Monday, 29 March 2010

MP assurances to battle on for asbestos victims

COPELAND MP Jamie Reed has vowed to keep fighting for justice for victims of an asbestos-related disease after the Government decided not to overturn a legal ruling affecting compensation payments.

Mr Reed said the fight was not over and backbenchers would not stop until pleural plaque sufferers were given justice.
Pleural plaques are scarring of the lungs caused by heavy and prolonged exposure to asbestos, often from working in shipyards, coal mines or on building sites.
The Labour MP is one of the figures in a Westminster campaign to overturn a Law Lords decision in 2007 that ruled sufferers of the condition, which can be an indication of fatal asbestosis, were no longer entitled to compensation which had existed for more than 20 years.

Read More

No comments:

Post a Comment

Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that is almost always caused by previous exposure to asbestos. In this disease, malignant cells develop in the mesothelium, a protective lining that covers most of the body's internal organs. Its most common site is the pleura (outer lining of the lungs and internal chest wall), but it may also occur in the peritoneum (the lining of the abdominal cavity), the heart, the pericardium (a sac that surrounds the heart) or tunica vaginalis.

Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles, or they have been exposed to the dust and fiber in other ways. Washing the clothes of a family member who worked with asbestos can also put a person at risk for developing mesothelioma. Unlike lung cancer, there is no association between mesothelioma and smoking. Compensation via asbestos funds or lawsuits is an important issue in mesothelioma.

The symptoms of mesothelioma include shortness of breath due to pleural effusion (fluid between the lung and the chest wall) or chest wall pain, and general symptoms such as weight loss. The diagnosis may be suspected with chest X-ray and CT scan, and is confirmed with a biopsy (tissue sample) and microscopic examination. A thoracoscopy (inserting a tube with a camera into the chest) can be used to take biopsies. It allows the introduction of substances such as talc to obliterate the pleural space (called pleurodesis), which prevents more fluid from accumulating and pressing on the lung. Despite treatment with chemotherapy, radiation therapy or sometimes surgery, the disease carries a poor prognosis. Research about screening tests for the early detection of mesothelioma is ongoing.

Wikipedia