The proposed asbestos trust fund, which would eliminate all asbestos litigation and instead pay asbestos cancer victims from a set schedule based on their disease, has increased in size to $153 billion. Senators agreed to the additional $45 billion in financing in an effort to win support from Democrats and increase the likelihood the trust will be created.
The New York Times reported that, “a major obstacle to the creation of the trust remained last night, as senators continued to disagree over the size of payments to victims.” Democratic lawmakers claim that asbestos victims would receive less compensation under the proposed bill than they do now from the courts. The creation of the trust is unlikely without bipartisan support.
The trust should pay asbestos victims with mesothelioma and lung cancer as much as $1.1 million, said Senator Patrick J. Leahy, a Vermont Democrat who is a member of the Judiciary Committee.
“The companies are getting what they want in this draft bill, but so far the victims do not get what they need,” Mr. Leahy said. “We’ve painstakingly made this a better bill, but the key to whether this effort succeeds or fails now is whether it offers fair values to the victims.”.
(via New York Times)
2 responses so far ↓
Lori Adcock // Feb 6, 2004 at 7:39 pm
I have been waiting for 7 years to see justice in the court system for the loss of my father and my childrens only grandfather they had left…….
Attorneys have made more than we have and we still don’t have our day in court they promised, I think they work both sides of the field, If this bill would have been in place when my Dad was diagnosed he would have seen some resolve instead he died with promises we would see more money compensation than we could imagine…………Victims are the losers in your bill and in the attorneys games…It all comes down to victims, and their families become victims of the system……What government should do is stop allowing these high income producing companies to bankrupt and get away with murder.
john delahoussaye // Apr 19, 2004 at 1:35 pm
how can someone please explain how kellog brown&root can get bankruptcy statis of chapter 11 through the courts when they are making hundreds of millions now and surley much more in the future in irag
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