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Groupama developments
The merger of Gan Insurance and Lombard General Insurance means Gan is renamed Groupama Insurance and Lombard becomes Groupama General Insurance.
Further, London market operations are to be moved from the UK into the worldwide group. International..
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01 July 2000
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Online PI for consultants
RapidInsure, a joint project of Hiscox Insurance, Charrington’s Lloyd’s syndicate and PI Direct, offers 10 new professional indemnity policies online ‘in under three minutes’ via www.rapidinsure.co.uk.
Available from 15 May..
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01 July 2000
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Patent liability from Allianz
German insurer Allianz is to offer patent liability cover, filling a niche shown by the US ruling that German conglomerate Merck pay US$15mn to Integra LifeSciences for patent infringements. (Merck is taking further legal action.)
Allianz, believing..
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01 July 2000
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Lloyd’s syndicates
Reports and accounts for 170 syndicates are now available on CD-ROM – final 1997 figures and provisional for 1998 and 1999. This is produced by Lloyd’s Business Intelligence Centre and is fully indexed and searchable.
Moody’s..
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01 July 2000
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Iron Trades rated A-
An upgraded credit rating of A- by Standard & Poor’s follows substantial transformation since acquisition by QBE Insurance Group early this year. After sale of the retail and healthcare divisions, Iron Trades consists basically of the..
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01 July 2000
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A matter for insurance regulators
CIGNA Corp, when owner of INA, placed potential pollution claims into a separate company with US$4.5bn funding in 1996; this – INA Holdings – was purchased by Ace of Bermuda.
AIG and other insurers sought large sums for pollution-related..
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01 July 2000
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Awards and settlements
‘Whistleblower’ unfairly dismissed
to receive ‘substantial’ damages. (See Employment Affairs.)
Fernandes v Netcom Consultants (UK) Ltd, North London Employment Tribunal,
Financial Times,
The Times, 12 June 2000
Second..
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01 July 2000
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Case update
Subject Self-mischief of children
Result The ingenuity of children in finding unexpected ways of doing mischief to themselves and others should not be underestimated.
Where a local council allowed an abandoned boat to remain on its land, it was..
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01 July 2000
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Events
Liability Insurance: Accepting the Challenge, Providing the Solution
Seventh Liability Underwriters Group Conference • 29–31 August • Queen’s College, Cambridge • The conference will carry an emphasis on recent legal..
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01 July 2000
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People on the move
Licences to open law offices in China
won, in this year’s delayed round, by City law firms Ince & Co and Barlow Lyde Gilbert. Both firms will open offices in Shanghai rather than Beijing. Some 13 law firms from other nations, including..
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01 July 2000
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Reversed proof on racism
A soon-expected European Commission (EC) code/directive could reverse the burden of proof in claims alleging racism. It places the onus onto the accused to prove their innocence ‘once the complainant has established facts from which a court or..
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01 July 2000
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Fourth Motor Directive adopted
In adopting the Fourth Motor Insurance Directive, the European Commission seeks to ensure that visiting motorists in EU states (and those subscribing to the EU green card system, bringing the total to around 40) get simplified and rapid compensation..
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01 July 2000
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Labelling directive
Directive 2000/13/EC has been adopted by the European Parliament and Council. A consolidation of earlier legislation covering requirements of labelling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs, as delivered both to the ultimate consumer and to..
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01 July 2000
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Criteria for interest of awards
..
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01 July 2000
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Part-time workers’ regulations
The scope of these regulations, in force from 1 July 2000, is extended from ‘employees’ to include ‘workers’, with express protection for those who change from full- to part-time work, including those returning from maternity..
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01 July 2000
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Disability Discrimination Act implications for service providers
A useful client note from Lovells takes service providers – including those providing insurance or product guarantees as well as landlords and others – through the specifics of the act in relation to their activities.
Details: Lovells..
