...STATSDueling Numbers on Asbestos ClaimsNovember 10 2005Rebecca Goldin Ph.D.STATS Study: What’s fairer for asbestos victims - the tort system or the FAIR asbestos act?
The U.S.
government is considering adopting the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2005 (S.
852).
The beauty of the Act is that it exchanges litigation in the tort system (i.e.
lawsuits against companies for damage due to asbestos) for an entitlement: show that you’re a victim of asbestos, and the U.S.
government will compensate you.
Where does the money come from?
Companies that have a history of using asbestos.
It sounds perfect – the guilty companies pay, and asbestos victims receive, without having to go through the difficult and stressful judicial system.
The theory behind this kind of program is appealing.
Most importantly, in the current system, asbestos victims are not getting compensated fully, equitably, or in a timely fashion.
Currently operating trust funds for asbestos victims are paying between five and ten cents on the dollar for asbestos claims; they just don’t have the money.
Companies that have lost big money in the courts have been forced into bankruptcy.
Victims take years to recoup any compensation through the tort system.
Only the lawyers are getting their share.A federal trust could solve the problem, so goes the theory.
We could pay out claims quickly.
We could save money for the plaintiffs and defendants by cutting out the lawyers.
We could reduce administrative costs by catego...
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