "asbestos victims" she represents, she said "most people want their day in court. They want to face the defendants." Reinstein's husband was diagnosed two years ago with mesothelioma, a lethal form of lung cancer linked directly to asbestos exposure. The closed-door meeting among organizations representing the ill individuals and committee staff came a day before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the bill, which is scheduled for committee action April 28. It is unclear whether Specter has the votes to pass the bill out of committee, although it has the support of Committee Ranking Democrat Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). Several groups that oppose the legislation, including the AFL-CIO, have said they hope the committee markup will be cancelled because it does not have the votes to pass. But Reinstein told reporters she was given the impression that the markup would go forward. The bill would establish a privately funded, no-fault trust fund to compensate workers exposed to asbestos based on the severity of their conditions. With the establishment of the trust fund, the draft legislation then would bar all lawsuits alleging injury from asbestos exposure unless the fund runs out of money. Businesses and insurers would pay into the fund for an estimated 30 years. In addition to Leahy, the bill has the support several committee members, including Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), and Mike DeWine (R-Ohio). But the "gang of five" most conservative members of the committee-Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Sam Brown-back (R-Kansas), and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.)-have not yet signed on to the bill. 'One Hour and 10 Points.' Reinstein said the organizations representing the ill individuals were able only to touch on their multiple concerns with Specter's bill. "We had one hour and 10 points," she said. "We opened a door." Reinstein said her group has met with Specter's staff before, but not since he assumed the chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee. She also said her group has had meetings with at least 50 senators or their staffers in the past year about the asbestos bill. Drexel University Public Health Professor Arthur Frank said the bill's medical criteria that would determine who would be given awards "is unfair to victims." For example, he said, some workers with lung cancer would have to demonstrate at least a decade of occupational exposure to asbestos, even though scientific evidence indicates that a person's risk of lung cancer doubles with each month of exposure. ADAO Legislative Director Paul Zygielbaum said the award levels in the bill are too low for people who are ill from asbestos exposure. The top award under the bill, at $1.1 million, would barely cover the cost of the medical bills, he said. Zygielbaum, who has mesothelioma, said his most recent surgery cost in excess of $300,000. He said he would likely undergo the same treatment, at the same cost, several times "before I die in two years." Ellen Patton, who represented the Committee to Protect Mesothelioma Victims at the meeting, said she would get no compensation for her illness under the bill because she was exposed to asbestos as a child in her home, not as a worker. Reinstein expressed frustration at statements from lawmakers who support the bill and who say the measure is needed to provide compensation for people who are sick because of asbestos exposure and whose cases are caught up in endless litigation. "We are not being heard. We do not want this bill," she said. When asked whether the groups would prefer Specter's bill or no bill, she replied, "No bill. This is not the bill for us." Other groups opposing the bill that were at the meeting included the Environmental Working Group, the White Lung Association, New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, and 9/11 Environmental Action, a group focused on assistance for New York City residents who were exposed to asbestos and other harmful substances as a result of the Sept. 11,2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
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