Stars and Stripes – The Republican majority in the House passed a bill Friday that provides millions of asbestos victims’ confidential information to industry attorneys despite opposition from veterans groups. The bill sponsored by Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, opens up the injury records of victims – many of them veterans — to companies defending against asbestos-poisoning claims in separate lawsuits, and calls for publishing their medical and work histories, as well as partial Social Security numbers, on the Internet.
