Terry McCann: On the Record, Under Oath, Educating the Asbestos Company Lawyers About the Mission to Cure Mesothelioma

The follow are excerpts from Terry McCann and Lucille McCann vs Bondex International, Inc., et al, Case No. BC 33 68 69 in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles, (Deposition of Terry McCann, July 20, 2005).

Terry McCann
1934 - 2006

"Now, let me tell you what happened. Roger had a fundraiser at his house a couple of weeks ago. I was invited. I couldn't go the full time. My wife brought me over for a short period of time and then we sat down and we talked. Anyway, he raised $100,000 for research. I don't know a whole lot of people around here that's doing that.

And one of the doctors that I met with most recently was Dr. Robert Cameron for a third opinion, because he had some surgery that might be able to fix this thing. And I'm not a very good candidate. I have got it pretty bad all over the inside, so it has got hold me.

But my doctors have been giving me hope -- 'Wait for the next new thing coming down. It's got to be coming down.' That's what they tell you. And I asked Dr. Cameron, 'Is there anything new coming down? Because I don't have a lot of time.' He said, "No." And I said, "Why?" And he said, "Well, all of the money has gone to HIV. It's gone to lung cancer from smoking. It's gone to heart surgery -- it's going to HIV. And mesothelioma is the last in line."

I asked, "Why?"

"There's no money in it. 5,000 people get it a year," he said. We don't know how many millions have died. And he told me that, you know, the pharmaceutical companies really don't want to invest because the payback is too far down the line. And I said, "It's a marketing issue, isn't it?" And he said, "That's right."

And then Roger asked me to sit on the board of this new foundation to raise some funds. And I said, "I definitely want to do it. But I have to think about it first." Because I had just resigned from Surfing America, the national governing body for surfing, because I can't handle a lot of things right now.

You know Roger better than I do. You have probably faced him before. He is a pretty tough character.

I want you to know why this guy works so damned hard and is so dedicated. It's because his father has asbestos cancer. He got it about the same time I had. He's probably in the same shape I'm in. So that's what you are up against. It's in his heart and it's in his soul. And I have to tell you, we didn't talk about this. And I feel that he is probably a little ticked off that I'm even bringing it up. But that's the way it is. And I feel in my heart that I have to say this."

Dr. Robert Cameron (Director of MARF), Terry, Chris Hahn (Executive Director of MARF) and Roger Worthington (Founding Director of MARF) at the MARF fundraiser, An Evening with Chris Botti, September 2, 2005
(photo courtesy of Dana Point News)