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01 July 2000
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FSA complaints rules
Draft rules for the handling of consumer complaints, under the proposed new financial services ombudsman – who will replace eight separate offices including that of the insurance ombudsman under the provision of the Financial Services and..
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01 July 2000
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120 - 01 July 2000
Rules now published
The Civil Procedure Costs (Amendment No 3) Rules 2000 appeared on the website of the Lord Chancellor’s Department on 23 May, three weeks after they were intended to come into force. This date is now set for 3 July. The document also includes a..
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01 July 2000
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Bar Council calls for NHS to recoup crash costs
A report from the Bar Council urges wider powers for health and local authorities to recover, from those responsible, the costs of treating victims of accidents. The power of recoupment brought in in November 1999 was flawed – applicable to..
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01 July 2000
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More mediation since ‘Woolf’
The Centre for Dispute Resolution (CEDR) reports a doubling of cases referred for mediation in 1999 and, for the first time, the majority of these originated outside London. The total number of commercial and non-commercial mediations was 550, of..
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01 July 2000
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Consultation: corporate killing
The Home Office has issued the long-awaited consultation document outlining government proposals for a new offence of corporate killing. Backing the four-year-old recommendations of the Law Commission, companies’ senior executives could be..
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01 July 2000
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Interros-Soglasiye licensed for med/pharm cover
..
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01 July 2000
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Liberalisation in Hungary
..
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01 July 2000
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Top European players
A survey of European non-life insurers, with the top 15 of eight jurisdictions ranked by net premium income 1998, appears in our sister newsletter European Insurance Market
(issue 213, 6 June 2000).
Copies for subscribers to
LRI, while stocks..
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01 July 2000
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Mentor European
A service from Royal Bank Insurance Services (a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Scotland) offers help in understanding European Employment Law. It is of particular assistance to UK companies employing staff or agents in other EU states.
As well as legal..
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01 July 2000
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‘No risk’ mediation
The first commercial mediation service on a ‘no settlement, no fee’ basis is available from City-based company InterMediation. Working with a panel of mediators including lawyers from a number of leading firms, and accountants from BDO..
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01 July 2000
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LawNet affinity scheme
LawNet – the group of 52 law firms and 2,000 lawyers – is to launch a scheme to place £500mn professional indemnity cover on the market, on behalf of its members. Put together by broker Marsh, it promises ‘substantially lower..
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01 July 2000
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Solicitors’ contributions
A sum of £67.1mn is required for the Solicitors’ Indemnity Fund (SIF) for the year 2000–1 to cover shortfall and new claims arising from retired principals of law firms leaving no successor practice. The SIF goes into runoff from..
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01 July 2000
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Claims direct to float
UK personal injury claims manager Claims Direct has brought forward plans for flotation by six months to July, seeking stockmarket listing above £280mn. Rapid growth has seen turnover increase sixfold to £40mn in the year to 31 March 2000,..
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01 July 2000
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DAS Legal Expenses 1999
Despite an underwriting profit rise from £0.8mn to £1.1mn and investment income from £8.2mn to £9.4mn, pre-tax profit was down from £10.8mn to £6.7mn, affected by unrealised losses on investments of £3.8mn,..
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01 July 2000
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Claims outstripping premiums
This the message from Datamonitor, in Claims Management in UL General Insurance 2000. It reports that both frequency and value are increasing faster than premium hikes, citing motor insurance where claims have risen by 30% over the last five years..
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01 July 2000
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Pension trustees
The liabilities of pension trustees have been brought to light in a number of recent cases, and a company’s D&O policy cannot always be relied on for cover – often there is a conflict of interest between a company and its..
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01 July 2000
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Insurers join WW2 payment scheme
Following publication of a 3,000-page report taking three years to produce, French insurers – expressing regret over their involvement in spoliation of Jews during the Second World War – are to contribute FF70mn to the creation of a..
