Victims of mesothelioma suffer terribly, and insurers and companies have collapsed financially because of the costs of monies paid to victims and to defense lawyers, not to mention insurance coverage lawyers and bankruptcy lawyers. And, of course, governments end up picking up many medical costs. Since past inhalations of asbestos cannot be undone, a good answer would be to find ways to cure – or at least manage – mesothelioma tumors. To that end, some governments are funding research focused on understanding the pathways that produce mesothelioma, and thus trying to find ways to cure, manage or prevent mesothelioma tumors. The most recent example is a $3.5 million grant by the Cancer Institute of New South Wales to researchers focused on mesothelioma.
One wonders when insurance companies will start direct investment in cancer research. Hundreds of thousands of mesotheliomas are predicted to occur around the globe over the next forty years. Since insurance companies live for return on investment, one wonders if they’ve done a decision tree analysis of the risk and return possibilities for finding better, cheaper medical paths to better outcomes for the victims.
The NSW press release includes the following:
"Almost $7 million has been granted to two eminent research groups, in the latest injection from the NSW Government’s translational cancer research program, the Minister for Health and Minister for Medical Research, Jillian Skinner, said today.
The funding is in addition to the $30 million over 5 years already provided by the NSW Government for this hugely beneficial program.
This is part of the NSW Government’s record investment to medical research – a massive $105.6 million in 2011-12.
The grants, administered by the Cancer Institute of NSW, have been awarded to the Asbestos Diseases Research Institute (ADRI) and the ANZAC Research Institute, based at the Concord Repatriation General Hospital in Sydney.
The group led by Professor Nico van Zandwijk, director of the Asbestos Diseases Research Institute, has been awarded $3.5 million to improve outcomes for people with asbestos-related cancer and their families."
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