UK Justice Secretary Jack Straw has faced public ire for months over his position regarding asbestos disease afflicted British citizens. Straw refused to overturn a legal ruling that prevented a group of Devonport dockyard workers from seeking legal compensation for their asbestos-related ailments. Straw argues that pleural plaques are benign, despite the fact that they can be an early warning sign of more serious ailments like mesothelioma.

Pleural plaques are a type of internal scarring of the lining of the lungs. These plaques are almost always caused by exposure to asbestos, and while the plaques themselves do not generally pose a threat to human health, they are often a harbinger of more serious ailments like mesothelioma or asbestosis. Mesothelioma, a rare cancer, is caused almost exclusively by asbestos exposure. The cancer takes decades to develop, but can conversely kill within months of the onset of symptoms. At the present time, there is no cure for mesothelioma.

"The difficulty is the medical evidence," he said. "The Law Lords said on the medical evidence – agreed by insurers and the trade unions – pleural plaques itself produced no symptoms, and was not an indicator of a greater propensity to life-threatening disease. I have every sympathy for these people and that’s shown by the fact that we set up this compensation scheme for those with claims in the pipeline."

"The only indicator of a propensity to asbestosis and mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos, and there’s no different incidence in those with pleural plaques compared to those without," Straw added. "It would be unfair on those who were exposed to asbestos and developed mesothelioma or asbestosis who did not have pleural plaques.”

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