New Doubts on Government Pleural Plaques Dossier

Construction union UCATT has discovered that a key Government report recommending that pleural plaques victims should not receive compensation, was written by someone who was not an expert in the field and had not met any pleural plaques sufferers.

Professor Robert Maynard, an expert in air pollution, wrote the report the Medical Aspects of Pleural Plaques: a Review for the Chief Medical Officer. Professor Maynard has admitted to experts in asbestos diseases that he had not met any patients with asbestos diseases.

The report has frequently been cited by Government Ministers as a primary reason why they have been reluctant to overturn the Law Lords decision and reinstate compensation for pleural plaques victims.

Alan Ritchie General Secretary of construction union UCATT, said: “It is outrageous that the person tasked with writing such an influential report was not an expert in this field and had never met a pleural plaques victim. This dossier is at best dubious. I hope that it will no longer be cited as a reason why pleural plaques victims should not receive compensation for their injuries.”

For Further information contact Barckley Sumner on 0780 2329235

UCATT represents 125,000 members employed in the construction industry throughout the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland

Note to Editors: Pleural plaques are scarring of the lungs caused by heavy and prolonged exposure to asbestos. Victims develop some physical symptoms and often also develop severe mental trauma. Pleural plaques victims have a greatly increased possibility of developing the incurable lung cancer mesothelioma.

In October 2007 the Law Lords overturned over 20 years of civil law and ruled that pleural plaques could no longer be compensated. In July 2008 the Government launched a consultation exercise to examine whether the Law Lords ruling should be overturned. Despite repeated promises that the Government would respond to the consultation, no announcement has yet been made.