Guest opinion: National mesothelioma registry could help enhance diagnostic accuracy for Utah veterans
For many decades, asbestos became a cornerstone of the nation’s military infrastructure. First mined and utilized commercially in the United States in the late 1800s, this naturally occurring mineral was particularly prized for its exceptional durability, as well as its heat and water resistance. These properties encouraged numerous industries, including construction, shipbuilding and manufacturing, to embrace and leverage asbestos. Eventually, the U.S. armed forces also adopted this material on a large scale, integrating it into the production and maintenance of planes, ships, tanks, trucks and other equipment throughout much of the 20th century.
However, this extensive adoption left a long legacy of toxic exposure among service members in Utah. When disturbed, asbestos releases tiny, inhalable fibers that can become trapped and build up in the tissues of the lungs. Such accumulation can cause scarring and later on lead to mesothelioma, an uncommon but deadly cancer. Making this disease particularly dangerous is how frequently doctors misdiagnose it — a diagnostic failure that delays crucial treatment and reduces survival chances for affected individuals.
A national mesothelioma registry can help change this by systematically identifying at-risk veterans and linking their service histories to relevant medical data to help health care providers make earlier and more accurate diagnoses.
Mesothelioma as the detrimental repercussion of asbestos exposure
Although asbestos mining in the US officially ceased in 2002, its health consequences remain far from over, especially for thousands of veterans in Utah. Due to their routine exposure during their years of service, countless service members have later become vulnerable to developing mesothelioma. This malignant tumor typically develops in the protective lining of internal organs.
The most common form, pleural mesothelioma, targets the lungs, but in some cases, this insidious disease can also affect the heart, abdomen, or testes. However, unlike other types of cancer, mesothelioma is generally difficult to diagnose because of its long incubation period, which can span from 15 to 40 years. This means its initial symptoms — including chest and belly pain, breathing problems, nausea, fatigue, unintended weight loss and painful coughing — may only appear decades after asbestos exposure.
Even more concerning, these signs are usually mistaken for other ailments, such as thoracic empyema, asthma and pneumonia, due to their nonspecific nature. These misdiagnoses typically occur in the early stages, delaying appropriate interventions and directing patients toward medications that do not address the actual underlying disease. They also persist in later stages where treatment choices become alarmingly fewer and less effective, and survival rates significantly decline. Tragically, these diagnostic errors have proven to be fatal for numerous veterans in Utah.
Data indicate that from 1999 to 2017, the Beehive State saw nearly 1,600 asbestos-related fatalities, of which 299 were associated with mesothelioma. Utah County logged the second-highest death toll, with 224 casualties. A large chunk of these deaths likely involved retired service members, considering the state’s long history of asbestos use in several military bases like Hill Air Force Base and the former Fort Douglas.
Nationally, veterans now account for roughly 30% of the 3,000 mesothelioma diagnoses reported annually. For Utah, these figures underscore a continuing burden that cannot be addressed without targeted federal action.
Why a national mesothelioma registry should be a federal priority
Despite clear evidence linking mesothelioma to military asbestos exposure, the country still lacks a systemic tool to identify and monitor at-risk populations like veterans.
Creating a national mesothelioma registry could nonetheless close that gap. This database would specifically enable health care providers to promptly identify high-risk populations, such as veterans, provide timely and accurate diagnoses, and ensure that patients are referred to specialists familiar with the disease’s complexities.
In addition to strengthening clinical response, a national registry would serve as a vital tool for research and long-term disease surveillance. By compiling exposure histories, diagnostic patterns and treatment outcomes across institutions, the database would offer researchers a clearer picture of how mesothelioma progresses and how care varies by region or risk group.
It would also improve access to clinical trials by helping connect eligible patients with investigational therapies — an essential step in advancing innovation for a cancer that remains difficult to treat and understudied.
With nearly 110,400 veterans currently residing in Utah and a well-documented history of asbestos exposure and related fatalities, the state illustrates exactly why a national mesothelioma registry is necessary. However, realizing this endeavor requires a unified effort.
Lawmakers, health care institutions and veteran advocates all have a role to play by emphasizing the need for improved coordination, earlier detection and data-informed care. Without a system to track and respond to mesothelioma cases comprehensively, the burden will continue to fall on individual patients, many of whom are already navigating the consequences of exposure that occurred decades ago.
Jonathan Sharp is the chief financial officer of the Environmental Litigation Group, P.C., a law firm in Birmingham, Alabama, that assists victims of toxic exposure and their families in expediting their compensation claims.
