I was interested to read recently a study published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine which concluded that malignant mesothelioma was rare prior to the widespread commercial introduction of asbestos.

The study, carried out by James A. Strauchen, reviewed more than 2,000 autopsies carried out at a hospital in New York City between 1883 and 1910.

Not a single case of malignant mesothelioma was found, which allowed the author to conclude that the disease was rare before widespread commercial use of asbestos became common in the United States.

Whilst many leading experts and the Health and Safety Executive believe that Mesothelioma is closely related to asbestos and many cases,are a result of exposures in occupational settings, Insurers and defendant lawyers have tried to claim in some cases that a client’s mesothelioma was spontaneous. This study supports the argument that a spontaneous mesothelioma is very rare and that exposure to asbestos is much more likely to be the cause of the disease.

I am a solicitor in the Asbestos Disease Litigation Team in Irwin Mitchell’s Birmingham Office.  My blog follows two mesothelioma suffers ‘William’ and ‘John’ through the compensation process to show how claims work and to highlight some issues which commonly arise.  

I talked in a previous blog about the loss of life expectancy caused by a mesothelioma illness.  Loss of life expectancy is relevant in financial losses because it determines the length of a claim for so called ‘lost years’.  The legal basis of the lost years claim is that if John and William had not been exposed to asbestos and had not developed mesothelioma, on the balance of probabilities, they would have lived to a normal life expectancy.  Had they done so, they would have benefited from a proportion of their income.

John and Williams’ mesothelioma illness are likely to shorten their lives substantially. Had they not had the illness and lived to a normal life expectancy they would have benefited personally from a proportion of their income, the part that would not have contributed to the household pot.  The period of the loss of life expectancy is used to calculate the period over which this element of their financial losses can be claimed.  This is often a highly valuable part of the case and is something that has to be calculated very carefully. 

As John was a relatively young man when he got ill, we included a claim for lost years based on his earnings as well as his pension. John had planned to work until 70 but his illness forced him to retire in his late 50s.

Had William and John not had wives, it would have been all the more important to bring these claims during their lifetime. Whilst any mesothelioma sufferer can claim for lost years after the sufferer passes away, the estate of the deceased mesothelioma sufferer can only claim if there is someone who was legally dependant upon their income such as a husband or wife, common law partner if they have cohabited for 2 years or more or financially dependant children.

When we act for living mesothelioma suffers without any dependants, we try everything we can to push their cases through during their lifetime to make sure that the value of their claim is maximised. For those who have mesothelioma and do not have a wife, a long-term partner or financially dependent children, it is crucial they see a solicitor who is an expert in asbestos related disease claims as soon as they can.

I am a solicitor in the Asbestos Disease Litigation Team in Irwin Mitchell’s Birmingham Office.  My blog follows two mesothelioma suffers ‘William’ and ‘John’ through the compensation process to show how claims work and to highlight some issues which commonly arise.

After I obtained medical reports for ‘John’ and ‘William’ I prepared schedules of their financial losses.

At the heart of the claim is the principle of putting my client back in the position that they would have been in had they not become ill. Whilst it is only possible to do this in a personal injury claim through a payment of compensation, there are a range of financial losses that can potentially be claimed for.

Both John and William had suffered financial losses from their illness. Both were being looked after by their wives and so we were able to include claims for the care that they provided to John and William. The basis of the claim is that, if John and William were not lucky enough to have wives to care for them, they may have needed to employ professional carers to help them through their illness. Bill’s wife said that she knew she might be compensated for being his nurse, she would have made him call her ‘Sister’!

We can claim for expenses that have reasonably been incurred as a result of the illness. John has invested in a stair lift because he suffers with breathlessness which slows him down and makes stairs difficult. Again this is something that we would claim for in his claim.

William had been in hospital on several occasions and had been visited by members of his family. We included claims for William's travel as well as for members of his family. John had also travelled to the hospital and been in the middle of a DIY project in his home. He was in the process of putting an extension on his house and, being a skilled tradesman, he was doing most of the work himself. Unfortunately William’s illness has prevented him from carrying on this work and he had needed to bring in tradesman to finish it for him. We included these losses within his claim because, had he not got ill, he would not have had to pay others to do the work.

Many of my clients are surprised by the range of financial losses we can include in a claim. I just have to keep reminding them to keep the receipts and records. John had recently bought a shredder and I have had great difficulty in convincing him not to shred the receipt for his stair lift.

I am a solicitor in the Asbestos Disease Litigation Team in Irwin Mitchell’s Birmingham Office.  My blog follows two mesothelioma suffers ‘William’ and ‘John’ through the compensation process to show how claims work and to highlight some issues which commonly arise.

In my last blog I talked about obtaining medical evidence in John & Williams cases.  I explained that we needed evidence from the expert Doctor to confirm that their illness was indeed a mesothelioma and whether it was related to exposure to asbestos at work. 

The other issue that the expert Doctor had to comment on in both cases is the loss of their statistically anticipated life expectancy.  The issue of loss of life expectancy is one of the hardest issues to deal with in a claim.  Unfortunately, however distressing the topic may be to discuss, legally the loss of life and anticipated life expectancy is a crucial factor in calculating the level of financial losses awarded to Claimants, I will explain more about this in a future blog.

In order to determine the loss of life expectancy the expert Doctor looked at both John & Williams’ medical records.  John was an extremely fit man before his illness and the expert Doctor felt that had he not developed mesothelioma, he would have probably have enjoyed a life expectancy which was at least that of a normal man of his age, if not longer.  William had heart problems so the expert felt that, on average, he was slightly less likely to enjoy a normal life expectancy.  The actual number of years the life expectancy is calculated from the statistics prepared by the Government for life expectancy for the general population.

Whilst loss of life expectancy is a crucial issue in calculating the financial losses it is something that I always shield my clients from as far as possible.  Although this issues is crucial to a claim, it does not mean I had to talk John and William through the experts view of life expectancy.  After all, my job is to help my clients through the compensation process in a way that is as easy and comfortable for them as possible.

I am a solicitor in the Asbestos Disease Litigation Team in Irwin Mitchell’s Birmingham Office.  My blog follows two mesothelioma suffers ‘William’ and ‘John’ through the compensation process to show how claims work and to highlight some issues which commonly arise.

One of the key pieces of evidence in any personal injury claim is the medical report.  As you know from my previous blog, I had already obtained John and William’s medical notes at the very start of the case.  I instructed a doctor who specialises in treating mesothelioma patients to prepare reports for John and for William.

Medical experts do not usually need to see my clients in person before preparing the report.  This was particularly good news for John who was feeling poorly after his chemotherapy and I did not want to ask him to travel.  In fact the doctor only needed to speak to William briefly over the telephone and did not need to bother John at all.

The doctors we use as experts have to be independent and give their opinion to the Court rather than to us to ensure they are fair and impartial.  The expert has to give his opinion on the ‘balance of probabilities’, so in his report he must tell the Court what he believes is more likely than not to be the case.  In a compensation claim of this type we do not have to prove their diagnosis beyond ‘reasonable doubt’. 

The first point that the medical report must deal with is the diagnosis of my clients’ illnesses.  Mesothelioma is often hard to diagnose in life and it is sometimes mistaken for a lung cancer and vice versa.  In both John’s & William’s cases the expert Doctor confirmed that, in his opinion, both John & William had mesothelioma rather than lung cancer.  The Doctor also confirmed he believed that their illnesses had been caused by their exposure to asbestos at work.  Although this news came as no surprise to John or William, it did mean that the medical evidence was supportive for the claim.