Letter to the Editor (February 14, 2018) concerning the paper “Histological findings and lung dust analysis as the basis for occupational disease compensation in asbestos-related lung cancer in Germany”

Baur, Xaver; Belpoggi, Fiorella; Budnik, Lygia Therese; Casteleyn, Ludwine; Frank, Arthur L.; Oliver, L. Christine; Peak, Domyung; Rosenman, Kenneth D.; Soskolne, Colin L.; Woitowitz, H.‐J.

doi:10.13075/ijomeh.1896.01332

Cited by 4 publications

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“…As a result, many cases of asbestosis have been misdiagnosed as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. [126][127][128] Regardless of the occupational history of asbestos exposure or the location of fibers in pleural tissue which was usually not investigated, Otto claimed that nearly one-third of mesothelioma cases in Germany were not related to prior occupational exposures to asbestos. Financed by employers' statutory accident insurance institutions, he presented his own data on the issue.…”

Section: Table 4 Asbestos-related Diseases As Occupational Diseases I...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The German experience with asbestos-related diseases: a failure of compensation due to the manipulation of science

Woitowitz,

Frank,

Baur

2023

The Journal of Scientific Practice and Integrity

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The world pandemic of asbestos-related diseases results from inadequate prevention and late bans on asbestos use. For years in Germany there has been an annual average of about ten thousand new claims. Many countries deny compensation due to unsound diagnostic applications that have entered into the literature and are used to deny compensation. One such well-established incorrect scientific strategy is the use of quantifying asbestos bodies or fibers in lung tissue and setting restrictive thresholds on the findings in tissues of workers who had been exposed primarily to chrysotile which shows low bio-persistence, movement to the pleura, and rarely forms asbestos bodies. The so called one thousand asbestos body hypothesis for the diagnosis of asbestosis, originating from the German Mesothelioma Register run by the employers’ statutory accident insurance institutions, has been applied in Germany and similarly in several other western countries. As opposed to the well-substantiated hit and run phenomena that has been predominantly applied to chrysotile asbestos, low asbestos body or fiber counts in tissue had been systematically misinterpreted. This, combined with restrictive histopathology definitions, have been used for the manipulation not only of diagnostic criteria but also of science and has had an effect on laws governing compensation. The counting of asbestos bodies or fibers in human lungs should under no circumstances invalidate a qualified occupational history of exposure as the hallmark requisite tool for assessing asbestos exposure and acceptance of asbestos-related diseases in compensation schemes. An outcome suggested by this paper is the need to broaden the WHO beneficial initiative to eliminate ARD worldwide by establishment of an international board of independent scientists on remedial action that would recommend standards for acknowledgement and compensation. Such a board should be supported by national legal branches recognizing possible regional differences and initiating compliance with the recommendations.

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Section: Table 4 Asbestos-related Diseases As Occupational Diseases I...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The German experience with asbestos-related diseases: a failure of compensation due to the manipulation of science

Woitowitz,

Frank,

Baur

2023

The Journal of Scientific Practice and Integrity

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“…In Germany, about 10,000 workers have had their compensation claims unjustly dismissed on the basis of this false argument that, for a claim to be upheld, there must be evidence of chrysotile asbestos fibres in the worker's lungs. , 30,31 In an article published in the European Respiratory Journal, the authors claim to be putting forward new, significant evidence in support of requiring chrysotile asbestos fibres to be found in workers' lungs when considering workers' compensation claims. 32 The authors state that their article provides "new insights" and that "This issue is of high significance for differential diagnosis, risk assessment, and occupational compensation.…”

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confidence: 99%

Asbestos and insurance interests continue to use discredited scientific argument to sell asbestos and to deny justice to asbestos victims

Ruff¹,

Souza²,

Giannasi³

et al. 2019

JoSPI

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Validität faseranalytischer Verfahren in der Diagnostik asbestbedingter Berufskrankheiten

Baur

Schneider

2020

Zbl Arbeitsmed

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Letter to the Editor (February 14, 2018) concerning the paper “Histological findings and lung dust analysis as the basis for occupational disease compensation in asbestos-related lung cancer in Germany”

Cited by 4 publications

References 4 publications

The German experience with asbestos-related diseases: a failure of compensation due to the manipulation of science

The German experience with asbestos-related diseases: a failure of compensation due to the manipulation of science

Asbestos and insurance interests continue to use discredited scientific argument to sell asbestos and to deny justice to asbestos victims

Validität faseranalytischer Verfahren in der Diagnostik asbestbedingter Berufskrankheiten

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