Court ruling hurts asbestos workers

Welsh factory workers who suffer scarring of the lung tissue from asbestos may have lost their right to file for compensation.

The Western Mail newspaper said the Law Lords ruled in the case of Rothwell vs. Chemical Insulation & Co. that people who had the scarring, known as pleural plaques, could not claim compensation because it was technically not a disease.

The High Court ruled in 2005 that people suffering from pleural plaques should receive compensation, but reduced the amount of the compensation payments, the newspaper said.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International