Personal Injury Law

Base Articles | Sweeping Asbestos and Asbestos Claims Under the Carpet

Sweeping Asbestos and Asbestos Claims Under the Carpet
By: Nick

A series of radio adverts aimed at warning tradesmen of the dangers of asbestos have been banned. The adverts from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) included the line, “Every year there are more people killed by asbestos than in road accidents.” It was this that has sparked a series of complaints and resulted in the HSE withdrawing the advert. The Asbestos Watchdog challenged the adverts, claiming that they were misleading and exaggerated the likelihood of tradesmen developing an asbestos related disease such as mesothelioma. However, the HSE has countered this argument saying that the figures were calculated by counting the number of male and female death certificates that quoted the disease as the cause of death in 2004 2006 and then estimating and adding on the number of deaths caused by lung cancer directly attributable to asbestos exposure.

The figures have been disputed by the Asbestos Watchdog and the Advertising Standards Agency upheld the complaint, leading to the withdrawal of the adverts. They agreed that the figures that led to the quote were based on estimations and could mislead the public by presenting as definitive figures, rather than estimations, and ruled that the adverts could not appear in their current form.

So a potentially effective advertising campaign has been completely scuppered on the basis of a technicality. Those involved in fighting for compensation for victims of asbestos exposure are dismayed at the message that this affair has sent out, feeling that the challenge is an attempt to try and remove the spotlight from the horrendous body count asbestos exposure has already accumulated. The entire decision hinges on the estimation of lung cancer deaths, rather than deaths as a result of the aggressive cancer mesothelioma. The reasoning was that, because lung cancer deaths caused by asbestos were clinically indistinguishable from those caused by other factors such as smoking, the number of deaths was an estimate rather than a definable quantity. The HSE commissioned research to calculate those estimates, which showed a ratio of one asbestos related lung cancer death to every mesothelioma death for the period 1980 to 2000. They added that a number of people died from other asbestos related, non cancerous diseases every year. Using these figures and the ratio of 1:1, the HSE said it was able to conclude that around 4,000 people died every year from asbestos related cancer between 2004 and 2006.

The issue here is not how the figures have been arrived at (although perhaps a little more preparation on the part of the HSE would have prevented this situation from arising in the first place). The issue is how this whole affair will damage the efforts of those fighting for compensation for asbestos exposure and whether a vital campaign to bring a heightened state of awareness of the dangers of exposure to the deadly dust has been killed off before it could do any good. There is fault on both sides the HSE should have considered how its figures were arrived at and that any hint of ‘estimated’ figures would be bound to cause problems when it came to justifying such a claim. But there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that exposure to asbestos has been and continues to be an ongoing problem, particularly amongst those who work in buildings that still contain asbestos. Awareness of the dangers has to be continually spotlighted if there is any chance of preventing more unnecessary and painful deaths from asbestos exposure. Perhaps it’s time that the HSE and the Asbestos Watchdog combined forces to present an effective, accurate and highly publicised campaign that makes it very clear how deadly exposure to asbestos really is. Asbestos Compensation Claims are expected in the years ahead.


Author Resource:-> For further information, please visit http://www.1stclaims.co.uk

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Base Articles | Personal Injury Claims: Three Ways Personal Injury Compensation Can Help You

Personal Injury Claims: Three Ways Personal Injury Compensation Can Help You
by: Jessica A

Personal injury is a term describing an injury to the body, mind or emotions, as a result of the negligence, or fault, of another party. There are many different types of personal injury, some of the most common being injuries from road accidents, accidents at work, slipping and tripping accidents and accidents in the home. If you have suffered a personal injury which was not your fault, there are a number of ways in which making a compensation claim can help you.

An injury can affect not just your working life, but also your personal life, in ways which can seem almost impossible to recover from. Fortunately, laws in the UK mean that you should be able to claim compensation for your losses without paying a penny. Here are three ways in which compensation could help you following an injury.

