Pleural plaques meaning

Veale and others v Scottish Power UK Plc [2025] UKSC 45 Background Robert Crozier succumbed to mesothelioma in 2018. In this appeal, the Supreme Court is asked to determine whether his immediate family members can obtain damages from his former employer, Scottish Power UK Plc (Scottish Power), under D(S)A 2011. Crozier worked for Scottish Power from 1969 until 1992. In 2014, he issued proceedings seeking damages against his former employer, having developed pleural plaques and asbestosis as a consequence of exposure to asbestos during the course of his employment. The dispute was settled by agreement between the parties. At the point of settlement, he had not developed mesothelioma; however, the sum paid included compensation reflecting the risk that he might develop mesothelioma in future. By virtue of that settlement, Scottish Power’s liability to Crozier was discharged, with the result that he could not advance further claim against Scottish Power if mesothelioma later emerged. After Crozier’s death, the pursuers, being members of his immediate family, brought a claim against Scottish...

This Practice Note outlines the various asbestos types, ways in which exposure occurs, and the principal asbestos-related illnesses. It also examines advances in therapies, including immunotherapy for mesothelioma, the potential to recover the expense of such interventions, and the deployment of periodical payments orders. Further, it supplies practical guidance on securing medical evidence. For those pursuing personal injury actions for claimants who have developed disease from asbestos exposure, a clear understanding of the material and the severe, often terminal, conditions suffered by the exposed is indispensable. Types of asbestos Asbestos is a collective label for six naturally occurring silicate minerals made up of long, slender, fibrous crystals. During the 1970s and 1980s it was mined on a large scale in numerous countries worldwide, with Canada and South Africa as leading producers. In its different forms, asbestos was widely employed across industry and construction until the 1980s. Its ubiquity stemmed from desirable characteristics, such as sound insulation and resistance to flame, heat, and electricity...

This Practice Note sets out the matters a claimant must establish in an asbestos action. It further reviews pleural plaques claims, limitation questions including section 14 of the Limitation Act 1980 (LA 1980), the Pre-Action Protocol for Disease and Illness Claims, and the special procedural rules for mesothelioma claims. Elements of the claim A claimant who has developed disease through exposure to asbestos must prove the following in order to pursue their claim. A duty of care and/or a statutory duty owed by the individual or company responsible for the asbestos exposure. That duty requires the taking of reasonable care to prevent a person being subjected to a foreseeable risk of asbestos-related harm. In Asmussen v Filtrona, the claim was rejected because, on the then prevailing standards and the general state of knowledge about the dangers of asbestos, it could not be said that injury should reasonably have been anticipated. See Practice Notes: Asbestos—the common law duty of care and Asbestos—statutory duty...