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Medical and Forensic Implications of Asbestos in Italian Law

USA. Italy. THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL TOPICS AND ADVANCEMENTS. Columbia University, New York - October 2011. Medical and Forensic Implications of Asbestos in Italian Law. Professor and Attorney President of

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Medical and Forensic Implications of Asbestos in Italian Law

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  1. USA Italy THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL TOPICS AND ADVANCEMENTS Columbia University, New York - October 2011 Medical and Forensic Implications of Asbestos in Italian Law Professor and Attorney Presidentof Asbestos National Observatory EzioBonanni WELCOME

  2. THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL TOPICS AND ADVANCEMENTS Judgement of the Court of Turin TurinOctober 31, 1906 Awareness of the pathogenic effects of asbestos since the early 1900’s.

  3. THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL TOPICS AND ADVANCEMENTS Judgementof the Court of Appeal ofTurin of 1907 In 1907 the Court of Appeal of Turin confirmed the decision of the Court on the pathogenic nature of asbestos. 3

  4. THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL TOPICS AND ADVANCEMENTS Judgement of the Court of Cassation April 28, 1936 No. 2107 "It's ... certain and indisputable that the man's personal integrity and his health (the chief goods that transcend the sphere of the individual to rise to social importance, as a necessary premise of conservation and improvement of the species) are not only protected the contract, but also by numerous laws to health and even the Criminal Code" (Supreme Court Civil Case No. 2107 of 28.04.1936, published on 17.06.1936), and "the forms of insurance in place to ensure the workers against certain diseases which are exhaustively listed, do not exempt employers from the obligation of contract to use due diligence in their business, to prevent damages to workers (even if included in the pension insurance), taking all protective equipment prescribed or suggested by the technical and by science”.

  5. THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL TOPICS The duty of prevention, that Art. 17 r.d. April 14, 1927, No. 530, on the hygienic procedures necessary for the particular work that is conducted in 'closed areas' should be observed in all those cases in which the place of work, while not fully closed, is not such as to allow easy access without threatening output of harmful vapors and any material: “the fault is in absence of" vacuum cleaners in not completely closed rooms and of masks for the workers' negligence and imprudence. The scientists gave warning about the dangers of dust (Cass. Sent. No. 682 of 20.01.1941, published on 10.03.1941, Soc electric steelworks. vs. Panceri) … Judgement of the Court of Cassation January 20, 1941 No. 682

  6. THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL TOPICS AND ADVANCEMENTS Judgement of the Court of Cassation January 17, 1941 …because the "occupational diseases are not guaranteed by compulsory insurance, the employer can not exempt themselves from liability if the harmful event were to be produced through his own fault" (Court of Cassation, Judgement 17.01.1941, Soc. Off. elettroferroTallero vs. Massara)…

  7. THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL TOPICS AND ADVANCEMENTS Judgement of the Court of Cassation January 7, 1941 No. 686 …which may not constitute a waiver of the fact that" the workers had never denounced disorders [...] because silicosis gradually undermines the body of the worker to the serious events that cause the inability to work so that the employee is not able to notice it before. Art. 2 of r.d. No. 530 of 1927, "requires the employer to warning advance the workers about the danger, to indicate the appropriate means of prevention" and Art. 17 "requires the intake of dust immediately next to the place where it is produced" (Court of Cassation, Section II ^ Civil Case No. 686 of 17.01.1941), which corresponds to the norm closure in art. 2087 Civil Code (Royal Decree 16.03.1942, No. 262), which requires the employer to "adopt measures in the performance of the company, according to the particularities of the work, experience and technique are necessary to protect the 'physical integrity and moral personality of the worker".

  8. THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL TOPICS AND ADVANCEMENTS According to the Italian law n. 455 of 12.04.1943 asbestosis is compensated as an occupational illness. 8

  9. THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL TOPICS AND ADVANCEMENTS PRODUCTION AND IMPORTATION OF ASBESTOSIN ITALY FROM 1946 TO 1992 9 Source: O.N.A.

  10. THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL TOPICS AND ADVANCEMENTS Orange: UnitedStates Red: Italy Domestic production of raw asbestos. Italy and the United States of America; tons; years:1945-1992

  11. Principle of caution and Zero risk as a form of Primary Prevention. THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL TOPICS AND ADVANCEMENTS Environmental Pathology Primary Prevention Clean world = Health Polluted world = Disease (René Truhaut and Giancarlo Ugazio) Environmental Health 11

  12. THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL TOPICS AND ADVANCEMENTS ASBESTOS KILLER 12

  13. Data published in May 2010 in the “ National RegisterofMesothelioma (ReNaM – Inail - ISPESL) - Third Report, Rome”, whichshows the increasingnumberofMesotheliomacases in Italy: THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL 13

