Society and culture

Society and culture:

Notable cases

Mesothelioma, though rare, has had a number of notable patients:

• Bernie Banton, an Australian workers' rights activist, fought a long battle for compensation from James Hardie after he contracted mesothelioma after working for that company. He claimed James Hardie knew of the dangers of asbestos before he began work with the substance making insulation for power stations. Mesothelioma eventually took his life along with his brothers and hundreds of James Hardie workers. James Hardie made an undisclosed settlement with Banton only when his mesothelioma had reached its final stages and he was expected to have no more than 48 hours to live. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd mentioned Banton's extended struggle in his acceptance speech after winning the 2007 Australian federal election.

• Bob Bellear, Australian anti-racism activist, died in 2005.

• Michael G. Coney, British science fiction writer, responsible for nearly 100 works, also died in 2005.

• Paul Gleason, American film and television actor perhaps best known for his portrayal of Principal Richard Vernon in the 1985 film The Breakfast Club, died in 2006.

• Christie Hennessy, the influential Irish singer-songwriter, died of mesothelioma in 2007, and had stridently refused to accept the prognosis in the weeks before his death. Hennessy's mesothelioma has been attributed to his younger years spent working on building sites in London.

•  Richard J. Herrnstein, psychologist and co-author of The Bell Curve, died in 1994.

•  Harold Hopkins, Australian actor who appeared in films such as The Club, Don's Party, Gallipoli,and the TV mini series Sara Dane died from mesothelioma on December 11, 2011 in a Sydney hospital.

•  Hamilton Jordan, Chief of Staff for U.S. President Jimmy Carter and lifelong cancer activist, died in 2008.

• Lincoln Hall, pioneering Australian mountaineer and a founding director of the Australian Himalayan Foundation. He had previously survived against slim odds stranded near the summit of Mount Everest with altitude sickness in 2006. He passed from mesothelioma in 2012.

• Peter Leonard, Australian journalist and news presenter from Canberra, died September 23, 2008.

• Malcolm McLaren, former manager of New York Dolls and Sex Pistols, died on 8 April 2010.

• John William MacDougall, Scottish Labour MP, died of mesothelioma on August 13, 2008, after fighting the disease for two years.

• Steve McQueen, American actor, was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma on December 22, 1979. He was not offered surgery or chemotherapy because doctors felt the cancer was too advanced. McQueen subsequently sought alternative treatments at clinics in Mexico. He died of a heart attack on November 7, 1980, in Juárez, Mexico, following cancer surgery. He may have been exposed to asbestos while serving with the U.S. Marines as a young adult—asbestos was then commonly used to insulate ships' piping—or from its use as an insulating material in automobile racing suits (McQueen was an avid racing driver and fan).

•  Bob Miner, one of the founders of Software Development Labs, the forerunner of Oracle Corporation, died of mesothelioma in 1994.

• Terrence McCann, Olympic gold medalist and longtime Executive Director of Toastmasters, died of mesothelioma on June 7, 2006, at his home in Dana Point, California.

•  Mickie Most, an English record producer, died of mesothelioma in 2003.

•  Merlin Olsen, Pro Football Hall of Famer and television actor, died on March 10, 2010, from mesothelioma that had been diagnosed in 2009.

•   Paul Rudolph, American architect, died in 1997.

•   Billy Vaughn, American bandleader, died in 1991.

•  Bruce Vento, U.S. Congressman, died of mesothelioma in 2000. The Bruce Vento Hopebuilder award is given yearly by his wife at the MARF Symposium to persons or organizations who have done the most to support mesothelioma research and advocacy.

• Warren Zevon, rock and roll musician and songwriter. After a long period of untreated illness and pain, Zevon was diagnosed with inoperable mesothelioma in the fall of 2002. Refusing treatments that he believed might incapacitate him, Zevon focused his energies on recording his final album The Wind, including the song "Keep Me in Your Heart," which speaks of his failing breath. Zevon died at his home in Los Angeles, California, on September 7, 2003.

•  Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, former head of the U.S. Navy