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Thompsons Solicitors
Diffuse Pleural Thickening Claim Advice
If you or a member of your family is suffering from diffuse pleural thickening, or any other industrial illness caused by exposure to asbestos, our specialist personal injury lawyers may be able to help you claim compensation. Contact us today on 0800 032 8511 for claim advice, or by completing a claim enquiry form.
What is Pleural Thickening?
What Causes Diffuse Pleural Thickening?
What Are The Symptoms?
Making a Compensation Claim
Pleural Thickening Compensation
Specialist Legal Advice
Successful Pleural Thickening Claims
What is Pleural Thickening?
Pleural thickening is one of several industrial illnesses (others include pleural plaques, asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer) that is caused by exposure to asbestos. It occurs most often in people who have worked with or around asbestos at some stage in their life.
It is a condition where the membrane surrounding the lungs becomes scarred and thickened, due to inhaled asbestos fibres that have passed through the lungs.
What Causes Diffuse Pleural Thickening?
This condition is caused by exposure to asbestos over prolonged periods. The membrane surrounding a sufferer’s lungs (called the pleura, or pleural membrane) becomes affected by inhaled asbestos dust particles, causing it to thicken and become scarred, known as pleural thickening.
Pleural thickening usually affects both lungs and this is known as bilateral pleural thickening, although they are not always affected to the same extent. When the condition develops over a wide area of the lungs the condition is called diffuse pleural thickening.
What are the Symptoms?
The symptoms of diffuse pleural thickening vary considerably from person to person. When the membrane is scarred and thickened it becomes constricted and less elastic, which can cause the sufferer to have shortness of breath. Chest pain and tightness in the chest, particularly during or after exertion, are also common. In some cases the symptoms can be severe and debilitating, whereas in others the symptoms are more manageable.
There are also certain other conditions that can be brought on by pleural thickening in some sufferers, such as a build up of fluid in the chest cavity (pleural effusion) or pleurisy.
Making a Compensation Claim
These type of diseases do not show themselves quickly after exposure. They can take many years to develop. By then the person you need to make a claim against (perhaps an employer) may no longer be alive or in business. Pursuing these personal injury claims is complicated and is best dealt with by an experienced industrial disease lawyer.
In every case, medical evidence will be required. Detailed expert evidence is often also required in disease cases to show that the condition suffered by a claimant was caused by exposure to a particular substance.
In any personal injury claim it is necessary to show that the person you are making a claim against owed you a duty of care, that they breached that duty of care (were negligent), and that the injury you sustained was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of that negligence.
For some industrial diseases, including diffuse pleural thickening, there is often a possibility that a claim can be made for Government benefits such as Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit through the Department for Work and Pensions. Your lawyer will be able to provide expert guidance and advice on whether this applies to your case.
Pleural Thickening Compensation
There are two elements to a compensation award. The first is for the pain and suffering you may have gone through and what is known as loss of amenity. This is called general damages and can include an award for your inability to do things after your industrial illness develops that you used to be able to do before (eg wash your car, look after your garden, walk the dog). The award for loss of amenity can be for a short period for ever if that is what the medical evidence supports.
The second element of a compensation award is for your losses and expenses and is known as special damages. It is important to keep receipts for any expenditure you have related to your illness, so that these can be reclaimed. The aim is to put you back in a position financially as if the pleural thickening had never developed.
Specialist Legal Advice
At The Legal Line, our solicitors are experts in recovering compensation for people suffering from asbestos related diseases, so can provide the best advice and assistance possible.
Successful Pleural Thickening Claims
Below you will find details of some of the many successful claims our lawyers have made on behalf of the victims of pleural thickening:
£18,000 Compensation in Pleural Thickening CaseAsbestos Compensation Claims Frozen in 2001 Now to go Ahead
Asbestos Victim Receives £37,500 Compensation
Provisional Compensation Gained for Electrician Exposed to Asbestos at Work
£35,000 Damages in Pleural Thickening Compensation Claim
Employer Pays Compensation to Family of Pleural Thickening Victim
Compensation Awarded in Pleural Thickening Case
- Our client was diagnosed with asbestos-related pleural thickening and pleural plaques after seeking medical advice when he began to suffer respiratory problems. Because of his condition his lung capacity is considerably reduced and he becomes short of breath very easily, which restricts his activities.
He was employed by a car battery manufacturer for over 40 years, during which time he would regularly work in areas of the premises where asbestos was widely used. Sacks of asbestos were kept in the factory and the dust was tipped into machines and mixed with tar to create battery boxes. Clouds of asbestos dust would linger in the factory and the dust would be disturbed again when it was swept up, yet our client was not provided with any personal protective equipment. Asbestos was also present in the buildings themselves and he suffered further exposure when works to remove it were carried out without the relevant safety measures in place.
Our specialist industrial disease lawyers assisted him in making a compensation claim against his former employer and recovered a settlement of £16,000 on his behalf.
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Testimonials
"This compensation is not going to bring my health back. But it will make sure my wife will be looked after. It's a big relief to know that this has all been sorted out in my lifetime."
Charles
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