Asbestos to be Ruled on by Lords

Article Added March 14th, 2006 - Print This Story - Bookmark This Story

Law lords are to hear more cases from the families of asbestos victims. Both victims and families await the verdict, some with bated breath.

Workers that were injured due to asbestos, and the families of those killed by the deadly material, are waiting to hear from the law lords. The mesothelioma cases were brought into court on Monday, and those affected are nervous of the latest test cases to be brought before the court. A payout of damages amounting to more than 152,000 pounds owed to Sylvia Baker, whose husband died in 1996 from the lung cancer, is being contested. The company ordered to pay, Saint Gobain Pipelines, had their insurers challenge the ruling against the French-owned drainage supplier.

During the 1960s, the Shotton steelworks in Deeside was a mainframe of workers in the small town. Mr. Barker, like others in the area, worked in the steelyard, inhaling asbestos dust released into the air from the work. Saint Gobain is now responsible for the liabilities of Shotton steelworks. More damage was done when the former laborer was exposed to asbestos on a six week long pipe laying job for the same company, and again as he worked for himself as a plasterer. A ruling in 2002 says that a person that has mesothelioma may sue any company that they worked for, even if exposure happened in multiple areas, since it is medically impossible to figure out which company is responsible for the formation of the cancer.

Article Added March 14th, 2006 - Print This Story - Bookmark This Story