(Liverpool District Registry) The claimant sought damages in a death caused by lung cancer where the deceased had been a smoker exposed also to asbestos in working for th edefendant.
Held: Applying the Bonnington test of causation, the issue was whether the asbestos to which the victim had been exposed had made a material contribution to the cause of the victim’s lung cancer. The expert evidence, given by both medical and epidemiological experts, but each based on epidemiological data, was that asbestos and cigarette smoke not merely combined cumulatively to cause lung cancer, but that they had a synergistic effect in doing so. This satisfied the Bonnington test of causation, as the victim had been exposed both to significant quantities of asbestos fibres and to significant cigarette smoke.
Judges:
Mackay J
Citations:
Unreported, 16 May 2008
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Bonnington Castings Ltd v Wardlaw HL 1-Mar-1956
The injury of which the employee complained came from two sources, a pneumatic hammer, in respect of which the employers were not in breach of the relevant Regulations; and swing grinders, in respect of which they were in breach.
Held: It had . .
Cited by:
Cited – Sienkiewicz v Greif (UK) Ltd; Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council v Willmore SC 9-Mar-2011
The Court considered appeals where defendants challenged the factual basis of findings that they had contributed to the causes of the claimant’s Mesothelioma, and in particular to what extent a court can satisfactorily base conclusions of fact on . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Personal Injury
Updated: 08 May 2022; Ref: scu.430462