Laura Magson acted for Charlie* in relation to his diagnosis of mesothelioma. In his early career, Charlie undertook an apprenticeship in plumbing and heating before becoming an apprentice electrician. His job took him into many boiler houses where he worked alongside laggers who mixed asbestos for lagging pipes and also hotels where asbestos was sprayed. He also removed asbestos ceiling tiles himself and used asbestos Rawlplug which contained asbestos. He moistened the powder with saliva or water to make it malleable and then used it when it was needed. If he drilled into a wall for example, he would put the Rawlplug in and then put screws into it. He began having difficulty with shortness of breath in the summer of 2021. A chest x-ray was arranged, and this showed a large pleural effusion. Various investigations including pleural aspirations and a biopsy revealed that he had biphasic malignant mesothelioma, and he was diagnosed in February 2022. In 1979 Charlie was in a road traffic collision and sadly suffered an injury to the spinal cord at the sixth cervical vertebral level resulting in incomplete tetraplegia and has been wheelchair dependent for many years. Despite this he was completely independent prior to his diagnosis of mesothelioma with self-care and also doing household chores and driving. He met his wife in 1988, was then a bookkeeper for the best part of 15 years and is now a crime author! Laura investigated the claim and notified the insurers for the Defendants to the action and elicited a swift admission of liability and interim payment within three months. Whilst Charlie’s house was already quite well set up for the progression of mesothelioma, it was clear that as the mesothelioma causes him to deteriorate, he would have additional needs and would prefer professional carers to provide this care in conjunction with his wife. He now no longer drives with his wife taking on all of the short and long-distance driving as well as accompanying him to medical appointments. Laura instructed a care expert to visit Charlie and his wife at home to assess their current situation and the likely value of the care and equipment needed as Charlie’s condition progresses. Although an interim payment was received quite swiftly, the Defendants made no offers following service of the Schedule of Loss and the care report and Laura prepared to issue Court proceedings. Settlement negotiations ensued and Charlie was happy to accept an offer of £243,500 gross. The Defendants also agreed to fund any future treatment which was particularly important to Charlie. Whilst he is very well at the moment, travelling to Europe and other places following several cycles of chemotherapy (which is available to him on the NHS), it has been discussed that he might be a suitable candidate for immunotherapy. Fortunately, his tumour is currently stable, so he does not need it at this stage. anonymised for client confidentiality* For more information about how the mesothelioma and asbestos disease claims team can help you or your loved ones after a diagnosis of an asbestos related disease, please contact the team by email on asbestos@boyesturner.com or by telephone on 0118 952 7199.
