The latest national figures released by the Heath & Safety Executive show that the number of people dying from mesothelioma is continuing to rise in Great Britain.  Mesothelioma is a terminal cancer caused by exposure to asbestos which mainly affects the lining of the lungs.  It is generally 20-40 years after exposure to asbestos dust when the incurable tumour presents itself and sadly many victims die within months of being diagnosed.

The statistics confirm that 2,321 people died of mesothelioma in 2009, which represents a 3% increase from the 2008 death toll of 2,249. 

The HSE report also shows that the number of women dying of mesothelioma is increasing at a greater rate than men.  Although most of the female deaths are likely to be due to a range of non-occupational asbestos exposures the figures are alarming.  Earlier this year the Supreme Court confirmed that two families could keep the compensation awarded by the Courts for the loss of their female loved ones.  John Pickering and Partners LLP represented Dianne Willmore who was exposed to asbestos dust when a pupil at Bowring Comprehensive School in Merseyside.  She was diagnosed with mesothelioma in March 2007 at the age of 46.  The appeal also concerned Enid Costello who died aged 74, of mesothelioma.  She was exposed to asbestos dust whilst working as an office worker at a factory making steel drums between 1964 and 1988.  In the South Tyneside area the number of women dying of mesothelioma has risen from 7 in the years 1981 to 2000 to 13 between 1985 and 2004.

The North East of England once again has the highest male death rate per million people.  Between 1981 and 2000 there were 1701 deaths and this increased to over 2000 in the period 1985 to 2004.  The region with the second highest death rate was the South East which had a death rate of 75.3 men per million.

Given that asbestos was viewed as a ‘wonder product’ and used in virtually every building and construction site in Britain in the 1960’s and 1970’s due to its heat resisting properties, it is not surprising that asbestos deaths are increasing nationally.  It appears that the worst is still to come with deaths not expected to peak until at least 2016.

For full statistics please visit the Health and Safety Executive website.

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About John Pickering and Partners LLP

John Pickering and Partners LLP- Specialist mesothelioma compensation solicitors

We are a dedicated personal injury law firm who do not do other types of work.  We specialise in claiming damages for asbestos sufferers. We have been handling compensation claims for industrial disease for over 30 years. Most of our work involves acting for asbestos disease victims who suffer from mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis and pleural thickening. We only act for the sufferers of asbestos diseases and never act for the organisations that caused the asbestos exposure or their insurers. We have an ethical approach and donate 10% of our net profits every year to good causes that help asbestos sufferers.  We have set up a charitable trust to help to fund medical research into mesothelioma and various organisations that help and support asbestos sufferers and their families.

Find out more about our donations to good causes. We have also been involved in most of the landmark judgments that shape this area of law. Find out more about us or our reported cases. We are on the panels of several asbestos support groups and are ranked highly by legal guides.  Find out more about what others have said about us.

John Pickering and Partners LLP is a niche legal practice that has represented Claimants in the leading asbestos "test cases" in the last ten years. The firm represented Sylvia Barker in Barker v Corus (UK) Plc, a case that highlighted the legal tactics of employers and insurers trying to cut back their compensation liabilities to mesothelioma sufferers, and which prompted the amendment of the Compensation Act 2006 to ensure full compensation for mesothelioma claims. The firm represented two of the three Claimants in the landmark Fairchild appeal, in which the insurance industry tried unsuccessfully to block compensation altogether for mesothelioma sufferers unable to identify which of two or more sources of asbestos exposure had caused their illness.

The firm represented Alice Jefferson, a mesothelioma sufferer, whose illness and compensation claim against Cape Asbestos were featured in the important documentary "Alice: A Fight For Life." Shown by Yorkshire Television in July 1982, the programme was an important catalyst for legal change and public awareness of the plight of mesothelioma and other asbestos disease sufferers and a prompt for important legal reform.

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that affects the lining of certain bodily organs. It most commonly affects the lining of the lungs (the pleura) but it can affect other areas including organs in the abdominal cavity (the peritoneum).

More than 2,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma every year in the UK and there is one mesothelioma death every five hours. The number of deaths from mesothelioma increased from 153 in 1968 to 1,969 in 2004 and is expected to peak at 2,450 between 2011 and 2015. 

The first Action Mesothelioma Day was launched on 27th February 2006.  Its objectives were to raise awareness about mesothelioma, to improve the treatment and care of mesothelioma patients, and to lobby for better funding for research into mesothelioma and for the protection and education of people who may be exposed to asbestos.

If you need advice about an asbestos related illness, contact us now for information about making a claim for compensation.

Contact us to find out more about your entitlement to claim compensation if you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer or pleural thickening.

For more information about asbestos diseases-

www.johnpickering.co.uk

For practical information and support concerning mesothelioma-

www.mesothelioma-advice.co.uk

For more information about claiming for different types of asbestos disease-

Mesothelioma compensation claims

Lung cancer compensation claims

Asbestosis compensation claims

Pleural thickening compensation claims

For more an explanation about different types of asbestos conditions-

Different asbestos conditions