  1. Recovering Lost Earnings

If you have been seriously injured, you may well have been forced to take time off work, and therefore time without your salary, resulting in lost earnings. This may have led to severe cash flow problems, not just for you but for your entire family. Reclaiming those lost earnings is likely to be a crucial step towards getting you and your family back on your feet. As Well as lost earnings, you may be compensated for other work related issues such as disadvantage in the labour market, loss of promotion, loss of any other work related opportunities and even future loss of earnings should you have to leave your job. With all of these taken into account, and depending on the severity of the injury, the compensation you are entitled to can potentially add up to a very large sum.

  1. Compensating for Pain and Suffering

A serious injury can be very difficult to cope with, not just because of what you are not capable of doing during recovery, but also because of the suffering you may be experiencing. Pain and suffering is the legal term referring to any physical or emotional stress caused by an injury, and these may form part of the compensation package you are awarded. In addition to pain and suffering, other hardships resulting from the injury, such as an inability to carry out day to day tasks or hobbies, may also be taken into account in the compensation awarded.

  1. Preventing a Similar Injury from Happening Again

When you make a personal injury claim, it is because another party has been negligent, and it was their negligence led to you being injured. Negligence means that they failed in their duty of care towards you, for example as an employer or as a public body which is required by law to make all reasonable steps to look out for your safety. If that party has failed to do so, it’s likely that others are at risk of being injured, as well. Making a personal injury claim will highlight the safety issues present and may prevent others from suffering from similar injuries in the future. And remember, you cannot legally lose your job for making a claim.

Author Resource:-> National Accident Helpline has helped members of the public make successful personal injury claims (http://www.national-accident-helpline.co.uk/personal-injury-claims.html) for over 15 years.

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Drugs and other medical products sometimes suffer from several defects, including design, manufacturing, problems with the testing of the drug or device, inadequate warnings or instructions for use, problem with the doctor's prescription or incorrect distribution by the pharmacist etc any of which may cause serious injuries including adverse side effects and life-threatening reactions. One of the most significant drug side effects is the Zoloft birth defects. Many women using this antidepressant during pregnancy are keen to give birth to a child with such birth defects.

These antidepressant drugs, like Paxil, Zoloft and Prozac which are also referred to as serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), may cause several established side effects for the unborn child including the increased risk of premature birth, breathing problems, gastrointestinal side effects and motor problems. Pregnant women taking these drugs can expose their baby to the medication while in the womb leading to the development of a Zoloft birth defect. However the exact degree of risk of Zoloft birth defects is currently unknown, but the increasing complications in babies have been genuinely reported.

It is utterly depressing for the parents to see their newborn suffer from Zoloft birth defects. Women and their families are being more informed by several medical studies and public awareness about the antidepressant drug Zoloft which has been widely prescribed to help treat depression. If any child suffers from such birth defects, then its parents are entitled to file a lawsuit against the manufacturer on behalf of their child. The parents must then seek the guidance of a professional lawyer handling birth defects lawsuits to evaluate their claims. It is highly required that the parents know about their medical rights and if needed, fight for justice. Many law firms have come forward to help these grief-stricken parents by discussing with them about their legal rights in their case and claim of compensation. The pharmaceutical companies can be held responsible for the side effects of their products. For that the victim’s family should collaborate with birth injury attorneys, to file a class action lawsuit.

They may be entitled to reimbursement for the injuries and medical expenses through filing a class action lawsuit. Undoubtedly such litigation is not quite an easy process, but it might be sorted with the help of a qualified Zoloft side effect lawyer.

In 2004, the FDA launched a warning program for potential mothers regarding taking certain types of antidepressant medication during the late third trimester of their pregnancy. It enlightened the fact that physicians may want to taper women off SSRI drugs in the third trimester to help prevent the child from being exposed to the medication while in the womb and potentially developing birth defects. Afterwards, the antidepressant labels were changed and it included some additional information and stronger warnings that suggested exposure to the medication in the first trimester of pregnancy may be linked with a higher risk of Zoloft birth defects involving cardiac problems.

Patients rely upon such medication and so it becomes the sole responsibility of the medical device manufacturers to properly formulate and test these drugs before they approve these to be used by consumers, which unfortunately they fail to do quite often.

Thursday, 23 February 2012

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