Asbestos: Straw upholds an injustice

The ruling by the justice secretary Jack Straw that sufferers of the asbestos-linked condition pleural plaques will no longer be eligible for compensation is bad news for thousands of working people. The sums involved were not large – £5,000 or so – but the loss of compensation is not the chief concern. Pleural plaques are a scarring of the lung tissue. They are not life-threatening, but anyone diagnosed with them faces the greatly increased likelihood of developing the far more serious asbestos-related condition mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a cancer of the lining of the lung. It is incurable. It can take 60 years to show itself. Once diagnosed, death usually occurs within 12 to 18 months. Mesothelioma victims can win substantial compensation – several tens of thousands of pounds. Because of the length of time the cancer takes to show itself, claims are often lengthy affairs, involving investigations into when, and in whose employment, the victim came into contact with asbestos more than half a century earlier. It is not uncommon for victims to die before the process is completed, and they are thus denied the money that might at least have made their final months financially comfortable, enabling them to put their affairs in order, and leave their loved ones provided for. When pleural plaques were eligible for compensation, the same investigation into asbestos contact had to be carried out. The time it took was not important because life was not at risk. However, once the asbestos contact had been traced and the small sum of compensation paid, if the victim then went on to develop mesothelioma, which many do, then the investigation into the asbestos contact has already been completed because of the lesser ailment, and the mesothelioma sufferer did not have to go through the process starting from scratch. Now that pleural plaques no longer merit compensation, a victim who goes on to develop mesothelioma will face a much stronger possibility that the investigation into their contact with asbestos will last longer than his or her life. The initial decision to withdraw compensation rights from pleural plaques sufferers was made by the law lords in 2007. The insurance industry, which is facing a growing number of claims for compensation for asbestos-related ailments, lobbied for the decision, which will save insurance companies an estimated £1.4bn a year. Such cynicism is hard to stomach. The number of deaths from mesothelioma is increasing annually. It currently stands at about 2,000 a year in Britain. Asbestos was used extensively in many industries, particularly the construction industry, whose workers bear a heavy toll from mesothelioma. Today, use of the mineral is banned in the countries of the EU. However, the death rate is not expected to peak until around 2020. The construction workers' union UCATT (Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians) campaigned to have the law lords ruling overturned by the government. The campaign failed. The justice secretary Jack Straw upheld the ruling. By doing so, he upheld an injustice that will have a detrimental effect on the lives of hundreds, and possibly thousands, of working people already condemned to death.