Posted on January 7, 2015
Every Asbestos and Mesothelioma Story Matters.
David McCumber
, Hearst Washington bureau chief with a career spanning over forty years, has been telling the REAL story about the plight of asbestos victims, corruption, and lack of policy to end this man-made disaster for decades. Through his impactful writing, our stories and the shocking facts are being read, felt, shared, and remembered.
David has recently wrote a series of patient based articles and shared the stories of Paul, Courtney, and Stephanie about the impact of asbestos and mesothelioma on their individual lives, their anger, grief, and the startling facts about asbestos, including that it remains legal and lethal today. Although Congress has made several efforts to legislate a complete asbestos ban — efforts have been thwarted by powerful industrial lobbyists and partisan interests.
His articles have and will continue to educate Americans about the dangers of asbestos and the irrefutable facts about continued asbestos imports.
And if David’s articles shock you into a state of disbelief, I avidly recommend the book “An Air That Kills” by Andrew Schneider and David McCumber. Here the authors broke the horrifying true story about the decades-long asbestos poisoning of Libby, Montana.
Asbestos remains legal and lethal in the USA and our fight continues. In 1989 the US Environmental Protection Agency tried to ban asbestos, but powerful industries fought the ban. They won and public health lost. Today, millions of pounds of asbestos enter US ports every year. Without an asbestos ban in place, an estimated 220,000 Americans have died from asbestos-related diseases from 1989 to today.
Below are links to David’s three published stories:
Paul Zygielbaum (California): “Asbestos victim wages resolute battle to ban deadly substance”
Larry and Courtney Davis (Connecticut): “Despite toxic nature, asbestos still deadly, still around”
Stephanie Harper (Texas): “Asbestos remains legal despite fatal illnesses linked to it”
Most Americans can’t identify asbestos and therefore manage the risk. ADAO will continue our work to protect public health and asbestos victims’ civil rights, but we face a challenging 2015 and we will need your help even more during the coming months.
ADAO was honored to be able to connect him with these three families. Paul, Courtney, and Stephanie – thank you for bravely sharing your stories. Larry, we miss your spirit and spunk – rest assured – no one is giving up on an banning asbestos or finding a cure.
David’s photo is included in the ADAO graphic, as his stories mattered too!
Enough is enough.
Linda