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01 July 2000
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Key KWELM case settled
The sixth annual report from KWELM administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers shows a further £140mn recovered from reinsurers, raising the average payout to creditors from 4% to 23%. Overall liabilities still stood at US$8.1bn but another..
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01 July 2000
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EgyptAir flight 990 controls questioned
The Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority has asked the US Federal Aviation Administration to investigate possible problems in the controls of Boeing 767 aircraft. This as an alternative to the suicide theory in last year’s 217-death plunge into..
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01 July 2000
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US to investigate ageing of wiring
The White House director of technology has announced plans to form a research group to investigate the safety of ageing wiring in airplanes, space shuttles and nuclear power plants. Damaged wire insulation has led to many fires and electrical..
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01 July 2000
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KAL 801 Guam crash payments
..
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01 July 2000
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Dredging near Stansted
A lake near Stansted airport is to be dredged for further remains of Korean Air flight 8509, which crashed last December, with fears that some of the depleted uranium used as counterbalance in the tail section may still remain and possibly pose a..
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01 July 2000
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Unfit ro-ros in British waters
A publication from the Maritime & Coastguard Agency shows only 35 of the 104 ro-ro ferries operating in British waters fully conform to the full criteria of the 1996 Stockholm Agreement.
Responding to the Estonia
disaster, phased survivability..
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01 July 2000
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Erika charges and action
Two French naval officers and a senior official, on duty at the Brest maritime office, have been charged with causing marine pollution and putting the lives of others in danger.
Their slow reaction to the wreck of the Erika
(the first distress call..
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01 July 2000
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Sleipner payout set
Under a settlement proposal, negotiated between Skuld P&I Club and lawyers for survivors and victims’ relatives, a total of NKr30mn (US$3.35mn) will be available.
Claiming that this is higher than required by law – and the levels..
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01 July 2000
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Caribbeans seek environmental cover elsewhere
The introduction of tighter environmental regulations is forcing businesses to seek insurance outside the territories, according to a survey by Port of Spain broker and risk management firm Risk Management Services (RMS), which found no major local..
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01 July 2000
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Petrobras seeks cover
Brazilian state-run oil and gas giant Petrobras – not covered by insurance for the Guanabara Bay oil spill of January this year – is to launch a tender seeking cover against further onshore and offshore environmental disasters.
Further,..
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01 July 2000
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BNFL liabilities
The BNFL report on future nuclear liabilities, covering the next 150 years, is due out before year-end. It may introduce changes in provision in the light of planned 49% privatisation.
The House of Commons trade and industry committee has..
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01 July 2000
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120 - 01 July 2000
The real impact of Woolf on the insurance market
Speaking at the recent Insurance Market Conferences’ Professional Indemnity Event, Shane Sayers, litigation partner at Kennedys, discussed the impact of Woolf.
Market predictions
A great deal was said and published about the anticipated..
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01 July 2000
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Immunity ‘assurance’
US and German negotiations are well on the way to setting up a DM10bn (US$4.86bn) fund to compensate more than 1mn people forced into slave labour during World War II. The clincher was ‘substantial assurance’ that US courts will dismiss..
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01 July 2000
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Non-mandatory airbags
The US Supreme Court has ruled that car manufacturers cannot be sued for failing to install safety devices before the inclusion of airbags became mandatory in 1998. This ruling prevents some hundreds of personal injury suits aiming to hold..
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01 July 2000
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Ford Bronco II compensation upheld
A move from Ford Motor for voiding of US$26mn verdict rejected in Alameda County Superior Court. The award – half of US$52mn due to contributory negligence – was made to now-quadriplegic Richard Raimondi and his wife following the..
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01 July 2000
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Wrongful death suit seeks US$675mn
..
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01 July 2000
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Med-mal limit removed
For the first time since Nebraska set a limit on medical malpractice awards in the 1970s (originally US$500,000, subsequently raised to US$1.25mn) a judge has removed the cap as unconstitutional and unfair to the most severely injured.
