New Asbestos Trust Proposal -- MesoLink.org -- 07-19-04

Following the failure of a previous asbestos trust proposal earlier this year, Senator Bill Frist has now put forward a new trust fund proposal, which is sixteen billion dollars more than his original proposal.

The Tennessee republican’s proposal is now for a $140 billion trust fund, which will be financed by the industry and their insurers. If the bill is passed, it will end the right of asbestos victims to sue, and any compensation deemed appropriate will be paid directly from the trust fund.

It is still being decided whether, if the bill is passed, current claims should be stopped and re-considered for payment through the trust fund, or whether it will only be new claims that will go through the fund.

Frist’s previous proposal for a trust fund was met with fierce opposition from victims, lawyers and mesothelioma support groups, because it appeared to be concerned about savings asbestos companies from bankruptcy than seeing justice done by compensating victims.

With the recent influx of mesothelioma lawsuits, many asbestos companies have wither gone bankrupt or are facing bankruptcy, with compensation claims that run in to billions of dollars.

By contributing to the proposed trust fund, each of these companies will be responsible to pay a set amount, and after this amount has been paid no further claims can be made against them.