International Alliance of Trade-Union Organizations "Chrysotile" Insists on Review of Ambiguous and Unscientific Judicial Decisions Used by People For Personal Gain

MOSCOW, October 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

In his article "Asbestos judgment fuels bogus claims," published by The Telegraph on September 5, 2015, the author Christopher Booker once again addressed the issue of lawyer misconduct when seeking compensation for supposed damages to the health of employees while on the job.

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The author introduces several examples in his article illustrating how lawyer's offices blatantly and without producing any evidence manage to recover huge sums from the owners of different companies on the grounds that their customers at some point in their lives allegedly came into contact with asbestos. The fact that in the middle of the twentieth century goods that contained asbestos were commonly sold and used without any restrictions, and that not all forms of asbestos in these cases are dangerous for human health in controlled situations, is taken into consideration.

"Like numerous other businesses across the country, a small, long-established Hertfordshire construction company has been threatened with bankruptcy over events that allegedly took place 50 years ago," writes Christopher Booker, recounting yet another story of how a law firm tried to recover more than 300,000 pounds from the owner of a small business based on frivolous accusations.

This type of fraud became possible after a controversial judgment by the British Supreme Court in 2011. The judge made a ruling with reference to unscientific statistics that all cases of mesothelioma, a form of cancer, are caused by exposure to asbestos. All forms of this mineral were therefore considered the same substance from a legal point of view, despite the fact that forms have different properties and even different chemical compositions. If amphibole asbestos, which is commonly banned, indeed consists of fibres that are difficult to dissolve in the acid environment of a human being, then it is not even considered relevant that fibres of chrysotile asbestos can be dissolved in two weeks in the lungs with no negative health effects at all.

The amount of possible fraud from frivolous compensation claims in Great Britain alone could top more than 5 bln pounds estimated conservatively. Owners of small businesses unable to competently defend themselves in court are going to suffer most. 

International Alliance of Trade-Union Organizations "Chrysotile" insists on a review of ambiguous and unscientific decisions pushed by the anti-asbestos lobby in order to discredit cheap and, in the case of controlled use, safe chrysotile asbestos.

International Alliance of Trade-Union Organizations "Chrysotile" claims that if chrysotile-asbestos and the products it produces are used in a controlled environment, it has no negative health effects. This assertion is backed by a range of independent research and a long history of its use in Russia, CIS countries, and Southeast Asia.

Additional information: [email protected]

Useful links:

International Trade Unions' Alliance "Chrysotile" Website: http://www.nochrysotileban.com 

Chrysotile TV channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/ChrysotileTV 

Webpage of Your Word project: http://www.yourwords.ru 

SOURCE International Trade Unions Movement "For Chrysotile"