Minnesota Dept. of Health Withheld Mesothelioma Cases Info

The Minnesota Department of Health withheld information for a year about their findings of 35 more cases of mesothelioma lung cancer among Iron Range miners, according to the investigative journalists with The Star Tribune. The state's Health Commissioner, Dianne Mandernach, rejected a plan to release the information earlier.

Mesothelioma is a deadly cancer that strikes the lining of the lungs. Decades of exposure to asbestos fibers is a common method of contracting mesothelioma, and Minnesota's iron-ore industry has produced a large number of miners with mesothelioma. Mine dust has taconite fibers that are identical to asbestos in their chemical makeup.

The Minnesota Health Department had found earlier that 17 Iron Range miners developed mesothelioma in the period from 1988 to 1996. In March 2006, the Department was also aware that 35 more miners had contracted mesothelioma, but the Commissioner declined to release the news of the additional cases. Mandernach told The Star Tribune that releasing the findings at that time could "excite and cause tremendous concern before you have all of your ducks in a row."

However, other public health experts have pointed out that there was no good reason to withhold the information. Dr. Ian Greaves, a University of Minnesota expert in lung diseases, said that "Whether or not they had a plan in place is neither here nor there… they're a public agency that serves the public, and I think it's overreaching to think they should take an attitude that they know best."

Professor William Toscano, head of the division of Environmental Health Sciences in the University's School of Public Health, stated that "People need to know this… I can't imagine people not wanting to know this information."

Minnesota state representatives are looking into the delay by the Department of Health. According to The Star Tribune, internal memos show that the Health Department prepared a news release in June 2006 about the 35 additional mesothelioma cases but was planning to release it only if word of the news leaked out.

(Source: Associated Press; news.postbulletin.com)

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