Senate Judiciary Panel Reviews Compensation Bill That Could Remove Asbestos-Related Personal Injury Cases From Courts

The US Senate Judiciary Committee is discussing changes to the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act. The compensation bill offers a plan that would create a $140 billion trust fund that could end up removing asbestos-related personal injury cases from the courts. The fund would be financed from the revenues of companies facing asbestos litigation and their insurers, but some opponents of the bill worry that the fund might not be able to cover all liability claims and that taxpayers could end up paying for them.

Asbestos injuries result when a person who is exposed to dangerous levels of asbestos inhales or ingests asbestos fibers. Asbestos injuries can sometimes arise years after the incidence of exposure.

Job industries where the risk to asbestos is particularly high:

Construction
Railroads
Mining
Automotive

Shipping

Types of Asbestos Injury:
Asbestosis: A progressive, non-cancerous asbestos injury that can lead to disability or death
Mesothelioma: a cancerous and deadly form of asbestos

Asbestos injury is also linked to lung, esophagus, larynx, and pancreatic cancer. The possibility of developing lung cancer is seven times greater once a person has been exposed to asbestos. A person can also can incur an asbestos injury if they are exposed to someone who has been exposed to asbestos and is wearing the fiber on their clothing or their body.

A RAND study found that more than 730,000 people in the US filed asbestos injury claims from the early 1970’s through 2002. These claims cost businesses and insurance companies more than $70 billion dollars.

If you have been a victim of asbestos injury, you have the legal right to seek compensation. A personal injury attorney familiar with asbestos injury cases can help you.

Senate Judiciary Panel Again Takes Up Asbestos Compensation Bill, Jurist, June 8, 2006
Asbestos Injury, Asbestos News
Rand Study Finds More Than 730,000 People Have Filed
Related Web Resources:
Asbestos Claims In US, Costing Defendants More Than $70 Billion, Rand.org, May 10, 2005
Asbestos-Disease Ruled In Bill Faulted, Baltimoresun.com, June 7, 2006
Fairness In Asbestos Injury Resolution Act (PDF)