Company responsible for mesothelioma death ordered to pay healthcare costs
05/08/2010
A company that exposed an employee to asbestos that resulted in him fatally developing mesothelioma has been ordered to contribute to his hospice expenses.
Industrial illness solicitors representing James Willson claimed that "justice had been done" after his former employer, Foster Wheeler Limited, was ordered to pay care costs to the hospice at which he died in March 2007.
Mr Willson was regularly exposed to asbestos whilst he worked erecting new boilers at Deptford Power Station. More than 50 years after he joined the company, he was diagnosed with mesothelioma, an aggressive form of cancer, in 2006. In March 2007, he was admitted to Joseph’s Hospice, Hackney, where he died just 27 days later.
In a landmark ruling, HH Judge Anthony Thornton QC at the Royal Courts of Justice found that the defendant Foster Wheeler Limited, which employed Mr Willson when he was exposed to asbestos, should pay the costs for his care.
Caroline Pinfold, an industrial illness specialist from law firm Irwin Mitchell, represented the family and said the judgment would provide comfort for many mesothelioma sufferers and their loved ones as well as providing clarity for hospices providing them with terminal care.
Caroline Pinfold said: "There is no doubt that justice has been done and that this landmark decision will be welcomed by the family of Mr Willson and other victims of asbestos related diseases, who rely on palliative care to relieve their suffering. It also now provides a legal basis for hospices to be repaid for the tremendously valuable work they do where their care has been needed as a result of someone else's wrong doing."
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