Disease Level

A disease level is one of the numbered categories an asbestos bankruptcy trust uses to sort claims by diagnosis and severity, each with its own medical and exposure requirements and its own scheduled value. Many trusts use a scale running from Level I for the least serious claims up to Level VIII for mesothelioma.

Origin

The numbered-level structure was written into trust distribution procedures, with similar frameworks shared by many trusts formed from the 2000s on. The exact names, numbers and criteria differ from trust to trust, and some older trusts use different systems.

Significance in Asbestos Context

In a common eight-level scheme, the lower levels cover nonmalignant disease: asbestosis or pleural disease at increasing degrees of severity, with severe asbestosis generally requiring an ILO reading of 2/1 or higher and lower levels a reading of 1/0 or bilateral pleural disease. The middle and upper levels cover other cancers, lung cancer, and mesothelioma at the top. Lung cancer and other cancer levels generally require evidence of asbestosis or bilateral pleural disease, except that most trusts also have a lower lung cancer level (often called Lung Cancer 2) for claims without it, which pays roughly asbestosis values or less; other cancers (such as colon, stomach, throat or esophagus) without that evidence are usually denied, and the rare approvals pay very little. Asbestos trusts do not currently pay ovarian cancer claims. The level a claim qualifies for drives what it is worth, so getting the medical evidence and diagnosis documented correctly matters.

Example Sentence

With a B-read of 2/1 and impaired breathing tests, his claim qualified for the trust's severe asbestosis disease level rather than the lower asbestosis level.

Related Terms

Claims Matrix, Scheduled Value, Trust Distribution Procedures, Expedited Review, Individual Review, ILO Classification, B-Read

Notes

• Ask your lawyer which disease level each of your trust claims is filed under.
• If your diagnosis changes or worsens, a claim may qualify for a higher level; tell your lawyer.
• Keep all X-ray readings, CT reports and pathology reports; they decide the level.