Multi-million dollar fund set up for UK asbestos sufferers
An £85 million (about $138 million in US currency) asbestos compensation fund has been set up in the United Kingdom. Many experts have predicted that the number of asbestos-related medical claims will double in the next decade. The London Pensions Fund Authority set up the fund.
The agency also believes that by 2035, the number of asbestos claimants may rise even higher than double the current number of claimants.
Exposure to asbestos can lead to asbestosis, pleural plaques, lung cancer, and the rare cancer mesothelioma. Mesothelioma affects thousands each year, but there is still not a cure. Mesothelioma symptoms can take decades to develop, but once the symptoms have emerged, the average patient perishes within 24 months.
The London Pensions Fund Authority will also face an increase in claims after a landmark court case caused the organization to compensate a teacher who was not shown to have had direct contact with asbestos. The widower of teacher Joan Henry, who died from mesothelioma, received an out-of-court settlement in July. Mrs. Henry died in 2007, and had worked for 30 years in two schools in east London, both of which contained asbestos.
Mrs. Henry’s husband Stephen, told reporters: "I hope that this case will help others receive compensation if they suffer similar tragedies.”