The word “Asbestosis” is often used as a generic or catch-all term to describe all forms of asbestos disease, but it is in fact a specific term describing a very specific type of asbestos disease.
Many will be aware of that asbestos exposure causes cancer (most commonly a particular type of cancer called Mesothelioma, but it also causes lung cancer) but asbestosis is distinct disease that is not cancerous. It is instead a scarring of the lung tissue caused by inhaling asbestos fibres. It can cause shortness of breath and can worsen in severity even after the exposure has stopped. Indeed it is typical that symptoms of asbestosis will not appear until many years after the Asbestos exposure and then progress from there. Some forms of asbestosis do not progress significantly and do not cause major impairment but in some cases, asbestosis can be an extremely serious and even fatal illness although again, it is not a malignancy in the way mesothelioma or lung cancer is.
Where asbestosis is causing or is likely to cause impairment or disability, compensation is available, as long as the source of the asbestos exposure can be identified.
But such claims are not always straightforward. One issue that can arise in asbestosis claims is whether or not the condition is truly asbestosis, or another lung scarring condition that is not compensable. This condition has a number of labels but for these purposes we will adopt the commonly used term Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, or IPF.
In claims for asbestosis, it can be raised as an issue by the entity against who the claim is made (such as an asbestos products manufacturer or an employer via a workers compensation insurer) that the condition is not asbestosis but IPF and therefore not compensable. This is on the basis that IPF is known to occur in persons of advanced years, particularly men, and it has, as the term “Idiopathic” suggests, no known cause. Where a condition is truly IPF, this is obviously a “let off” for a defendant because by definition, no connection between asbestos exposure and the condition can be established.
Distinguishing between asbestosis and IPF is a complex issue, but a number of criteria have evolved that can help resolve the issue of whether a lung scarring condition is Asbestosis or IPF. These include:
- Intensity of asbestos exposure. Asbestosis usually requires very high level of asbestos exposure, for example years of working in an asbestos cement products in thick clouds of visible asbestos dust is the kind of exposure one tends to associate with asbestosis. Merely handling and cutting two or three asbestos cement sheets when doing a home renovation would be most unlikely to cause asbestosis. A relatively light history of Asbestos exposure tends towards the conclusion that the condition is in fact IPF;
- Other asbestos markers present. The presence of other forms of so called benign asbestos disease such as pleural plaques or pleural thickening will be suggestive of asbestosis. The thinking here is that if someone has had the high level of asbestos exposure necessary to cause asbestosis, one might also tend to see other less significant markers of asbestos exposure. These calcified accumulations on the lining of the lung called pleural plaques are a very typical sign of such exposure. Where there are no other such signs and just the appearance of scarring alone, this might also tend towards a diagnosis of IPF; and
- Speed of progression. IPF tends to progress quite rapidly whereas asbestosis is thought to progress relatively slowly. So, a rapid spread of scarring observed on subsequent scans would again tend towards the conclusion that the condition is IPF rather than asbestosis.
These criteria are not definitive or exhaustive but are merely guides to assist in the often complex process of differentiating between asbestosis and IPF. It follows that the presence of the just one factor suggesting IPF will not necessarily prevent a conclusion that a condition is asbestosis and therefore compensable.
From all of this it should be clear that the issues around compensation for asbestosis can be complex and it is important that your claim is in the hands of a qualified and experienced legal expert.