4% of Americans are cancer survivors. That’s well over 10 million people. The numbers are the net result of an annual US toll of 1.5 million new cancer diagnoses, and 550,000 deaths.
America’s over 10 million cancer survivors move forward with their lives with increasingly specialized legal needs. I’m proud to say that my law firm’s experience in enforcing legal rights insurers is now being applied as part of a group of volunteer lawyers willing to assist survivors pro bono in asserting their legal rights to care. To that end, my firm, Childress Duffy Goldblatt, also is the presenting sponsor for a Friday June 18, 2010 Cancer Rights Conference at Loyola Law School in Chicago.
The conference agenda and registration packet is here. A similar seminar will be held on Friday October 8, 2010 at the Ronal;d Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles; the conference registration form is online here.
The 2010 Cancer Rights Conferences are results of the great work of the Cancer Legal Resource Center (CLRC), a joint program of the Disability Rights Legal Center and Loyola Law School Los Angeles. The CLRC is a national, nonprofit organization that provides information and resources on cancer-related legal issues to people coping with cancer. The CLRC is the only national effort aimed at specifically asserting the legal rights for persons with all types of cancer.
There also are growing efforts by groups associated with particular forms of cancer. A growing American Bar Association group is focused on asserting the rights of breast cancer patients.
Sadly, the needs for legal advocacy are increasing for cancer patients. More advocacy is needed in part because of the improper claims handling practices habits of some national insurers. Advocacy needs also are increasing because rates of cancer are still climbing for some types of cancers, including continuing increases in some cancer rates for children. Data from the National Cancer Institute shows: “Cancer is the leading cause of death by disease among U.S. children between infancy and age 15. Approximately 10,730 new cases of pediatric cancer are expected to be diagnosed in children 0–14 years of age in 2009.”
According to detailed 2010 data from the American Cancer Society, the overall odds of facing a cancer diagnosis during are a lifetime are about 1 in 2 for men, and 1 in 3 for women. This YouTube presentation from the ACS provides all the depressing data, including that 25% of annual US deaths are from cancer.
The CLRC’s Director is a tireless and wonderful person, Joanna Fawzy Morales. Mrs. Morales is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at Loyola Law School, teaching a seminar in Cancer Rights Law.
The CLRC’s mission and accomplishments are as follows, as taken from its website:
The CLRC has a national, toll-free Telephone Assistance Line (866-THE-CLRC) where callers can receive free and confidential information about relevant laws and resources for their particular situation. Members of the CLRC’s Professional Panel of attorneys, insurance agents, and accountants can provide more in-depth information and counsel to CLRC callers.
In July of 2009, the CLRC received its 30,000th call to its Telephone Assistance Line (866-THE-CLRC). Since its founding in 1997, the CLRC remains unique, providing invaluable cancer-related legal information and resources to people nationwide. The success of the Center’s work is reflected in the enormous need for the information they provide. Throughout its 12-year history, the CLRC has served over 155,000 people through the Telephone Assistance Line, conferences, seminars, workshops, outreach programs, and other community activities.
CLRC staff members also speak at seminars and outreach events in the cancer community, across the nation, including trainings for health care professionals. If you would like CLRC staff to attend your next event, please complete our Event Request & Material Order Form or call us at (213) 252-8449 or (866) 843-2572.
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