Nicholas Bevan & Andrew Stinchcombe trace the road ahead for pleural plaque compensation
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On 1 April 2009 Gordon Brown was asked at Prime Minister's Question Time by Stephen Hepburn MP (Lab) what he intended to do about the thousands of pleural plaques sufferers “who have been robbed of their compensation by unjust decisions in the law courts?” The prime minister stated that those suffering from asbestos diseases deserved the best of help from the public authorities and that it was right that the government looked again at this issue.
Pleural plaques are localised areas of pleural thickening which usually develop on the membrane (pleura) covering the lung and lining the inside of the rib cage. They are the most common respiratory disease caused by asbestos dust and in the vast majority of cases, they do not cause any symptoms and their presence is determined by chest X-ray or CT scans.
Insurers challenge—Rothwell
A trio of High Court decisions in the 1980s made it possible for claimants to recover damages where they suffered from pleural plaques
