A recent study shows that five years of cancer care for the elderly costs Medicare approximately $21.2 billion.  This staggering figure is expected to swell as the baby boomers age.  The study, which was based on costs generated by cancer patients diagnosed in 2004, reveals that the highest costs are incurred during the first 12 months after diagnosis. Joseph Lipscomb, a health policy researcher at Emory University in Atlanta, said the study is the first to combine cost estimates and survival data to arrive at long-term national estimates for 18 of the most common types of cancers in the elderly. In men, brain and nervous system cancers were measured to be the costliest, whereas in women, ovarian and lung cancers are the most expensive.   For the full findings, click here.

The United States and Canada are two of very few countries which have not yet outlawed asbestos.  But formative plans in Canada reveal that steps are being taken towards a comprehensive ban.

Unions in British Columbia are urging Parliament to endorse a New Democratic Party plan to prohibit the use of the toxin in Canada.  The plan includes phasing out the use and export of asbestos, as well as providing assistance to asbestos miners in Canada.  Over the next 5 years, 1500 British Columbia miners are expected to die of mesothelioma or other asbestos-related complications, so supporters are pushing fervently for immediate action.  For the complete story, click here.

The bill to provide $4.9 million for mesothelioma research in Minnesota has been enacted.  Governor Tim Pawlenty signed the document yesterday, finalizing the long process of approval.  The research, which is expected to take five years, aims to explain why dozens of miners from the Iron Range have been struck with mesothelioma.  The funds are coming from the state's Department of Commerce and will be divided among state universities over time.  Read the full article here.

Doctor Stephen E. Guilder of Plantation, Florida, received nearly $24.2 million in a suit against Honeywell regarding asbestos exposure.  Guilder was diagnosed in September with the rare form of mesothelioma that forms in the abdominal lining: peritoneal mesothelioma.  The verdict is Florida's largest  asbestos settlement involving a single defendant.

Guilder claims that Honeywell knew of the dangers related to asbestos but produced no warning to its employees.  Guilder worked with Honeywell's asbestos brakes in the 1970s and early '80s. 

"I am very pleased that the jury held Honeywell accountable for the devastating harms it caused Dr. Guilder and his family,'' said his attorney, David A. Jagolinzer, in a statement. Guilder has been married for more than 20 years and has three children, ages 18, 16 and 14.

Today in Australia, asbestos campaigner Bernie Banton was honored by friends and family during the International Day of Mourning for Dead and Injured Workers.  Banton spent much of his lifetime advocating for asbestos justice by working for changes in compensation legislation and fighting to have the mesothelioma drug Alimta included on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.  He died last November at age 61 from mesothelioma.

Mourners gathered today at Reflection Park in Sydney's Darling Harbor.  Reverend Bruce Banton said of his brother, "My brother Bernie was one who stood up and was counted and stood for what he felt was right, and right until the end of his life he cared for others.''

Read the full article here.