Rise in UK Mesothelioma Claims
Statistics released on September 6, 2001 record 17,000 new accident and prescribed disease claims made under the Industrial Injuries Scheme, a government-run, non-contributory, no-fault method of providing disablement benefit for injured workers. The seventeen page report by the Information Centre of the Department for Work and Pensions is entitled: Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit Statistics - Quarter ending June 2001. A 41% increase in compensation claims for diffuse mesothelioma contributed to an overall 20% rise in the number of newly diagnosed prescribed diseases. Table 2.3 on page 9 of the report analyses prescribed asbestos diseases claims which include: 190 diffuse mesothelioma (179 male/ 11 female), 8 (all male) primary carcinoma of the lung with accompanying evidence of asbestosis or unilateral/bilateral diffuse pleural thickening and 69 (68 male/1 female) unilateral or bilateral diffuse pleural thickening. More information can be found at:
http://www.dss.gov.uk/asd/iidb.pdf
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September 20, 2001
