Asbestos lamb mesothelioma

Senate panel backs asbestos limitations

In a move expected to help end asbestos lawsuits, Senate Republicans on Thursday endorsed a Democratic plan for businesses and insurers to contribute $45 billion if claims from people with asbestos-related illnesses deplete a proposed $108 billion trust fund.

The compromise is expected to win more Democratic support for legislation that creates a fund to make payments over 27 years to those sick people. In exchange, the asbestos liability of businesses would end.

Such liabilities have deflated the bottom lines of many companies and dragged others such as Kaiser Aluminum Corp. into bankruptcy.

Kaiser spokesman Scott Lamb said the company currently has $610 million in asbestos liabilities. The Houston-based company already has paid out $355.7 million to settle asbestos claims.

Kaiser once owned plants that made refractory bricks. More than two decades after selling those subsidiary companies, Kaiser is still coping with 112,000 outstanding claims, Lamb said.

Lamb said it was too early for Kaiser to endorse or oppose the amendment. Yet, the company has generally been in favor of initiatives that seek to equitably address the weighty asbestos issue, he added.

Many Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee opposed the idea of making businesses and insurers contribute more money to the fund. But they reluctantly agreed to it. "I'm worried about that, but I think we have to do it," said the committee chairman, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

Asbestos is a fibrous mineral used until the mid-1970s for insulation and fireproofing. When inhaled, its fibers can cause cancer and other ailments. The diseases often take decades to develop.

Lawmakers say asbestos liability is driving companies out of business and leaving asbestos victims with little or no money for medical bills.

In Libby, Mont., for example, asbestos from the W.R. Grace & Co. vermiculite mine is blamed for killing about 200 residents and causing lung cancer among hundreds more.

The trust fund would speed money to those people and give companies assurance that they will not be sued out of existence, supporters of the plan say.

Under the legislation, insurers would contribute $45 billion while companies that have been sued would pay $45 billion. The rest of the money would come from smaller companies, existing asbestos trusts and interest on the fund.

Democrats fear the fund could run out of money before all claimants are compensated. Previous trust funds have run out of money and paid claimants pennies on the dollar in settlements. It had been estimated that those funds would have enough money to pay everyone with legitimate claims.

"I don't think I could vote for a bill that I don't think provides adequate funding," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who developed the compromise with Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis.

Under the new proposal, the fund's manager could call for as much as $45 billion from the companies and insurers if the fund starts getting low and more asbestos victims are awaiting money.

In addition to the extra $45 billion, the fund manager can call for companies and insurers to kick in an additional $2 billion a year after the fund ends. In exchange, those companies keep their immunity to asbestos liability lawsuits.

Companies that do not pay the additional $2 billion can be sued again, lawmakers said. But in a concession to Republicans, any suits after the original 27-year fund ends would have to be filed in federal court instead of state courts. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., strongly disagreed with that idea.

"The reason we're shifting those cases to federal courts is not because we believe there is more justice in federal courts, but because we believe that there are more conservative judges in federal court who will give less money to claimants," Durbin said.

Senators still have a major issue to resolve - how much money a victim could get per level of illness.

Under the bill's medical criteria, the fund will recognize 10 levels of asbestos-related diseases: five levels of nonmalignant disease and five levels of cancer, including colorectal cancer, lung cancer and mesothelioma, another cancer in the chest.

On the Net:

Information on the bill, S.1125, can be found at http:// thomas.loc.gov