Dr. David Sugarbaker is a mere mortal, but to hear his patients talk about him, you might conclude otherwise.  Dr. Sugarbaker is the director and founder of the International Mesothelioma Program (IMP), a unique program at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston that is dedicated to the treatment and ultimately finding a cure for mesothelioma, a devastating cancer in the lining of the lungs or abdomen.

Many patients find their way to Dr. Sugarbaker and his team at the International Mesothelioma Program after being given a grim prognosis by their own doctor.  But Dr. Sugarbaker has designed a unique program that offers state-of-the-art treatment with the goal of improving and extending patients’ lives.  The real goal, however, is to find a cure for mesothelioma.  Dr. Sugarbaker gives his patients hope where others had given none.  It is no surprise that so many of his patients revere him, and it is no wonder that one of our clients who was recently operated on by Dr. Sugarbaker simply calls him “The Man.”

Patients Hold Dr. Sugarbaker in Highest Esteem

Our client went to the International Mesothelioma Program after hearing from his own doctors that Dr. Sugarbaker offered the best treatment available.  Our client told his friends that it was not until he spoke to a doctor at the IMP that he heard the word “survivability” in relation to his cancer.  Dr. Sugarbaker’s treatment offers hope to patients like our client who had been given very stark and grim news about his condition.

Once at the International Mesothelioma Program, our client met Dr. Sugarbaker who evaluated his case to determine if he was a candidate for the cutting edge surgical treatment protocol that Dr. Sugarbaker himself has pioneered.  After many tests and consultations, Dr. Sugarbaker concluded surgery was the appropriate treatment for our client.  Our client told his friends that he met “The Man, the program’s director, Dr. David Sugarbaker ” and went on to add…”and by the way HE IS THE WORLD’S  BEST” – his own emphasis.  Our client underwent surgery just a few weeks ago and is recovering with a degree of hope that did not exist when he first learned of his mesothelioma diagnosis.  It is easy to see why he considers Dr. Sugarbaker “The Man.”

Who Is Dr. David Sugarbaker?

David Sugarbaker is a surgeon and the Chief of Thoracic Surgery at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.  In the early 1980s, this hospital began seeing a significant number of mesothelioma cases that were developing decades after patients had been exposed to asbestos.  Given the extensive use of asbestos in the shipbuilding industry which at one time employed thousands in the New England area, it was understandable why there was a high incidence of this cancer in New England.  Dr. Sugarbaker brought the treatment of mesothelioma to the forefront of the Thoracic Surgery Division once he became its Chief.  Under his direction, the Brigham and Women’s Hospital began to develop an expertise in the surgical treatment and chemotherapy protocols related to this disease.

As the number of mesothelioma patients coming to the Brigham and Women’s Hospital continued to increase, the number of doctors and staff dedicated to the treatment of this disease also began to grow.  In 2002, Dr. Sugarbaker had the initiative to set up a multidisciplinary program dedicated solely to mesothelioma.  The International Mesothelioma Program was born.

The International Mesothelioma Program

There is no doubt that the International Mesothelioma Program is Dr. Sugarbaker’s “baby.”  Not only has he been key in the development of the IMP’s surgical treatment options and cutting edge chemotherapy protocols, but his vision and strategic partnering has allowed the program to expand to includes doctors and researchers from across the field of medicine, all focused on finding better treatment options and ultimately a cure for mesothelioma.

Dr.  Sugarbaker’s vision for his program included not only state-of-the-art treatment, but also an environment where patients and their families receive the supportive care needed for those facing a disease like mesothelioma.  The support team that Dr. Sugarbaker has brought together includes a social worker and two chaplains who explain the array of services available to the patients and their families and help them through the process from the introductory patient orientation meeting to the day the patient heads back home.  Soon our client will be heading back home, having benefited from the vision, commitment and dedication of  “The Man.”

“You look fantastic” were the words from Dr. David Sugarbaker as he spoke to one of his patients only ten days post-op from having his right lung removed at the International Mesothelioma Program (IMP) in Boston.  That patient, who is one of our clients, could not have been happier as he shared this news with his friends.

Survivability and Hope

Mesothelioma is a devastating disease.  The prognosis for malignant mesothelioma is generally very grim.  When first diagnosed with this disease, many patients are told there is no cure and little hope.  But each year more and more recently diagnosed patients are finding their way to the International Mesothelioma Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston where for the first time they hear the word “survivability.”

That was the case with our client who was recently operated on by Dr. Sugarbaker.  The doctors who had been treating him locally told him that they did not have the depth of experience with mesothelioma that could be found in Boston at the International Mesothelioma Program.  With that knowledge, our client traveled to Boston to meet with Dr. Sugarbaker and his team.  Our client said, “This was the first time I heard the word ’survivability’ and began to feel hopeful.”

Cutting-Edge Treatment

When they arrive in Boston, patients at the International Mesothelioma Program are given a battery of tests to confirm they are candidates for this cutting-edge surgical and chemotherapy treatment.  Once this initial stage is completed, the patients are scheduled for their uniquely tailored surgical and chemotherapy protocol that depends on each individual’s tumor’s stage and location, as well as other complex individual factors.  This was the case with our client who underwent a series of tests to confirm the diagnosis and to determine if surgery was the appropriate treatment.  Because timing is critical, our client underwent surgery only days after his testing was completed.

