Asbestosis news
09/10/2009

Pleural plaques victims seek change in asbestosis claim law

Union bosses are planning to force the Government to speed up plans to bring justice to thousands of sufferers of a devastating industrial disease, related to asbestosis.

Ministers are to be told pleural plaques victims could never win a compensation claim if the Government does not change the law before the next General Election.

Blaydon MP Dave Anderson met joint general secretary of Unite union Tony Woodley to set out a lobbying campaign amid worries some victims will die before the law is changed.

Victims of the condition, a scarring of the lungs caused by exposure to asbestos, were entitled to compensation until a Law Lords ruling in 2007 rescinding the right to compensation. In Scotland ministers have already changed the law to help sufferers, while in England thousands of victims go without.

The MP said it was vital that the Government acted now before more aging victims died without seeing the asbestos compensation money they are entitled to. He planned to lead a group to lobby Parliament on October 28.

He said: "The delay has been too long and these people deserve justice. These people were poisoned by their employers who knew what they were asking their staff to do and yet now they are doing everything they can to prevent these people getting the compensation they deserve."

Pleural plaques is the most common industrial illness condition associated with asbestos exposure and they may occur after low, intermittent exposure whereas asbestosis is more likely to develop after long-term, continuous high-level exposure