As the UK struggles to keep up with the mounting mortality rates of people diagnosed with asbestos-related deaths, the policy of successive governments still dictates asbestos should not be disturbed. Still today, many believe that provided asbestos is painted over or not degraded so that its fibres are airborne, it is safe.
Recent research and studies suggest this is not the case. According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), asbestos is the biggest cause of work-related deaths in the UK.
Today, many hospitals, schools and other public buildings are aged and commonly in varying states of disrepair, meaning the chances of exposure to asbestos are higher than ever. As a result, campaigners are insisting that the policy to leave asbestos as is should be abandoned.
The cancer (caused by inhaling asbestos fibres) has no known cure, and treatments such as chemotherapy and immunotherapy only serve to slow down the disease’s development. Once diagnosed, most patients are expected to die within 18 months. To learn more about the different types of asbestos-related diseases, see here.
Despite it taking between 20 to 60 years to develop symptoms, the UK now has the highest mesothelioma mortality rate, and the rate at which people are being diagnosed is only increasing.
While many sufferers are tradesmen and labourers who have worked with asbestos in the past, many of those currently being diagnosed are not. Rather, a lot of sufferers initially have no reason to suspect they may have been exposed. A thirty-six-year-old transport manager, who has recently been diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma (mesothelioma in the abdominal lining) was a healthy father of two before receiving his devasting diagnosis.
Speaking to the Daily Mail about his terminal disease, he said, “Just months prior [to the diagnosis] I was playing rugby and taking part in charity cycle rides.” He went on to explain that since receiving confirmation of his medical condition, he has felt weak and has had to rely on the use of a mobility scooter.
“Last August I started losing my appetite. I then developed a stabbing pain in my stomach. I thought it was a hernia.”
“[At first] the doctor mistakenly said it was treatable and I could expect to live a long life. A few days later, a second doctor revealed the devastating truth: I have, at best, 18 months to live.”
On speaking about where he believes he may have first been exposed to asbestos, the patient explained that one theory he and those working with him to trace his education and work history have investigated is that mats used for Bunsen burners in schools were likely responsible.
Amongst the others communicating with the Daily Mail was a forty-four mother of four from Cheltenham, who explained that upon waking up from an operation to remove a gallstone, she learned that the lump in her stomach was actually peritoneal mesothelioma.
“It’s all happened so fast. I started feeling breathless last January. My hands also felt numb,” she explained. “I can’t pinpoint how I came in contact with asbestos although I did once live in a very old building and I’ve since learnt it’s in so many old buildings.”
A Compliance Officer, 38, from Oxford, also claims she believes to have contracted peritoneal mesothelioma whilst working as a cleaner for a school. When she started suffering from a bloat and other gut complaints, followed by pain under her rib cage, her GP suggested endometriosis or a gluten intolerance.
“It was only when I started fertility treatment in August 2023 that I discovered I have mesothelioma,” she explained. “The consultant started by scanning me. When he saw fluid around my ovaries, he urged me to have an MRI scan.”
On speaking about when she was likely first exposed to asbestos, she explained, “Theories include my primary school – and as a teenager I also worked as a cleaner at various schools which may well also have contained asbestos.”
Asbestos Disease Claim UK
At Asbestos Awareness, we are dedicated to informing, educating and supporting people in relation to asbestos-related diseases, and we are driven in our pursuit of making people’s lives better.
Our website is owned and run by Bridge McFarland LLP, a UK-based solicitors with a team of dedicated personal injury solicitors experienced in assisting clients to obtain compensation after being diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease, such as Asbestosis and Mesothelioma.
If you have recently been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, or asbestos-related disease, we can assist you. Please call 0800 987 8809 or fill in this contact form.
