Merlin Olsen, an actor and football player best known for his role as Jonathon Garvey in Little House on the Prairie (a series about a pioneer family set in the 19th century in Minnesota), recently revealed that exposure to asbestos when he was young led to his contracting mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma is a rare and surprisingly lethal form of cancer that occurs in the mesothelial tissues, or linings, around the heart, lungs and abdominal organs.
Appearing as pleural mesothelioma, or lung cancer, in more than 50 percent of cases, the disease can also appear as pericardial mesothelioma, affecting the heart, in about 5 percent of cases, and as peritoneal mesothelioma, arising in the abdomen, in about 2 percent of cases. Even rarer incidences - of mesothelioma of the tunical tissues (which surround male and female sexual organs) - occur in less than one case per million.
Exact rates of mesothelioma remain difficult to determine due to the fact that doctors frequently misdiagnose it; patients who die from it are not always autopsied; and not all autopsies confirm its presence.
Mesothelioma is particularly lethal because it lies dormant for decades - as it did in Olsen's case - finally appearing when so many vital tissues and/or organs have been implicated that eradicating it is almost impossible. Most mesothelioma sufferers are given about a year to live.
Aggressive treatments involving surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy with third generation cancer drugs can improve outcomes by about four months, but the best hope is early diagnosis, now made possible by novel testing of pleural effusion fluid for a particular protein marker.
For Olsen, who appeared in about 60 percent of the episodes of Little House on the Prairie, which ran for almost a decade (from 1972 to 1983), the source of his mesothelioma is most likely when he was about 11 years old.
In a case filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Olsen says he worked after school doing manual labor, which caused his exposure. He was also exposed as an adult, while handling drywall. Olsen's suit - which seeks damages from NBC Studios, NBC Universal, and 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, as well as Sherwin-Williams, the house paint manufacturer, and Lennox Industries, a heating, cooling and ventilation (HVAC) manufacturer which used the fibrous mineral as insulation in its products - has not yet been assigned a trial date. Olsen is currently undergoing chemotherapy.
For many television viewers, and for football fans in particular, Olsen is known as a 15-year veteran of the Los Angeles Rams, where he earned a slot on 1999's millennium list of 100 Greatest Football Players.
Olsen also played for the St. Louis Rams as a defensive lineman, earning a slot in the Football Hall of Fame, and for the Utah State Aggies, which intends to rename the Romney Stadium playing surface after what Utah State University President Stan Albrecht called "arguably the greatest football player in school history", referring to Olsen.
Olsen, who currently lives in Park City, is seeking damages in an unspecified amount, and was unable to attend the Sunday game announcing the renaming honor due to the state of his health. His son, Nathan, attended instead. The dedication comes almost exactly 50 years after Olsen led the Utah State team to a pair of bowl games. His jersey, No. 71, was retired several decades ago.
Olsen finished his football career and moved into acting and broadcasting, playing roles in television series like Little House, Father Murphy and Aaron's Way. He was also a television spokesperson for FTD Florists.
Source
Monday, March 15, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Gould’s Doctors Cleared By Jury
A medical malpractice suit brought against two doctors at a Harvard-affiliated hospital on behalf of a deceased Harvard professor was resolved Friday, ending in the exonerations of the doctors and awarding no damages to the plaintiff after nearly five years of legal battles.
In May 2002, renowned evolutionary biologist Stephen J. Gould died at age 60 from lung cancer just 10 weeks after doctors found the tumor, which had already spread to his liver, brain, and other organs. His wife, Rhonda Roland Shearer, brought suit three years later, claiming that the lesion that became cancerous was already evident in an X-ray taken of Gould’s chest in Feb. 2001.
Shearer named three doctors in the suit—Rebecca L. Dyson, who had examined chest X-rays taken in Feb. 2001 at Harvard-affiliate Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Harvard Medical School professor Robert J. Mayer, an oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute who had been Gould’s physician since 1993; and Salvatore G. Viscomi, who was exonerated earlier.
After deliberating for nearly five hours, the jury determined that neither doctor had been negligent, according to a clerk at the Mass. Middlesex Superior Court, where the trial was held.
“We are grateful that the jury looked at all the evidence and confirmed our view that Dr. Mayer provided high quality, appropriate, and compassionate care,” Dana-Farber spokesman Steven R. Singer said.
Mayer and Dyson’s lawyer William J. Dailey, Jr., credited the win to “very strong expert testimony on the part of the defendants indicating that they had complied with all practices at all times.”
The suit has been in the works since it was first filed in May 2005, and the trial itself lasted three weeks —an average length of time for a medical malpractice suit, according to the court’s clerk.
Gould had battled serious health issues earlier in his life. In 1982 he was diagnosed with abdominal mesothelioma, a cancerous growth in the tissue coating many organs that usually comes about as a result of asbestos exposure.
