It is with great sadness that I report the death of Steve Lee from mesothelioma.

I met Steve through his fundraising work for the June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund, of which I am a trustee.

Since he was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2007, Steve organised fundraising efforts through his running club, the Reading Roadrunners.

In 2009 Steve even ran the Reading half marathon, which took great courage and determination bearing in mind his condition.

Steve helped to raise more than £40,000 for mesothelioma research. The Steve Lee fellowship grant is now funding a London-based mesothelioma research project, which is very fitting and will be a lasting legacy.

Our condolences go out to Steve’s friends and family.

I recently attended the 5th Annual Patient & Carer Day, organised by Mesothelioma UK. Over 200 people attended the event in central London.

As always this was a useful event featuring a number of guest speakers with expertise in various aspects of mesothelioma care.

In the morning Professor Thomas Vogl of the Institute of Diagnostic and International Radiology in Frankfurt spoke about the role of chemoperfusion in mesothelioma. Debbie Brewer underwent chemoperfusion treatment 22 months ago and seems to be doing well, which gives others with mesothelioma hope for the future.

Jeremy Steele and John Edwards said that Professor Vogl must prove that chemoperfusion is both effective and cost-effective before it can be offered on the NHS. Professor Vogl pointed towards the apparent success in his current study but accepted the need for a randomised clinical trial to further explore this treatment method. He stressed that chemoperfusion is not a curative treatment but told us that patients tolerate the procedure well with 72% being discharged on the same day.

Dr Maurice Orange of Attwood Clinic in Worcestershire gave a talk on an integrated approach to mesothelioma treatment using mistletoe and hyperthermia. Dr Orange told us that this treatment, which is not available on the NHS, stimulates the immune system and has a positive effect on the quality of life of those treated. Interestingly a Merseyside PCT has said they will pay for this treatment for one of our clients.

Dr Mary O’Brien talked about how acupuncture can help to alleviate the worst effects of breathlessness suffered by those with mesothelioma.

Tony Whitston told us that the Mesothelioma UK forum is expanding and taking in patient groups. He stressed the importance for all asbestos and mesothelioma support groups to work together and share information.

Overall the day proved to be extremely interesting and I picked up lots of useful information to share with my colleagues. Getting so many experts together in one place is never straight-forward so I’d like to congratulate the organisers on a successful day.

I am a solicitor in the Asbestos Disease Litigation Team in Irwin Mitchell’s Birmingham Office.  My blog follows two mesothelioma suffers ‘William’ and ‘John’ through the compensation process to show how claims work and to highlight some issues which commonly arise.

After I obtained medical reports for ‘John’ and ‘William’ I prepared schedules of their financial losses.

At the heart of the claim is the principle of putting my client back in the position that they would have been in had they not become ill. Whilst it is only possible to do this in a personal injury claim through a payment of compensation, there are a range of financial losses that can potentially be claimed for.

Both John and William had suffered financial losses from their illness. Both were being looked after by their wives and so we were able to include claims for the care that they provided to John and William. The basis of the claim is that, if John and William were not lucky enough to have wives to care for them, they may have needed to employ professional carers to help them through their illness. Bill’s wife said that she knew she might be compensated for being his nurse, she would have made him call her ‘Sister’!

We can claim for expenses that have reasonably been incurred as a result of the illness. John has invested in a stair lift because he suffers with breathlessness which slows him down and makes stairs difficult. Again this is something that we would claim for in his claim.

William had been in hospital on several occasions and had been visited by members of his family. We included claims for William's travel as well as for members of his family. John had also travelled to the hospital and been in the middle of a DIY project in his home. He was in the process of putting an extension on his house and, being a skilled tradesman, he was doing most of the work himself. Unfortunately William’s illness has prevented him from carrying on this work and he had needed to bring in tradesman to finish it for him. We included these losses within his claim because, had he not got ill, he would not have had to pay others to do the work.

Many of my clients are surprised by the range of financial losses we can include in a claim. I just have to keep reminding them to keep the receipts and records. John had recently bought a shredder and I have had great difficulty in convincing him not to shred the receipt for his stair lift.

I am a solicitor in the Asbestos Disease Litigation Team in Irwin Mitchell’s Birmingham Office.  My blog follows two mesothelioma suffers ‘William’ and ‘John’ through the compensation process to show how claims work and to highlight some issues which commonly arise.

In my last blog I talked about obtaining medical evidence in John & Williams cases.  I explained that we needed evidence from the expert Doctor to confirm that their illness was indeed a mesothelioma and whether it was related to exposure to asbestos at work. 

The other issue that the expert Doctor had to comment on in both cases is the loss of their statistically anticipated life expectancy.  The issue of loss of life expectancy is one of the hardest issues to deal with in a claim.  Unfortunately, however distressing the topic may be to discuss, legally the loss of life and anticipated life expectancy is a crucial factor in calculating the level of financial losses awarded to Claimants, I will explain more about this in a future blog.

In order to determine the loss of life expectancy the expert Doctor looked at both John & Williams’ medical records.  John was an extremely fit man before his illness and the expert Doctor felt that had he not developed mesothelioma, he would have probably have enjoyed a life expectancy which was at least that of a normal man of his age, if not longer.  William had heart problems so the expert felt that, on average, he was slightly less likely to enjoy a normal life expectancy.  The actual number of years the life expectancy is calculated from the statistics prepared by the Government for life expectancy for the general population.

Whilst loss of life expectancy is a crucial issue in calculating the financial losses it is something that I always shield my clients from as far as possible.  Although this issues is crucial to a claim, it does not mean I had to talk John and William through the experts view of life expectancy.  After all, my job is to help my clients through the compensation process in a way that is as easy and comfortable for them as possible.

A research team from the University of Hawaii may have identified how asbestos exposure causes mesothelioma.

Dr Haining Yang and Michele Carbone led the team that included researchers from around the world.

The team found that when asbestos fibres kill cells they start a process called “programmed cell necrosis”. This causes the cell to release a protein, HMGB1. The protein leads to changes in a cell’s genetic structure that cause it to mutate into a malignant cancer cell.

The researchers found people exposed to asbestos have higher levels of the protein in their serum, which may allow earlier identification and treatment of the disease.

The team is now planning to start clinical trials in a remote region in Cappadocia, Turkey, where more than half of the population dies from mesothelioma.

These findings open up a range of research possibilities that could help to find new treatments for mesothelioma. We hope that the clinical trials in Turkey produce positive results that can then be applied elsewhere to help those suffering from this dreadful disease.