This was by..
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01 July 2000
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120 - 01 July 2000
Information for defendant policyholders
After a year of discussion and deliberation, the Florida Bar Association has approved a formal disclosure statement to apprise Florida policyholders, defended by an insurer’s lawyer against a claim, of their rights. A first such required..
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01 July 2000
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Limit to accountants’ liability
The New Jersey Appellate Division has held that an accounting firm is not liable for a third party’s reliance on an unaudited review of financial statements. This was in First Indemnity of America Insurance Co v Letters, Meyler & Co
..
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01 July 2000
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Insurer’s auditor negligent
In what is seen as a significant decision, the Los Angeles Appellate Court has ruled that the insurance commissioner can bring a claim of professional negligence against the auditor of an insolvent insurance company.
The auditor for Cal-Insurance in..
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01 July 2000
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Structured settlement protection legislation
Since action taken by Illinois two years ago to protect recipients of compensation through structured settlement from factoring companies offering discounted lump sum payments, 19 states have either enacted – or in the process of so doing..
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01 July 2000
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Jury awards rising
The 1999 edition of Current Award Trends in Personal Injury
published by Jury Verdict Research shows sharp increases particularly in product liability and medical malpractice awards during 1998. The median award in all personal injury cases,..
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01 July 2000
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Tobacco update
Settlement not a punishment.
Judge Robert Kaye told the Engle jury that the existing US$246bn medical costs settlement with US states should not be regarded as a punishment for marketing a hazardous product; that is the task now before them in..
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01 July 2000
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Call for papers
A call for papers has been issued by international anti-asbestos organisations, prior to a conference in Osasco, Brazil in September of this year.
Details: Laurie Kazan-Allen • tel 020 8958 3887 • fax 020 8958 9424 •
..
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01 July 2000
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Brazil to ban use
Brazil is to bring in legislation banning the use of asbestos from 2005. It is currently operating as a major industry, with 23 asbestos cement factories. Thousands of workers are currently claiming compensation for asbestos-related illness. The..
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01 July 2000
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Class action filed
Around 400 residents of Pulaski County, Arkansas have filed a class action claiming they contracted asbestosis from products manufactured by several companies.
They allege that these knew their materials would not be inspected prior to use, and that..
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01 July 2000
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Second claim from same exposure
The California Supreme Court has ruled that a worker, contracting a new disease from the same asbestos exposure, can file a second claim against the same company.
This was in Linda Hamilton v Asbestos Corp
, overturning an appellate decision, and..
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01 July 2000
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Consultant exposed when a student
Plastic surgeon James Emerson was exposed to blue asbestos dust from damaged lagging in tunnels under the Middlesex Hospital, where he was a student and junior doctor (see Awards and Settlements). Documents and witness statements confirmed that..
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01 July 2000
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Asbestos in buildings
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) seeks legislation to impose a duty of companies to discover if buildings contain asbestos fibre and, if so, draw up management plans. They note that the 3,000 asbestos-related deaths each year in the UK are..
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01 July 2000
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BSE, CJD and OPs
Eighth annual report
of the National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Surveillance Unit, referring back to its inception in 1990, includes data on dietary, occupational and medical histories of patients. The main findings include:
The unusual increase of..
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01 July 2000
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Thalidomide payments
While the campaign seeking further governmental compensation continues, successor company Diageo responds to a ‘needs’ survey. The 456 surviving Thalidomide victims, now of average age 38 (though originally expected that few would..
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01 July 2000
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Inoculations against meningitis C
Since the introduction of mass inoculation in November of last year against meningitis C, almost 5,000 children have been reported as experiencing some level of reaction, from a total of 13mn. These vary from mild headaches to epileptic fits and..
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01 July 2000
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Vaccinations: role in Gulf War sickness
A preliminary study by Matthew Hotopf and colleagues, of the Gulf War Research Unit, based on 923 respondents to an earlier survey, who had vaccine records available (some are still classified as secret). This indicates ‘a specific relation..