Gould recovered from the mesothelioma and “functioned at a very high level,” according to Dailey. Doctors at Dana-Farber, including Mayer, continued to follow Gould’s health. But Gould also suffered from small bowel obstructions, which Dailey described as painful and debilitating intestinal blockages, and was hospitalized in New York in March 2002 for his sixth such obstruction when the lung cancer was ultimately found, already at the final stage of progression.
Gould, a winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for “The Mismeasure of Man,” developed the theory known as “punctuated equilibrium,” which describes evolution as a sporadic, jerky process over a period of time rather than a smooth, gradual change in traits.
According to past Crimson coverage of the lawsuit, Gould was accustomed to a seven-figure income and was in the process of negotiating a $2 million book contract.
In May 2002, renowned evolutionary biologist Stephen J. Gould died at age 60 from lung cancer just 10 weeks after doctors found the tumor, which had already spread to his liver, brain, and other organs. His wife, Rhonda Roland Shearer, brought suit three years later, claiming that the lesion that became cancerous was already evident in an X-ray taken of Gould’s chest in Feb. 2001.
Shearer named three doctors in the suit—Rebecca L. Dyson, who had examined chest X-rays taken in Feb. 2001 at Harvard-affiliate Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Harvard Medical School professor Robert J. Mayer, an oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute who had been Gould’s physician since 1993; and Salvatore G. Viscomi, who was exonerated earlier.
After deliberating for nearly five hours, the jury determined that neither doctor had been negligent, according to a clerk at the Mass. Middlesex Superior Court, where the trial was held.
“We are grateful that the jury looked at all the evidence and confirmed our view that Dr. Mayer provided high quality, appropriate, and compassionate care,” Dana-Farber spokesman Steven R. Singer said.
Mayer and Dyson’s lawyer William J. Dailey, Jr., credited the win to “very strong expert testimony on the part of the defendants indicating that they had complied with all practices at all times.”
The suit has been in the works since it was first filed in May 2005, and the trial itself lasted three weeks —an average length of time for a medical malpractice suit, according to the court’s clerk.
Gould had battled serious health issues earlier in his life. In 1982 he was diagnosed with abdominal mesothelioma, a cancerous growth in the tissue coating many organs that usually comes about as a result of asbestos exposure.
Gould recovered from the mesothelioma and “functioned at a very high level,” according to Dailey. Doctors at Dana-Farber, including Mayer, continued to follow Gould’s health. But Gould also suffered from small bowel obstructions, which Dailey described as painful and debilitating intestinal blockages, and was hospitalized in New York in March 2002 for his sixth such obstruction when the lung cancer was ultimately found, already at the final stage of progression.
Gould, a winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for “The Mismeasure of Man,” developed the theory known as “punctuated equilibrium,” which describes evolution as a sporadic, jerky process over a period of time rather than a smooth, gradual change in traits.
According to past Crimson coverage of the lawsuit, Gould was accustomed to a seven-figure income and was in the process of negotiating a $2 million book contract.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Sokolove Law’s MesoRC Site Serves Illinois Mesothelioma Patients and their Families
Sokolove Law LLC, the leader in improving how people obtain legal services, has compiled information and resources for mesothelioma victims and their families living in Illinois on its Mesothelioma Resource Center website, MesoRC.com. The MesoRC.com site is designed to assist and provide information to those whose lives have been affected by mesothelioma and asbestos exposure.
To date, Sokolove Law has helped hundreds of mesothelioma and asbestos victims and their families resulting in Illinois gross settlements totaling $235 million dollars.
In addition, the Illinois resource section offers information on various social services in the areas of transportation, social clubs, utilities, veteran services and more to support those who have been affected by mesothelioma. Victims can also search for area mesothelioma doctors throughout Illinois that specialize in mesothelioma.
2000-3000 people continue to be diagnosed with mesothelioma each year. Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer which is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos. While there is no known cure, new research and mesothelioma treatment options are being developed which increase survival and quality of life for mesothelioma patients.
“We are proud of the work we’ve done over the last three decades on behalf of those who’ve been afflicted with asbestos-related illnesses,” said Jim Sokolove, Founder, Sokolove Law. “By creating a more efficient and useful place for information and communication, we hope to assist even more victims and their families, especially pertaining to their particular state.”
Source
To date, Sokolove Law has helped hundreds of mesothelioma and asbestos victims and their families resulting in Illinois gross settlements totaling $235 million dollars.
In addition, the Illinois resource section offers information on various social services in the areas of transportation, social clubs, utilities, veteran services and more to support those who have been affected by mesothelioma. Victims can also search for area mesothelioma doctors throughout Illinois that specialize in mesothelioma.
2000-3000 people continue to be diagnosed with mesothelioma each year. Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer which is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos. While there is no known cure, new research and mesothelioma treatment options are being developed which increase survival and quality of life for mesothelioma patients.
“We are proud of the work we’ve done over the last three decades on behalf of those who’ve been afflicted with asbestos-related illnesses,” said Jim Sokolove, Founder, Sokolove Law. “By creating a more efficient and useful place for information and communication, we hope to assist even more victims and their families, especially pertaining to their particular state.”
Source
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)