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Here are answers to some of the most essential questions asked about asbestos claims:
Q. How about information on asbestos disease and cancers?
A. Click here for general information about asbestos disease process: Click herefor information about mesothelioma, a horrible terminal lung cancer caused only by asbestos.
Q. What federal legislation is currently pending and what is the status?
A. The legislation is Senate Bill 1125 and it is pending in the United StatesSenate. A similar bill has not yet been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. Proponents of the law realize that it is more important to pass something in the U.S. Senate because it is likely that the U.S. House of Representatives would follow suit. The present legislation, Senate Bill 1125, was reported out of the judiciary committee favorably to the house floor, by a 10-9 vote in favor, largely along political lines, with the Republicans holding the 10 votes necessary to send the bill to the floor. A precise date that the bill will be taken up by the full Senate is uncertain but could come very soon.
Q. Who is supporting the asbestos legislation?
A. Many business interests are supporting the asbestos bill, but the bill has also received support of a remarkably large number of labor organizations. Senator Orrin Hatch has been the primary proponent and sponsor of this Senate bill.
Q. What is the purpose of the asbestos legislation?
A. The idea is to mainly stop major companies from going bankrupt under the weight of asbestos lawsuits, and also to "unclog the courts". However, many other things are tacked into this bill which is now a massive, over 100 page document.
Q. Who will pay for the funds for the claimants who get asbestos diseases or cancers?
A. The idea is for the creation of a "trust fund" paid for by U.S.companies, including many that distributed and sold the toxic asbestos-containing products. There is a complicated formula on how much these companies will pay and how long the trust fund would be solvent.
Q. What happens if the trust fund runs out of money?
A. This is a big problem. As a matter of fact, many opponents of the bill argue that U.S.taxpayers will end up footing the bill and corporations that might have been guilty of selling asbestos-containing products (which they knew were dangerous) would be off the hook by making their payments into the fund.
Q. Why should those who have contracted asbestos diseases or cancers support the bill?
A. Businesses in favor of the bill argue that it will take lawyers out of the equation and will make it easier for claimants to get fair recoveries. However, many consumer groups have argued that with pre-set formulas for what persons can recover, the bill is not really fair to those who may have serious disease processes and/or terminal cancers caused by asbestos. Moreover, the bill removes the right to trial by jury and would require suits before judges most likely in Washington, D.C.
Q. Are the courts really clogged with asbestos suits?
A. That depends on whom you listen to. The U.S.Supreme Court has actually gotten into the issue–in more than one opinion, justices of the Supreme Court have suggested the creation of an asbestos "trust fund" to help alleviate the burden of asbestos cases on the federal courts.
Q. Does the asbestos legislation unfairly favor some major U.S.companies?
A. A study was put together as to the probable savings of major U.S.companies that would stand to benefit from the asbestos legislation. Amazingly, it was determined that the Halliburton Company would save the most of any U.S.company, and you may realize that Vice-President Dick Cheney formerly headed this company. The Virginian-Pilot, the HamptonRoads, Virginianewspaper, recently issued an editorial highly critical of the pending asbestos legislation (click here to read the editorial).
Q. What can I do to let my views be known?
A. You can notify your U.S. Senators of your opinions, and although no bill is pending before the U.S. House of Representatives, you can also notify your congressional representative of your views. Click here to see a list of contact information for U.S.Senators and Congressmen. |
