Description
Pleural Plaques do not Amount to Actionable Damage. The House of Lords held that symptomless pleural plaques caused by negligent exposure to asbestos were not actionable damage. Pleural plaques do not themselves cause asbestos related diseases, but they signal the presence of asbestos fibres that might independently cause serious diseases. The appellants had contended that although the plaques were symptomless, they carried with them the risk of future disease and consequent anxiety. Their Lordships held that the plaques were likely to never cause the claimants any symptoms, nor increase their susceptibility to other diseases. The risk of future disease can only be taken into account when considering some other compensatable physical injury; it does not give rise to a cause of action in itself.
