Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish Justice Secretary, said this week
that victims of several asbestos-related
conditions will be allowed to claim damages even if they do not
suffer ill health as a result.
Under a bill proposed by the Scottish Government, people with
pleural plaques, asymptomatic asbestosis
or pleural thickening will be able to seek compensation if they
have been negligently exposed to asbestos. These conditions are a
sign of exposure to asbestos and are often precursors to more
debilitating illnesses.
In October 2007, the House of Lords ruled that sufferers of pleural plaques
should not be awarded compensation, as pleural plaques isn't a
"compensatable" disease, causing outrage from asbestos
campaigners and politicians.
Solicitor Rodney Nelson-Jones, Head
of the Asbestos Disease Group at Field
Fisher Waterhouse, recently
spoke to a gathering of about 250 MPs, trades unionists
and pressure group workers at the Houses of Parliament in
Westminster. The meeting was called as part of a campaign to
restore the right of pleural plaques sufferers to claim
compensation.
Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP is a leader in the field of asbestos claims. Solicitors and other lawyers in
the Asbestos Claims Department at the firm
have concluded over 1,900 asbestos compensation claims and
recovered over £116 million compensation for asbestos victims over
the past 26 years.