America’s Watchdog, a national consumer rights group, recently announced the opening of the Mesothelioma Victim’s Center, an organization providing free services to victims of mesothelioma and their families.

Like many other organizations devoted to assisting families and victims of mesothelioma, the Mesothelioma Victim’s Center was started as a labor of love and service when a family member was diagnosed with the aggressive, fast moving cancer. Mesothelioma affects the lining of the lungs, the heart or the abdominal cavity. It is incurable, and is often not diagnosed until the later stages, when treatment options are narrowed.

Mesothelioma is caused by exposure to asbestos, often in the workplace. For decades, companies who mined, distributed and sold asbestos and asbestos containing products hid the knowledge that asbestos was a serious health hazard to their workers and to the general public. Because of this gross negligence, juries across the country have awarded large settlements to victims of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.

Insurance companies and big businesses have worked hard to perpetuate the myth of asbestos victims as mercenary predators growing rich off of their misfortune. The unfortunate truth is that the typical victim of mesothelioma will incur massive medical bills, suffer incredible pain and be shut out of the most promising treatments because they cannot travel to participate in studies or in treatment groups that are held in centers close to major research centers.

There is no safety net for those who are diagnosed with mesothelioma. Those diagnosed often face difficulties getting VA and Social Security benefits, access to the best and most promising treatments and simple, standard medical care. America’s Watchdog has started the Mesothelioma Victim’s Center to serve as an advocacy group for all victims of mesothelioma and their families. Among the free services that they will provide are:

- Assistance with obtaining Social Security disability payments
- Assistance in obtaining Veterans benefits and health care for veterans of the U.S. military, particularly if they were exposed during their tours of duty
- Assistance in finding and obtaining the best possible health care options
- Assistance in finding and obtaining legal representation
- Assistance in finding counseling for victims and family members

Because America’s Watchdog believes in doing the right thing, all of these services are provided absolutely free to all mesothelioma victims and their family members. For more information, call the America’s Watchdog at 866-714-6466.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 9th, 2008 at 9:11 am and is filed under Mesothelioma Treatment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. Responses are currently closed, but you trackback from your own site.