Medico-legal Aspects of Malignant Mesothelioma

The object of this investigation was to discuss medico-legal aspects of malignant mesothelioma in relation to social insurance legislation for occupational injuries and diseases in Norway. During the period 1960–79 the Cancer Registry of Norway recorded a total of 155 men and 35 women with malignant mesothelioma. However, only 21 men and no women were notified to the National Insurance Institution as occupational disease cases before 31 December 1979, in spite of the well established causal association between occupational asbestos exposure and the disease. The investigation is based on these 21 patients. The long latency period from first asbestos exposure until appearance of the disease and the short survival were evident in this study. Furthermore, the legislation and provisions for occupational injuries and diseases in Norway are obviously intended for occupational accidents, and consequently the legal assessment of patients with malignant mesothelioma was complicated. For those notified, the delay in...