Mesothelioma

Solicitor Ian McFall said "negligent" companies should pay more.

"The relationship between asbestos exposure and fatal lung disease has been known for many decades," he said.

The campaigners say that about 2,000 people will die from And, they say, an estimated 90,000 men and women will die from asbestos-related disease between now and 2020, the vast majority from workplace exposure.

'Known risk' About 75% of the people who develop Mr McFall, from Thompson's Solicitors, told BBC News that those developing lung cancer now were exposed to asbestos in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

And he says the risks associated with the substance were known as early as the 1930s.

"We blame the companies who were responsible for exposing people to asbestos at a time when those companies knew, or ought to have known, that asbestos could and does cause fatal lung disease," he said.

"If the employer still exists and has the assets to meet the claim then we expect those negligent to pay the compensation.

Very often the companies don't exist any more, but their insurers will have the means to meet the claims." E-mail this to a friend Printab...

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