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01 July 2000
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Implant rupture without symptoms
A study by the US Food & Drug Administration – the first using magnetic resonance imaging – shows that breast implants had ruptured in two-thirds of a sample of 344 participating women, though none showed symptoms of..
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01 July 2000
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Trilucent implant removal/EU standardisation
‘Precautionary’ advice from the Medical Devices Agency (MDA) recommends women with soya bean oil implants have them removed. New data suggests some toxic products may be created when oil deteriorates. The implants, manufactured by AEI,..
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01 July 2000
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Medical regulation
The report of the inquiry into the activities of incompetent gynaecologist Rodney Ledward (struck off the medical register in 1998), chaired by Jean Ritchie QC, makes more than 100 recommendations for radical reforms to the National Health Service..
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01 July 2000
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Med-mal rising at 7% a year
The costs of medical negligence in Britain have risen by about 7% each year for the last decade, to an estimated £84mn in 1998. This is according to analysis of NHS claims records to determine trends in numbers and costs by health economists..
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01 July 2000
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Equality for widowers
Not a work-related decision, but linked to elimination of discrimination in all areas of life. A case brought before the European Court of Human Rights by two widowers claiming equal financial benefits as those paid to widows has led to a..
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01 July 2000
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Solvents at work
A useful article on European policy on chronic diagnosis and criteria for solvent induced CTE (brain damage without lesion) by Alan Care of Russell Jones & Walker appears in the May 2000 issue of the newsletter of the Association of Personal..
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01 July 2000
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10-year accident target
The government and Health & Safety Commission (HSC) have announced 10-year targets to cut workplace illness, injury and death. The thrust thereof is the provision of a better working environment – over and above prevention of harm.
A..
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01 July 2000
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First successful ‘whistleblower’ claim
In the first successful claim under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, an employment tribunal found he had been unfairly dismissed and is expected to award substantial damages. Accountant Antonio Fernandez was sacked after reporting his..
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01 July 2000
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‘Unwitting victim’ of fur dispute
Lori Feldt, a former nanny employed by fur-wearing Vogue
editor Anna Wintour, has filed suit against Vogue
owner Condé Nast in Manhattan’s Supreme Court.
She seeks £30mn compensation for ‘severe and permanent neurological..
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01 July 2000
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TISZA claims filed
Damages of US$3.6mn are sought in actions filed by people whose livelihoods suffered as a result of the cyanide pollution of Romanian and Hungarian rivers earlier this year. These include private citizens, small businesses and local authorities..
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01 July 2000
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Hillsborough case commences
The private prosecution has started by the Hillsborough Family Support Group alleging manslaughter and wilful neglect of duty through failure to ensure the safety of supporters against Chief Supt David Duckenfield and Supt Bernard Murray.
In 1989,..
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01 July 2000
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£7mn set aside for Ledward compensation
The National Health Insurance (NHS) Litigation Authority is reported to have set aside £7mn in expectation of claims for compensation from up to 400 women injured by incompetent gynaecologist Rodney Ledward. And many of these, being his private..
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01 July 2000
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Incorrect cancer diagnosis
Carenza Lewis of TV’s Time Team is one of seven women identified as suffering serious consequences from misdiagnosis, and is to sue for the unnecessary removal of her breasts.
One Swindon law firm is already representing five victims, three of..
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01 July 2000
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Down’s syndrome risks
First steps to group action by 154 women given incorrect information about the risk of having a child suffering from Down’s syndrome have been taken by one of them, Jane Green. In her case she was told, in February, that she was in the 1:1,320..
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01 July 2000
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Seeds of discontent
Speaking in the House of Commons about genetically-modified (GM) crops, environment minister Michael Meacher said: ‘It is false to pretend that there is any distance which is going to prevent some contamination,’ the problem, rather,..
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01 July 2000
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