Letter to the Editor: Brenda Nichols Harper

 Frivolous Lawsuits Hurt Asbestos Victims

 The Herald-Dispatch, December 26, 2005

Mass litigation involving asbestos has had a significant impact on our courts and on our businesses. These mass litigations continue to clog our court systems and make it problematic for the truly injured or impaired to have their "day in court."

One of the driving factors for an explosion in these lawsuits is because unscrupulous individuals, doctors and attorneys are claiming injuries even though there are none.

Lawyers are hiring doctors who have no relationship with the exposed worker. And some doctors are diagnosing "patients" without even meeting them, often on the basis of medical and occupational histories and X-rays taken by individuals who are not properly trained and without appropriate oversight by medical professionals. A few of these doctors are being investigated for possible fraud.

Asbestos is a lawsuit situation that is completely out of control. As a result, the current asbestos litigation system is broken and is hurting victims, workers, businesses and economic development in West Virginia. Specifically:

·  People who are sick with asbestos-related illness are receiving reduced or delayed compensation.

·  Companies doing business in West Virginia are facing significant challenges, including bankruptcy, because a few aggressive plaintiff attorneys are filing thousands of asbestos suits for non-impaired claimants.

·  In West Virginia, 20,000 asbestos claims were filed from 1994 to 2004, and today there are still 1,200 asbestos lawsuits pending.

To address these problems, legislation should be enacted in West Virginia that establishes minimum medical standards for filing an asbestos or silica claim and require that a diagnosis be made by a qualified physician.

These would be two first steps to bring integrity back to the process. They also would enable people who are truly sick to pursue their claims immediately. Those who are not sick would be able to bring their claims when they become sick. No one who is ill, now or in the future, will be prevented from having their day in court.

This legislative proposal presents a common-sense solution to the current asbestos litigation crisis and should help forestall a future silica litigation crisis. This kind of legislation also is similar to ones that have been enacted in Ohio, Texas, Florida and Georgia.

The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce calls on the Legislature to enact asbestos/silica reform legislation to preserve the ability to compensate working people who develop asbestos-related or silica-related illnesses in the future, and to aid in the avoidance of unnecessary financial hardship for companies who are faced with the devastating effects of mass lawsuits.