The role empathy plays in treating terminally ill patients

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Kentucky residents with friends or family members who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma know how devastating this diagnosis can be. This is a rare form of cancer that is related to asbestos. It is aggressive, and there is no known treatment for the disease. The medical community is working hard to find ways to improve survival rates and to improve a sufferer’s quality of life. Recent research suggests that physicians should also pay more attention to what they say and how they go about speaking with patients who have been diagnosed with this disease.

When patients were asked what could have been done to improve the quality of the care they received, a number of them talked about what they felt were failures on the part of the physician when it came to communicating. They felt that they were not given accurate or clear enough explanations. They felt that their physician did not seem as empathetic to the situation as they would have hoped the physician to be.

Unquestionably, when a person is diagnosed with mesothelioma, they need aggressive medical care in order to improve their survival time. But physicians need to remember that they are dealing with humans and not with objects. Physicians have the responsibility to care for their patient’s condition and to care for their patient. When the emotional needs of a patient who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer are ignored, the patient feels isolated and hopeless.

One of the biggest needs that patients who have been diagnosed with this form of cancer have is an understanding of why the cancer formed and what it is going to mean for them going forward. Doctors need to make themselves available to give their terminally ill patients better explanations to their questions.

Individuals who are suffering from mesothelioma or those who have family members suffering from this disease may benefit from working with a lawyer who understands the causes of the disease and the responsibilities that others might have when helping to compensate a sufferer. Personal injury attorneys may be able to work with their clients in investigating circumstances that led to developing the disease and identifying all of the parties who may have liability.

Mesothelioma risk

Asbestos can sicken the spouses and children of exposed workers

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People in a number of different professions may have to handle asbestos as part of their job. For decades before the federal government put regulations in place to protect workers, people would have to handle this dangerous carcinogen without any workplace protections. They may also have unwittingly exposed the people they loved the most to dangerous levels of asbestos.

Whether you worked in a mine or in a factory, the chances are good that you would go home with asbestos dust on your clothing and body. The children who ran to greet you at the door with hugs and the spouse who cleaned your dusty, contaminated clothing may also have repeatedly inhaled asbestos particulate day after day.

While those who directly work with asbestos are at increased risk for mesothelioma and certain other diseases, it’s important for people to understand that the family members of those exposed to asbestos may also be at increased risk. Almost two-thirds of women who develop mesothelioma did not have direct occupational exposure themselves. Instead, the risk came from their spouse’s job and second-hand exposure.

Family members probably had no protection from the asbestos at all

Some companies were proactive about worker safety and had safety procedures in place or provided face masks or respirators even before the federal government required them to do so. These companies may have done something good that reduced the risk their employees faced regarding the development of asbestos in the future.

However, those protective measures would not necessarily have any impact on dangerous second-hand asbestos exposure among those who lived with their workers. Neither children rushing to greet a parent after work nor a spouse attempting to handle household chores would likely have any kind of protection from the potential inhalation of asbestos particles.

There have been situations in which an exposed worker does not wind up sickened despite years of workplace exposure. Instead, their family members are the ones who wind up developing mesothelioma years later.

Those exposed to second-hand asbestos still have rights

When asbestos exposure is easy to link to either someplace you worked or a product you used, it is possible to seek the compensation you need given the debilitating effects of the disease. Those who develop mesothelioma after caring for a loved one who worked with asbestos may also have the right to seek compensation.

After all, it was the dangerous exposure of the worker and inadequate safety practices at the business that resulted in the unnecessary exposure of the family members of the workers. While these cases may be more complex than other asbestos-related claims, that doesn’t mean it is impossible to seek and claim compensation for mesothelioma related to second-hand asbestos exposure.

Pembrolizumab

Pembrolizumab not the hoped-for “miracle drug” for mesothelioma

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Malignant pleural mesothelioma is an aggressive form of cancer often linked with on-the-job asbestos exposure. There is no cure, and there are few treatment options available. Only one drug, Alimta, has been approved for treatment. Louisville residents should be aware that researchers were looking for a while to a drug called pembrolizumab as a possible “miracle drug” for the cancer.

Unfortunately, the Phase III trials of pembrolizumab were underwhelming. The results, which were presented to the European Society of Medical Oncology conference, suggest that the drug is no more effective than chemotherapy. The study involved 144 relapsed mesothelioma patients, and the overall survival rate was 10.7 months for those who took pembrolizumab and 11.7 for those who underwent chemotherapy.

In an earlier clinical trial, though, 76% of mesothelioma patients responded to the drug with nearly half experiencing a temporary cessation of tumor growth. Almost one fourth of the patients saw the tumors shrink.

Pembrolizumab is meant to block a certain protein called PD-1 from attaching itself to cancer cells and suppressing the immune system. For this reason, it is classed as an immunotherapy drug. Pembrolizumab is not a complete disappointment as the study showed how patients on the drug had a lower rate of complications. Further research is needed to determine which sub-groups benefit most from it.

Asbestos-related illnesses can often be pinned to unsafe working conditions, so those who develop mesothelioma may want to speak with a lawyer about filing a claim. There may be plenty of evidence to suggest that the employer was being negligent, in which case the lawyer may hire investigators to gather that evidence and prepare a case. The lawyer may negotiate for a fair settlement covering past and future medical expenses and other losses, litigating if one isn’t achieved.