Re: victims a-plenty

[Bernard L Cohen <blc+@pitt.edu>]

	In my paper "Perspective on Occupational Mortality Risks", Health
Physics 40: 703-724; 1981, I developed an estimate that the *average* U.S.
worker loses 500 days of life expectancy due to diseases
caused by occuoational exposures. This is equivalent to the life
expectancy that would be caused if their cancer rates are increased by
more than 50% -- although there is no direct relationship to cancer in my
estimate. The health of nearly all workers is affected, both positively
and negatively, by their occupational exposures.
	If we are to compensate everyone for this, our Scientists would be
hopelessly deluged, and the only real beneficiaries would be the
lawyers. After all, money paid out to anyone must inevitably come from the
public. 
	Isn't some common sense needed here?  

Bernard L. Cohen
Physics Dept.
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Tel: (412)624-9245
Fax: (412)624-9163
e-mail: blc+@pitt.edu


On Fri, 7 Apr 2000, Michael Stabin wrote:

> Deborah wrote:
> 
> > Why in the world should individuals be compensated without having to prove
> causation?  Isn't that what the legal system is all about?  If you don't
> link exposure to causation before awarding damages, the entire system fails.
> Instead, the system becomes a meaningless free-for-all, where anybody with
> enough stamina is eligible for money damages,
> 
> There may be sick workers in Oak Ridge, their illnesses may be work-related,
> I don't know.  But Deborah's comments are in line with much evidence about a
> related illness in American society, which is an epidemic of compensation of
> non-victims in the tort process.  I remember well a study conducted in 5
> major northeastern US cities, in which a fake accident was staged with a
> city bus, a car bumped it from behind at 5 mph.  By law, the driver had to
> report it to dispatch while investigating.  Before the police arrived, an
> astounding number of people (who apparently had picked up the report on
> airwave monitors) had boarded the bus and got off claiming serious neck and
> back injuries.  By the end of the week, hundreds of thousands of dollars of
> claims were filed in each case by these "victims".  All of the passengers on
> the bus (before the bump), the bus driver, and the driver of the car were
> part of the experiment. The result showed that you don't have to be a real
> victim to claim damages, which are usually settled for some amount of money,
> which is usually large.
> 

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