Asbestos campaigners take case to MSPs
Campaigners fighting for asbestos – related cancer victims were giving evidence to MSPs today, relates Reuters.
Asbestos campaigners want to amend the current situation which leaves victims forced to choose between claiming damages for themselves or waiting until they die so that their relatives can possibly claim more. A bill going through parliament aims to address this.
About 1900 people die in the UK each year from asbestos, a cancer of the lining of the lungs or abdomen which is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos.
The Rights of Relatives to Damages (Mesothelioma) bill would let the immediate families of mesothelioma sufferers claim after they die - irrespective of whether the deceased has already recovered damages.
A second loophole stemming from a House of Lords ruling was addressed through the adoption of Westminster legislation earlier this year.
The Bill seeks to amend the Damages (Scotland) Act 1976, but has run into opposition from the Association of British Insurers which will also give evidence to the committee today.
Earlier this year Lothians crisp factory workers who fear they were exposed to cancer causing asbestos, called for an official inquiry.
It came after Alex Horne, an ex-employee of Golden Wonder's Broxburn factory in West Lothian, uncovered information about an industrial incident 20 years ago which encouraged Michael Connarty MP to back the fight.
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