Massive Fraud in Asbestos Claims

The WSJ (March 8) reports that:

A retired epidemiologist from the Centers for Disease Control testified there were no more than 28,000 medically plausible cases of asbestosis in the U.S. male population between 1989 and 2001. Grace was hit with more than 200,000 claims over that period.

In another instance, a doctor presented a study involving 807 X-rays from Grace claimants. Doctors hired by the plaintiffs lawyers had found evidence of asbestosis in about 80% of those X-rays. In a double-blind study in which doctors didn't know the purpose of the work, they found evidence in only 7% of X-rays. . . .

"no more than 28,000 medically plausible cases"? That is an absolute maximum. The 200,000 cases are against just one company. Obviously, there must have been more cases brought than those 200,000. In any case, this implies a falsification rate of at least 86 percent.