Pleural Plaques in the House of Lords

In the combined appeals known as Johnston v NEI International Combustion Ltd, In re Pleural Plaques [2007] UKHL 39 (17 October 2007), the House of Lords has reversed the settled practice of 20 years, and ruled that the development of symptomless pleural plaques (scarring of the lungs by asbestos fibres) does not constitute ‘damage’ sufficient for a claim in negligence. Pleural plaques could be described as an ‘injury’; but the injury is too ‘trivial’ to attract compensation because in nearly all cases, the plaques lead to no symptoms at all. The ‘gist’ of negligence (as Lord Scott put it) is ‘damage’, and ‘damage’ is not the same as injury. Only a ‘harmful’ injury (in the words of Lord Hope) constitutes damage. The decision may be of some immediate relief to liability insurers, but it raises a series of important issues which are not yet fully resolved. The case is discussed by Professor Jenny Steele of Southampton University.