Last year over 300 patients came to Boston to be treated by Dr. Sugarbaker and his team, over 160 of whom underwent surgery.  The purpose of the surgery is to remove all of the tumor that the doctors can see and to follow this with chemotherapy treatment.  The team of doctors at the International Mesothelioma Program have developed a unique way to improve the effectiveness of the surgery and their treatment.  They administer a heated bath of chemotherapy drugs directly into the chest cavity after the operation is completed.  This method of treatment enhances the effectiveness of the chemotherapy drugs to increase tumor cell death.  Patients stay in Boston for weeks after their surgery as they travel the road to recovery.

Undeniable Message of Hope

The undeniable message and proof are both clear and powerful.  Dr. David Sugarbaker has a very significant number of patients who are alive, living productive lives five and ten years post surgery.  The numbers of mesothelioma survivors are growing every week, every month and every year.  This medical decision is not without risks, as is any major surgery, but the upside is incredibly hopeful and the list of successful surgical survivors continues to grow.

I am very happy this treatment option is available to our clients in 2010.  For the past 32 years, my law firm, Galiher DeRobertis Ono, has represented over 300 mesothelioma families who have dealt with this devastating disease.  Unfortunately, this option was not available to the vast majority of them.  But thanks to Dr. Sugarbaker and his team at the International Mesothelioma Program, “hope” and “survivability” are powerful new terms some of our clients can now embrace and use.

The Jeffrey Mine

The Jeffrey Mine is an open pit mine located in the town of Asbestos, Canada. It has almost depleted its open pit reserves, but Coulombe has determined that there are 200 million tons of chrysotile asbestos underground that can still be extracted. Ninety percent of the construction work on the underground operation has been completed. Coulombe still needs over $30 million to make the underground mine operational, but so far he has been unsuccessful in finding an investor who can see past the health issues associated with operating this mine. Even so, his goal is to bring this asbestos to the markets he has found in India, Vietnam, and Indonesia. In these countries, cement sheets and roofing are seen as a benefit for poor and needy people, without regard to the serious health hazard posed by the use of asbestos.

A Career in Asbestos

Bernard Coulombe started his career with Johns-Manville Corporation at a time when the United States consumed 600,000 tons of chrysotile asbestos per year. But that changed in 1964 after the incontrovertible reports out of Mt Sinai’s  School of Medicine made it clear that industrial exposure to asbestos is a serious health hazard. Although there was industry knowledge and evidence of the hazards preceding Dr. Irving Selikoff’s asbestos studies at Mount Sinai, his work marked a major shift in the views of doctors and health officials. Within ten years, the asbestos litigation had begun.  Johns-Manville, the biggest producer of asbestos products in the United States, filed for bankruptcy protection in 1982. In 1983, Johns-Manville sold the Jeffrey Mine to a group of senior advisors.  In 1991, Coulombe helped put together an employee buyout of this massive asbestos mine. The company is now known as Mine Jeffrey, Inc. and Coulombe owns 65% 0f the company.

Sales to Developing Countries

Asbestos, a product which is considered deadly and dangerous in the United States and the European Union, is being trumpeted by some as a benefit to developing countries. Coulombe and his company try to minimize the hazards of asbestos by attempting to make distinctions between the various types of asbestos, and claiming that his asbestos is not truly dangerous. Coulombe and his company support The Chrysotile Institute, which promotes the sale of this type of asbestos despite the fact that many organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), have found that chrysotile causes cancer and other asbestos diseases. Coulombe and his company would like to overlook the WHO’s conclusion that “at least 90,000 people die each year from asbestos-related lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis.”

In spite of these findings, Coulombe continues to sell this asbestos, primarily for the manufacture of asbestos cement products. Coulombe’s agent in India claims that the manufacturing facilities there are dust free, that control measures are in place, and there is no significant risk to the environment or the general public.

However, most observers say that it is unrealistic to expect that developing countries can and will implement western standards in their manufacturing plants. In addition, whether or not the risks can be controlled in the manufacturing process, the real concern is the use of the products in the field. As workers saw, cut, and manipulate these products, asbestos dust will be released, creating a major health hazard for these workers and their families. According to Murray Finklestein, a member of Environmental Protection Agency’s science advisory board, there will not be the controls in place when the products are used.

“Mr. Asbestos” Shamelessly Markets Deadly Asbestos

Mr. Coulombe continues to shamelessly market deadly asbestos fibers internationally where workplaces are unregulated, thus exposing innocent workers and their families to the far-reaching hazards of asbestos. He apparently is not discouraged by the fact that he has been unable to find investors for the completion of his asbestos mine, even after hiring a Toronto investment banking company to beat the financial bushes. If he has to, Coulombe says he will borrow the money to finish the project. He expects to be extracting asbestos from the underground mine this year. And his sights are not just set on India. He claims other big users–like Mexico, Venezuela, and Pakistan–are awaiting deliveries of this deadly and dangerous product.

Asbestos fibers cannot be sold or marketed for use by  workers who are well informed of the hazards so Mr. Coulombe has chosen to sell asbestos to countries without adequate safety or environmental protections. This will inevitably lead to sickness, misery, and death to those workers who breathe this deadly dust.

The asbestos industry cover-up that took place in our country was a very low point in the protection of the health and safety of American workers. Johns-Manville made millions by keeping the hazards of asbestos secret during the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1960s by agreeing to a public relations strategy of  “The less said about asbestos, the better off we are.” As a result of this reckless strategy, 3000 Americans a year are diagnosed with mesothelioma, a deadly form of cancer caused by breathing in asbestos fibers.

Mr. Coulombe wants to make his millions by exporting death and disease and disregarding the health and safety of workers in the developing world. Asbestos-related diseases and deaths will follow Mr. Coulombe’s asbestos sales and profits, as sure as stink follows rotten fish.