"Symptomless" sufferers can still make claims in Scotland

The 17 October 2007 House of Lords decision that pleural plaques is not an industrial disease that deserves compensation no win, no fee or otherwise does not apply in Scotland. This will be officially recognised in November 2008 when the government introduce an amended bill outlining the right of Scottish pleural plaques sufferers to claim compensation.

Yet it is not only people with pleural plaques who will be able to make no win, no fee claims for their condition. Sufferers of other "symptomless" asbestos-related diseases will also be able to claim compensation.

These "symptomless" conditions include asymptomatic asbestosis and pleural thickening, and, as of November 2008, their strong link with other, deadly, asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma and asbestosis will be officially recognised. This resolves the current anomaly whereby sufferers of pleural plaques in Scotland can receive compensation but those with either asymptomatic asbestosis or pleural thickening cannot.

Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill commented on the need for the amended bill, "This Government has already taken steps to ensure that those who suffer the effects of asbestos as a result of our industrial past are able to claim for damages.

"It is right and proper that we should not turn our backs on those who contributed to our nation's wealth in the past.

"Pleural plaques in anyone exposed to asbestos mean they have a greatly increased lifetime risk of developing mesothelioma and a small but significantly increased risk of developing bronchial carcinoma.

"This will mean that people diagnosed with this condition will have to live with the worry of possible future ill health for the rest of their lives.

"That is why this Scottish Government announced last November that we are to take steps to reverse the House of Lords Judgment and ensure that people with pleural plaques can continue to raise an action for damages.

"So that the House of Lords Judgment does not have an effect in Scotland we need to make sure that people who have developed symptomless forms of other asbestos related conditions can continue to be able to claim for damages. So we intend to include provisions in the bill to make sure that is the case.

"This Government takes this issue very seriously and I hope this move to help those who have been affected by exposure to asbestos will bring some relief to people living with this condition."

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