Fund for patients with asbestos induced diseases may run out
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《英国医生杂志》
Documents tabled at an inquiry into a compensation fund for people with diseases induced by asbestos have shown that only months after the fund was established by an asbestos manufacturer the fund抯 chairman feared that it had a massive shortfall.
In February 2001 James Hardie Industries established a non-profit trust, the Medical Research and Compensation Foundation, with $A293m (?20m; $220m; �180m) of assets to cover the company抯 liabilities for asbestos induced diseases. Eight months after the company established the foundation it moved its head office to the Netherlands.
At the first hearing of the inquiry initiated by the New South Wales government, documents tendered as evidence showed that the foundation抯 actuarial adviser had calculated that liabilities had been underestimated by up to $A200m.
In 2000 Trowbridge Deloitte, the actuarial company that advised James Hardie and then the foundation, estimated that claims would peak in 2004. However, two years later it calculated that claims would peak in 2009 and would continue until 2049. The most conservative estimate is that about 10 000 people will die from mesothelioma over the next 50 years.
In October 2003 the chairman of the foundation and former director of James Hardie, Llewellyn Edwards, wrote to James Hardie expressing alarm that the number of claimants had been substantially underestimated and that liabilities were likely to exceed assets by approximately $A800m. Mr Edwards warned that the foundation could be insolvent "in approximately four to five years."
A request by Mr Edwards that James Hardie top up the fund was dismissed. A statement from the company said: "There can be no legal or other legitimate basis on which shareholders?funds could be used to provide additional funds to the foundation."
Asbestos was mined in Australia until 1966, and products containing asbestos—from brake linings to cladding for houses—were manufactured until the mid-1980s. Approximately a third of Australian houses built before 1985 contain asbestos cement sheeting, potentially exposing many occupants to fibres released during home renovations.
In late February the New South Wales premier, Bob Carr, told the state抯 parliament that he was establishing a special commission of inquiry to investigate the funding crisis. "We want to find out what James Hardie knew back in 2001 about the extent of its liabilities and whether the firm underestimated the amount of money it set aside for dust disease claims," he told parliament.
Ken Fowlie, a partner in the law firm Slater and Gordon, which is representing several unions at the inquiry, believes the foundation was underfunded from the outset. "When you look at not only the establishment of the foundation but also what they have then done to the holding company, it is hard not to form an instinctive judgment that it was done . . . if not avoid liabilities, to quarantine them from the business that was generating funds."(Canberra Bob Burton)
In February 2001 James Hardie Industries established a non-profit trust, the Medical Research and Compensation Foundation, with $A293m (?20m; $220m; �180m) of assets to cover the company抯 liabilities for asbestos induced diseases. Eight months after the company established the foundation it moved its head office to the Netherlands.
At the first hearing of the inquiry initiated by the New South Wales government, documents tendered as evidence showed that the foundation抯 actuarial adviser had calculated that liabilities had been underestimated by up to $A200m.
In 2000 Trowbridge Deloitte, the actuarial company that advised James Hardie and then the foundation, estimated that claims would peak in 2004. However, two years later it calculated that claims would peak in 2009 and would continue until 2049. The most conservative estimate is that about 10 000 people will die from mesothelioma over the next 50 years.
In October 2003 the chairman of the foundation and former director of James Hardie, Llewellyn Edwards, wrote to James Hardie expressing alarm that the number of claimants had been substantially underestimated and that liabilities were likely to exceed assets by approximately $A800m. Mr Edwards warned that the foundation could be insolvent "in approximately four to five years."
A request by Mr Edwards that James Hardie top up the fund was dismissed. A statement from the company said: "There can be no legal or other legitimate basis on which shareholders?funds could be used to provide additional funds to the foundation."
Asbestos was mined in Australia until 1966, and products containing asbestos—from brake linings to cladding for houses—were manufactured until the mid-1980s. Approximately a third of Australian houses built before 1985 contain asbestos cement sheeting, potentially exposing many occupants to fibres released during home renovations.
In late February the New South Wales premier, Bob Carr, told the state抯 parliament that he was establishing a special commission of inquiry to investigate the funding crisis. "We want to find out what James Hardie knew back in 2001 about the extent of its liabilities and whether the firm underestimated the amount of money it set aside for dust disease claims," he told parliament.
Ken Fowlie, a partner in the law firm Slater and Gordon, which is representing several unions at the inquiry, believes the foundation was underfunded from the outset. "When you look at not only the establishment of the foundation but also what they have then done to the holding company, it is hard not to form an instinctive judgment that it was done . . . if not avoid liabilities, to quarantine them from the business that was generating funds."(Canberra Bob Burton)