Asbestos bill draws mixed feelings from sufferers

News 8 Austin, Allie Rasmus
Published April 10, 2005

A bill pending in the Senate would change the way people sue over asbestos exposure and bar insurance companies from denying health coverage to asbestos victims. Willard Greenlaw worked at a chemical plant for 15 years, and doctors say exposure to asbestos may have brought on his poor health. He now uses a cane and can't breathe very well." "Whatever had to get done, you done it. You might be sweeping the floor one day and fixing insulation the next. You'd be sitting there breathing in whatever dust blew on you," Greenlaw said. Greenlaw joined dozens of other former plant workers at the State Capitol Monday to discuss SB 15. Tort reform advocates say it would cut down on frivolous lawsuits and leave more settlement money for the people who are most sick. "There are so many cases that have been filed that are clogging up the system," bill author and Sen. Kyle Janek, R-Houston, said. Under SB 15, a patient's ability to sue for asbestos exposure would depend on the results of a lung test. "A person goes in to their doctor and does the pulmonary lung test to see if their lung function is normal or not. And if they're normal, I say you shouldn't be allowed to sue. If you are abnormal this bill does not affect your ability to go to court," Janek said. "Asbestos is a progressive disease that causes the scarring of the lungs over many years. It will take many of these victims years and years before they reach the level of the impairment before they're ever able to hold someone accountable," Alex Winslow of Texas Watch said. If the criteria changed, Greenlaw wouldn't be able to sue because his lung capacity hasn't deteriorated enough yet. He fears he's running out of time to have his day in court. "I've lost two friends already who worked with me in that plant who've died," Greenlaw said. SB 15 also calls for two other changes that are being applauded by consumer advocates. It would remove the two-year time limit that people have to file suit after being diagnosed with asbestosis. It would also prohibit insurance companies from denying health insurance to someone diagnosed with asbestosis. Janek said asbestos sufferers will often file suit and discover afterwards that they've been dropped from their health care policy.