Should you make a claim for your mesothelioma or other sabestos disease?

Reading this may help you decide!


Asbestos: The First Inconvenient Truth? A History Of Asbestos And Its Associated Health Risks

Many people are surprised to learn, especially in the context of our modern understanding of its toxicity and harmful properties, that asbestos is a naturally occurring and extremely useful mineral and not a man made material. But what is even more astonishing is that the toxicity and potentially harmful nature of asbestos was realised thousands of years ago!
Asbestos has been mined out of the ground and used for over 3000 years! As in more recent times, the ancient civilisations that first used it put it to many uses. The Greeks, Egyptians, Persians and Romans all used asbestos for a variety of purposes including candle wicks, clothing, building materials, insulation, and a heat and flame retardant. Because of these latter properties the word asbestos itself derives from the Greek term for inextinguishable and the Greeks also referred to it as the miracle or magical mineral in recognition of these properties.
The use of asbestos is thought of, by many, as a modern practice but clearly not. However, surely the manifestation of serious health issues arising out of the use of asbestos is a modern phenomenon? Again, the answer to this must regrettably be put in the negative. This is because whilst the ancients realised the huge benefits of asbestos, they also realised that the workers (mostly slaves) who mined for the asbestos mineral from the ground and manufactured items incorporating asbestos were developing lung illnesses. A Roman observer of the time even called for the protection of workers from the inhalation of asbestos fibers by provision and use of a form of early dust mask.
There was a decline in the use of asbestos in the middle ages. During the Industrial Revolution there was an enormous increase in the use of asbestos, more than at any time before. It was now put to an even greater range of uses including insulation in particular for pipes and boilers, steam locomotives, brake and clutch linings, fire doors etc., the uses were almost endless due to its “magical” properties. Millions and millions of tonnes of asbestos were used in these and many other ways over many years until a decline in its use in the 1970s following increasing pressure not to use it due to the, by then, more widely known health risks. However, by this time millions of workers had been exposed to the harmful fibers. In addition to the miners and workers employed directly in the asbestos industry, their family and residents who lived close to the factories were also exposed. It is shocking to realise that often the workers would return home after work covered in asbestos dust looking like “snowmen” and exposing their, often very young, families to it. This has resulted in family members developing the same kinds of often very serious asbestos diseases as the workers themselves developed.
Like the ancients before them, the Victorians began to realise, or at least rediscover, the very dangerous nature of asbestos fibers and the risk to health from asbestos disease. In 1898 The Annual Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories and Workshops to the Government reported 'Of all the dusty occupations which specifically came under observation in 1898 three … stand out on account of their easily demonstrated danger to the health of workers, and because of ascertained cases of injuries to bronchial tubes and lungs medically attributed to the employment of the sufferers. These occupations were asbestos spinning and carding …. The evil effects of asbestos dust have also attracted my attention, a microscopic examination of this mineral dust which was made by HM Medical Inspector clearly revealed the sharp glass-like jagged nature of the particles and where they are allowed to rise and to remain suspended in the air of a room, in any quantity, the effects have been found to be injurious as might have been expected …. The worker may continue for a very long time before the symptoms of the evil become marked.' There were many more reports, research papers and changes in legislation to follow aimed at highlighting the risks of asbestos disease to the Government(s) and employers yet despite this growing body of evidence it took nearly another century for an outright ban on the use of asbestos to be implemented! In the meantime millions of workers were being exposed, sowing the seeds of a health crisis now being felt by thousands of these workers who have developed asbestos diseases as a result. These diseases include malignant mesothelioma, asbestos lung cancer, asbestosis, pleural thickening and pleural plaques.
Regrettably, during the very same period the use of asbestos actually increased until the 1970s and despite the changes in legislation designed to protect workers in reality very little action was taken to do so by employers despite all the evidence of the risks of asbestos disease. What is even more regrettable is that the historical record shows that employers continued to expose their workers to asbestos will full knowledge of the risks of asbestos disease and conspired to conceal this information from the workers themselves who, in the vast majority of cases, were not aware of the risks or fully aware of the risks and how they could protect themselves from those risks! Simple steps could have been taken by employers to want the workers and to give them some protection in the form of face masks, breathing apparatus etc.
Unfortunately the historical record shows that big business and the pursuit of big profits got in the way of proper warnings and protection being given to the workers. In pursuit of the prize of these big profits the asbestos companies concealed the inconvenient truth that asbestos is a potential killer from the most vulnerable and at risk. This is a hard fact suffers of asbestos disease have to swallow when they learn about this cover up. It is worth remembering that there is no cure for the asbestos disease known as mesothelioma and sufferers may only have 9 to 12 months to live following diagnosis. It is a fatal and appalling condition.

Pleural Plaques - Compensation

Brett v Beaven & Sons Ltd (2003)

This is an example of pre-2006 cases where damages were awarded to sufferers of pleural plaques. Unfortunately since 2006 the law states this condition is no longer an injury for which compensation is payable! In this case Mr Brett received £5000 for the pleural plaques and anxiety for the knowledge that he was at risk of developing more serious and fatal asbestos disease. He also received £7000 for the future risk of deterioration.

Nigel

Introduction to Asbestos: 10 Key Facts

1. Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral which has been used for thousands of years!

2. The asbestos mineral is mined from the earth.

3. The asbestos mineral in its natural state is harmless.

4. Asbestos becomes potentially harmful to health when it is mined or used in the manufacture of other products, essentially once it is in dust or fibrous form and capable of being inhaled or swallowed it becomes potentially harmful to health and can cause asbestos disease.

5. Exposure to asbestos dust/fibres by way of inhalation and/or swallowing can lead to the development of one or more of the following asbestos diseases: malignant mesothelioma, asbestos lung cancer; asbestosis, pleural thickening and pleural plaques.

6. Malignant mesothelioma and asbestos lung cancer are, as their names suggest, forms of cancer and have no cure.

7. Asbestosis is scarring on the lungs which can cause problems with the respiratory system and whilst not so aggressive as malignant mesothelioma and asbestos lung cancer it usually gets worse over time. Although not normally a fatal condition in itself it often combines with other health issues to become a serious health issue.

8. Pleural thickening is thickening of the linings of the lungs and can cause symptoms of breathlessness and pain. Although not a fatal condition in itself it is evidence of exposure to asbestos and therefore a marker of the risks of developing one of the more serious asbestos diseases i.e. malignant mesothelioma or asbestos lung cancer.

9. Pleural plaques are patches of fibrosis (scarring) of the lungs and are often calcified. They rarely cause symptoms of breathlessness and pain. Although not a fatal condition in themselves, they are, like pleural thickening, they are evidence of exposure to asbestos and therefore a marker of the risks of developing the more serious asbestos diseases.

10. Despite pleural plaques representing scarring on the lungs sufferers are no longer entitled to receive compensation for them. This is despite the fact that for the 20 years or so prior to 2006 compensation was routinely paid by insurers for this condition! There is an important distinction to be made here and that is if the pleural plaques are causing symptoms eg pain and breathlessness the sufferer is entitled to compensation.

Nigel

This is s new blog about asbestos illness, in particular mesothelioma, something I have a special interest in. Please keep checking for regular updates on asbestos related illnesses and issues.
nigel