Like many of you, for months I’ve heard President Bush and Vice President Cheney talk up ‘Asbestos Reform’ as one of the main planks of their legislative agenda. I didn’t know just what they meant by that or what the issue even was (that is, beyond the fact that exposure to asbestos obviously causes all sorts of deadly and chronic ailments). But given who was pushing it, I figured it couldn’t be anything good.
Over the last week, I’ve taken an initial look at the question. I haven’t had as much time as I’ve wanted to dig into it. But the pretty clear initial impression I’ve gotten is that, while the overall concept may be a good one (setting up a trust fund to compensate victims of absestos exposure), the actual piece of legislation (S.852) moving down the pike amounts to a huge giveaway to a couple dozen big companies who will see their annual payouts to sufferers from asbestos exposure fall to just a fraction of what they are now.
Let me be crystal clear about one thing: trial lawyers would totally take it on the chin with this bill. (In fact, I think that’s one reason the White House and the Republicans are pushing it — as a way to defund Democrats.) But just because trial lawyers have self-interested reasons to oppose it doesn’t mean it’s not also a bad bill. And a pretty persuasive case has been made to me that the bigger effect of this legislation is to radically reduce the financial liability of a few big companies — who in the past were the worst bad-actors with asbestos — and make it a lot harder for people sick or dying of various asbestos-related ailments to be compensated or get cash settlements to pay for medical treatment.
I know there’s been a lot of equivocation in this post. And that’s because I don’t like to talk about a topic or piece of legislation until I feel like I really have a handle on it. So in this case, I’ll just say that my first impression is that this is a bad bill. And I’d suggest people look more into it. Here’s a report from Public Citizen that’s a good place to start.
I’d be very curious to hear your views, for or against.
