Mesothelioma victim fighting for compensation

A former mill worker employed at a paper mill in Camas, Washington, has been awarded $10.2 million in compensation after developing mesothelioma, a rare but aggressive form of cancer. However, an appeal is expected, delaying the compensation. The man, Henry Barabin, worked in Camas for 16 years, and during his time at the paper mill his work involved him cleaning an asbestos ribbon with compressed air. At the time, the mill was operated by Crown Zellerbach, but is today run by Georgia Pacific.

Barabin was diagnosed in 2006. Mesothelioma is nearly always caused by exposure to asbestos, a mineral fiber widely used in construction and manufacturing. While average Americans did not know about the health risks associated with asbestos exposure until the 1970s, there is evidence that companies using the material may have known about the risks for decades prior to that, but did nothing to protect their workers.

According to Barabin's lawyer, James Nevin, "Asbestos is very strong, durable. The problem is, those same propensities - it has them when it is inhaled into your body. People like [Barabin], who were exposed years ago, are still going to be developing diseases, because they are such long-latency diseases. Most doctors don't know to even ask about history of asbestos exposure. [At-risk workers] need to be assertively telling their doctor, 'I need to be monitored for this.'"

"They [the company] knew in the 1920s that asbestos dust released from products was causing asbestosis," he added. "They knew in the '30s that it was causing lung cancer. And by 1960 they knew it caused mesothelioma."


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