Disease Blogs Archive

In R (on the application of (1) Aviva Insurance Ltd (2) Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd) v The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2020] EWHC 3118 (Admin), the Claimants challenged the unintended and onerous consequences of the Compensation Recovery Unit scheme, particularly in respect of the Claimants’ liabilities for long-tail asbestos-related diseases. The High…

The coronavirus pandemic has transformed the way many of us work. This blog post primarily considers the potential implications of home working on occupational stress claims by looking closely at the key case law in this area. Some observations are also offered as to the impact of the pandemic on occupational stress claims where an…

It may be recalled that we previously blogged on asbestos in schools in June 2020. In that feature, we reported that the Department for Education’s survey, launched in 2018, had revealed that some 87% of the schools that responded  confirmed that they had asbestos in at least one location on their sites. As such, lobbying of…

The Court of Appeal has refused the Claimant permission to appeal the decision of Martin Spencer J in Holmes v S&B Concrete Ltd [2020] EWHC 2277 (QB). Philip Godfrey analysed that decision in an earlier blog post, which can be viewed here.  Permission to appeal was refused on the papers on 17 November 2020 by Floyd…

Jack McCracken and Sarah Hopkinson revisit the question of liability for COVID-19 infections, this time from an American perspective. In May 2020, we published a series of five articles exploring the potential liability of employers arising from exposure of employees to COVID-19. Whilst it is unlikely that any claims arising out of exposure to COVID-19 have yet been…

Last month nothing happened and that matters. The International Conference on Concussion in Sport (organised by the Concussion in Sport Group) is a key meeting at which, on a broadly quadrennial basis, a group of approximately 40 experts explore and review the developments in sports related concussion injuries. The 6th Conference was due to take…

In Hamilton v NG Bailey Ltd [2020] EWHC 2910 (QB), the High Court sought clarity from the editors of the Judicial College Guidelines for the Assessment of General Damages in Personal Injury Cases (the “JC Guidelines”) about their proper application in asbestosis and pleural thickening cases. Richard Seabrook of Ropewalk Chambers appeared for the Defendant. The judgment…

A peer-reviewed study published on 21 October 2020 by academics from the University of Sheffield suggests that workers exposed to diesel fumes or who undertake plumbing, gas fitting, ventilation and welding work may be more likely to suffer from high-grade and high-stage bladder cancers. This finding, albeit from a small-scale study that requires validation, is of…

Following our recent success in the Legal 500 2021, Chambers’ expertise in the field of industrial disease has again been acknowledged in the latest edition of Chambers & Partners. We are one of only four sets across all circuits to be ranked for Industrial Disease work. Jayne Adams QC and Patrick Limb QC are also individually ranked. The…

When considering claims against parent companies, a useful starting-point is the digest provided by Sales LJ (as he then was) in AAA v Unilever plc [2018] BCC 959 at [36]: “There is no special doctrine in the law of tort of legal responsibility on the part of a parent company in relation to the activities…

Even during the strange times of this pandemic, there has been a persistent desire to ensure that awareness of asbestos risks is maintained. There is no doubt, however, that the pandemic has curtailed those endeavours. Large sections of the workforce have been placed on furlough and redundancies may well follow.  It was thus unsurprising to see, in…

On 2 October 2020, the American Food & Drug Administration approved a combination of nivolumab (OPDIVO, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co) and ipilimumab (YERVOY, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co) as a first-line treatment for adults with unresectable mesothelioma. Randomised open-label trials suggest an improvement in overall survival in the order of approximately 25% when compared with chemotherapy. The full announcement is…