Shortell v BICAL Construction Ltd
Shortell v BICAL Construction Ltd
This is we believe the first successful decision in a contested case establishing that lung cancer was caused by asbestos, and is particularly interesting because it is also the first such case ever to succeed on behalf of a smoker (in this case an ex-smoker) who did not also have asbestosis.An interesting but questionably relevant aspect was that there was no autopsy, no microscopic analysis of lung tissue and no fibre count in this case. The decision on causation is not being appealed (ie it is authority for the proposition that the test is whether the asbestos more than doubled the risk of developing lung cancer, NOT whether the Helsinki criteria have been satisfied – although our case was that they were). The Defendants got permission to appeal only on the contributory negligence point – they want more than 15% off. The other point to note is the (agreed) award for PSLA of £62500. Download the judgment at www.12kbw.co.uk/docs/Shortell v Bical Construction.pdf.
Allan Gore QC