  14. THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL TOPICS AND ADVANCEMENTS Asbestos is one of the principal causes of professional cancer in Italy. Between 1998 and 2006 the Italian National Institute for the Insurance against Industrial Accidents (INAIL) had to compensate an amount of 152 million Euros to workers damaged by Eternit (one of the most famous Italian asbestos manufacturer, while billions of Euros have to be paid to compensate all victims, except actions for the differential cost). 14

  15. THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL TOPICS AND ADVANCEMENTS Evidence of asbestos influence on various carcinogenic pathologies and on other obstructive diseases as fibrosis, pleural thickening, etc… Source O.N.A. 2010 Therefore, it is confirmed that in Italy about 5.000 deaths a year are caused by asbestos. 15

  16. THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL TOPICS AND ADVANCEMENTS The Italian President of the Chamber of Deputies approves my comments and forwards them to the Labour Commission. (April 26, 2010) 16

  17. THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL TOPICS AND ADVANCEMENTS Proposed Bill on Zero Risk which aims to reduce exposure as close as possible to zero Elimination of the 100 fiber per litre of air limit in working environment (D.lgs 81/2008) 17

  18. THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL TOPICS AND ADVANCEMENTS The asbestos lobby (1) Report written in the 20th December 1976, by Ermanno Martini, engineer and employee of the company “Amiantifera” of Balangero (Turin). The report was used in the course held in Neuss (Dusseldorf) from the 13th to the 18th of December 1976 at Wirtschaftsverband Asbestzement and V. (WVAZ) [Union of the producers of cement-asbestos]. In this report it possible to read the sentence “Dissociate in any discussion from Dr. Selikoff’s ideas and refrain from quoting him”. 18

  19. THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL TOPICS AND ADVANCEMENTS The asbestos lobby (2) Handwritten note on a “meeting” held at the “Assocemento” in Rome, on the 17th November 1978. This note was found among the papers of the Board of Directors of the company “Amiantifera of Balongero” (Turin) and now is held in the Turin State Archives. (Asbestos production companies ask to slow down the issue of regulations on limits of exposure related to worker production, “the ENPI has adhered to this request. ...The Minister of Health has confirmed this fact” – Turin State Archive). 19

  20. Investigative methods: The defense investigations carried out by the injured parties and requests to the Prosecutor to conduct specific investigations, led to uncover polluting materials buried inside the site work which polluted aquifers. With the negligence- if not complicity- of public authorities who were cited to respond as responsible along with the defendants. THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL TOPICS AND ADVANCEMENTS 20

  21. THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL TOPICS AND ADVANCEMENTS 21

  22. THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL TOPICS AND ADVANCEMENTS Summons order to appear in the Court, issued by the Criminal Court of Paola, where Paola’s municipality, Cosenza’s local health authority, the Region of Calabria and the Presidency of the Council of the Ministers were invited to appear at the public hearing of 7th October 2011 as plaintiffs. 22

  23. THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL TOPICS AND ADVANCEMENTS General Audience - April 28, 2011 From the Article “Roman Observatory”: “Pope Benedict XVI greets representatives of the National Association of Asbestos victims (AVANI) and Asbestos National monitoring body (ONA) and urge them to continue their important work to protect the environment and public health”. 23

  24. THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL TOPICS AND ADVANCEMENTS “How many lives would have been saved if Gardner’s observations including those on lung cancer and asbestos had been reported without censorship?” (Abrams) Thank you. 24

  25. EzioBonanni Ezio Bonanni was born in Rome in 1968. After completing high school, he graduated in law at “La Sapienza” University in Rome, and did his legal training at the Court of Appeals in Rome. Registered as a lawyer in 1996 and as a Supreme Court attorney in 2009. In addition to being a practising lawyer, he teaches Criminal Law and Public Law at the University of Siena and collaborates with the Centro StudiDiritto Dei Lavori (Labor Law Research Center), directed by Prof. Gaetano Veneto, as head of the EU Labor Law Section. He is also on the editorial staff of the scientific journal www.dirittodeilavori.it, with many publications, which are related to his commitment to judgments for the defense of the victims of/those exposed to asbestos and other carcinogenic agents. He has published several books on asbestos and justice: “State forgets the killer asbestos” and “Environmental and occupational diseases”. He has defended the interests of citizens/workers exposed to asbestos and victims and their families in the vast majority of the most important asbestos-related criminal trials, that have taken place or are under way in Italy. He also represents the victims of asbestos before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasburg as well as violation procedures before the EU Commission, regarding the judgment of the European Court of Justice. He was a speaker at the World Asbestos Conference (WAC) in Taormina and in ASTM Johnson Conference in Burlington (Vermont), and has chaired and taken part in at least 100 conferences in Italy and the rest of Europe. He practices his professional activity throughout Europe from his main law office in Via Crescenzio 2, Rome and may be contacted at avvbonanni@libero.it THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ACUPUNCTURE, ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS, & THE LATEST RELATED MEDICAL TOPICS AND ADVANCEMENTS 25

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