Fund for patients with asbestos induced diseases may run out

Our plain-English summary of Fund for patients with asbestos induced diseases may run out, by B. Burton (BMJ, 2004).

The study

• Author: B. Burton
• Journal: BMJ
• Published: 2004;328(7442):728
• Type of article: News
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

In plain English

This is a short news report, not a research study. It described an inquiry, set up by the New South Wales government, into a compensation fund for people with diseases induced by asbestos. In February 2001 the asbestos manufacturer James Hardie Industries set up a non-profit trust, the Medical Research and Compensation Foundation, with $A293m of assets to cover the company's liabilities for asbestos induced diseases. Eight months later the company moved its head office to the Netherlands. Documents tendered at the inquiry's first hearing showed that the foundation's actuarial adviser had calculated that liabilities had been underestimated by up to $A200m. They also showed that only months after the fund was set up its chairman feared a massive shortfall. The actuarial company Trowbridge Deloitte had estimated in 2000 that claims would peak in 2004. Two years later it calculated a peak in 2009, with claims continuing until 2049. The report stated that the most conservative estimate was about 10 000 deaths from mesothelioma over the next 50 years. The inquiry was due to report by the end of June.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: news report (not a research study)
• Who was studied: a compensation fund (the Medical Research and Compensation Foundation) for people with diseases induced by asbestos, examined by an inquiry initiated by the New South Wales government
• Exposure: asbestos induced diseases linked to the asbestos manufacturer James Hardie Industries; no fiber types or products are named
• Main results:
  • The foundation's actuarial adviser had calculated that liabilities had been underestimated by up to $A200m
  • Only months after the fund was established, the fund's chairman feared it had a massive shortfall
  • In 2000 Trowbridge Deloitte estimated claims would peak in 2004; two years later it calculated a peak in 2009, with claims continuing until 2049
  • The most conservative estimate given was that about 10 000 people will die from mesothelioma over the next 50 years
  • Eight months after establishing the foundation, James Hardie moved its head office to the Netherlands

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Asbestosis.

Related studies

• Awkward medicolegal problems in asbestos-induced disease. Problems in law — C. Clothier (1978)
• A guide to compensation for asbestos-related diseases — M.G. Britton, D.T. Hughes, et al. (1981)
• Compensation for asbestos-related diseases--the U.K. model — M. Britton (1989)
• Asbestos-related disease--a preventable burden — (2008)
• Asbestos diseases and compensation — A. Seaton (1990)
• Lump sum compensation for asbestos related lung disease — T. Williams, P. Slade, et al. (1998)

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