ASBESTOS VICTIMS’
SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS

SEARCH, LEARN … BE CAREFUL!

Enter “ASBESTOS VICTIMS’ SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS” in any search engine and more than a million websites are instantly available, all eager to help. But the sad fact is that a paltry few of connections will lead to legitimate, non-profit organizations with the sole purpose of assisting victims of asbestos disease or their families.  The ratio is staggering. For every authentic non-profit site, there are more than 20,000 links to cleverly masked fronts for asbestos-specialty law firms trolling for new clients, baiting the hook with a smattering of rehashed asbestos facts, meager medical information and an abundance of come-ons, offers of free screenings and free legal consultation.

Many self-proclaimed asbestos help and advice organizations and websites are wholly owned and operated by trial lawyers or law firms and directly linked to law firm websites. Some  others are financed by corporate asbestos defendant groups or lobbyists.

The following results are derived from an extensive Internet search by AsbestosCrisis.com for “medical help,” “medical advice,” “medical assistance” “support groups,” “non-profit organizations,”  “prevention,” “information,” and “support” for “Asbestos Victims” and “Asbestos Victims’ Families.”

Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization - ADAO  
Linda Reinstein, Co-Founder and Executive Director (Redondo Beach, CA) The ADAO is a leader in pro-asbestos victim activism, dissemination of valuable information and support for victim protection and compensation under the law.  Founded and operated by spouses and families of asbestos victims, it proclaims its independence from influence by special interests, profiteers, lawyers, corporations or political agendas.

Asbestos lawyers have lavished attention on the ADAO but there is no indication that they have breached the wall of independence and impartiality.

If ADAO has a weakness, it is a blind eye to the secondary and tertiary sets of “victims” created by the monumental asbestos crisis: employees, retirees and investors in the "bystander defendant" companies that have been targeted by unscrupulous lawyers and uninjured claimants in the ongoing asbestos litigation scheme.

In press releases and public statements, ADAO seems to dismiss the 8,000 bystander defendant companies as equal in guilt and liability to the originators of the Asbestos Crisis---the major asbestos producers and users who became aware of asbestos hazards as early as the 1940s and conspired to conceal the facts from consumers and their own workers to protect profits.These companies have been held to account.

Most current defendants were unaware of asbestos hazards, used asbestos in minute amounts or not at all and are not directly responsible for asbestos injuries or deaths. But they are forced to pay collective billions in settlements and awards because of legal technicalities compounded by perjury, bribery and fraud.

Asbestos Victims Organization (AVO)
Michael Bowker, Founder and Executive Director Michael Bowker, an investigative journalist and author, founded AVO after multiple encouonters with asbestos victims during his research for Fatal Deception, a book about the history of the use and abuse of asbestos and subsequent damage to people and the environment.

The AVO’s intentions are not suspect, but its credentials for organizational expertise and the specific extent of funding and activities are unclear.

Asbestos News
“Thank you for visiting Asbestos News. This website is a combination of research and experience presented to you by eJustice Legal Marketing and the Waters and Kraus law firm.  We aim to provide the most accurate information in regards to Mesothelioma information and support.  Our goal is to inform our viewers firstly and secondly provide support if you are in need of legal representation.”

Under the guise of helpful information, a listing for “Recent headlines” leads to a full page promo for Waters and Krauss, a notable asbestos litigation-specialty law firm.

Committee to Protect Mesothelioma Victims-CPMV (Washington, DC)  Susan Vento, Chairperson
The CPM doesn’t publish any information about its founders, board members or administrators or the sources of its financial support on its website. CPMV website data and postings are shrill, accusatory and alarmist, without much in the way of new factual information, assistance or advice for victims.

Mesothelioma Advice
Owned and operated by Hendler Law, a Texas law firm that specializes in “helping people who have been victimized by corporate misconduct”

Mesothelioma Aid  is a sympathetic website that provides general meso info … linked to David Law Firm, Texas asbestos specialist

Mesothelioma Center  “is dedicated to providing those who suffer from the cancer malignant mesothelioma … or from asbestosis … with the most up to date information and support.” Does not list officers, administrators, Board or funding.
Features an extensive legal advice forum that recommends “you need to contact a mesothelioma lawyer as soon as possible…” and a direct link to a single law firm: Goldberg, Persky & White, LLC of Pennsylvania, one of the largest asbestos claim law firms.

Mesothelioma Medical Aid becomes "Mesothelioma Information," brought to you courtesy of Nemeroff Law Firm on Park Avenue in New York.

Media Information: The Asbestos Cancer Resource
is kindly “provided by the law firm of Motley Rice, LLC”

Mesothelioma Network
Free mesothelioma case evaluation, takes you right to a link to Brayton, Purcell LLP, a California asbestos firm.

White Lung Association  (WLA) Jim Fite, National Secretary (Baltimore, MD)
The WLA has seniority among legitimate asbestos victims’ groups, founded in 1979. A legitimate non-profit organization, the WLA provides helpful information for asbestos victims.