Asbestos - The Curse That Keeps on Giving

Is this good news for workers who have been exposed to asbestos?

The Institute of Medicine researchers say... they did not find enough evidence to conclude asbestos causes cancer in the esophagus.

They also say there was insufficient evidence to infer a causal relationship between asbestos exposure and pharyngeal, stomach, and colorectal cancers.

The bad news, however, is that according to this news story, this same report suggests that asbestos exposure may cause cancer of the larynx or, as our friends in the vast universe undulating outside the small world we doctors live in call it, the "voicebox."

But wait! It appears that another news editor has interpreted this press release differently. The lead in this story suggests that asbestos could cause cancer of the digestive organs:

WASHINGTON JUN 07, 2006 (Reuters) - Research has linked another cancer to asbestos, according to a report released on Tuesday that found exposure can cause cancer of the voice box, or larynx, and possibly of the colon, stomach and upper throat [my italics].

Thus once again we are confronted with the revolting phenomenom of "spin," defined my me as "a conclusion that one person fools another into believing is the truth."

I sincerely hope that the truth about asbestos-related malignancies is mined out of the dark piles of data accumulated over the past fify years and reported accurately and clearly to the public. What we don't need, however, is speculation about the relationship between the deadly fibers and human cancer that leads to careless reporting and then dubious litigation on behalf of individuals who have a history of asbestos exposure but no apparent related illness, or in this case the hundreds of thousands of patients who develop gastrointestinal tumors each year who have not been exposed to asbestos.

The truth is out there. Let those whose job it is to find it perform their duty with the same conscientiousness as a pastor guiding his congregation, as a medic rushing to the aid of a fallen soldier, as a scientist devoted to untangling the mysteries of the incomparable, immaculate cell.