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There is a troubling trend that has been cropping up recently of faulty and fraudulent asbestos and silica related lawsuits which was recently addressed by the state affairs committee. The answer to the asbestos problem may lay in the hands of a freshman house member, and medical doctor, who has authored a new senate bill that will hopefully be able to take care of the many difficulties business face when it comes to fraudulent claims. Business groups contest that many of the victims in these cases are being taken advantage of by personal injury lawyers and their questionable doctor cohorts that create false cases from questionable medical data. They believe that there are their companies are spending far too much money defending themselves from claims that hold no water.
There are personal injury lawyers who represent injured workers who don’t want there to be any legislative action affecting their practices, especially when there are now laws on the books sending all the asbestos cases in a state to just one judge. However, there seems to be a new wave of silica exposure claims surfacing due to some of the lawyers handling personal injury complaints that have been pushing through claims which are definitely questionable.
Business lobbyists counter that there is a simple measure to resolve this. If we simply ask that anyone filing a lawsuit must demonstrate suffering and injury from their exposure prior to wasting the court’s time, this will fix the problem. We need proof beyond a simple x ray, which can be exaggerated by unethical doctors. The bill on the table would ask claimants to undergo x rays, but also breathing tests and an exam by a physician prior to being able to move forward with a lawsuit. This is a modification to a proposal by the bar association.
For those workers who have been exposed but are unable to show any harm yet, there is some protection. First, the bill would wave the usual two year statute of limitations for exposed workers. No matter the time since exposure, a worker can sue if they develop adequate symptoms. Next, the bill would keep insurance companies from denying coverage to a worker even if their medical tests show that they have been exposed to asbestos.
Critics say that though the bill does have good safeguards, the medical standards are much too high and much too rigid. While this newer proposal would make sure medical standards are kept current so a worker can sue, it would still mean a referral is needed from a judge for determination of it’s actual medical merit. The effort is in trying to weed out cases which are truly fraudulent, while also safeguarding the rights of workers who have been exposed.
Raising medical standards won’t solve the problem if doctors are lying, according to the house member. The bottom line is doctors won’t be stopped from lying to a higher standard because of this bill. Regardless of the differing motives behind the new legislation, it seems that the state is serious about trying to flush invalid claims from the system. Those who have been truly injured by exposure should be able to have their day in court sooner rather than later. This is house bill amendment, however, one house member feels that the senate should be considering this idea as well.
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By Shirley Cortez Article2008.com
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