Asbestos patients could join group claim against Eternit
Luc de Vries, a retired doctor from Diepenheim, says he is gathering asbestos patients for a group claim against the Goor company. A criminal case against the company opens in December.
Former GP Luc de Vries is preparing a group claim on behalf of patients with asbestos diseases against Eternit, the asbestos company in Goor, Overijssel. He announced the plan on Saturday at a meeting of the Asbestslachtoffersvereniging Nederland, an association of asbestos victims, in Goor.
De Vries says asbestos victims too often end up empty-handed after a diagnosis. “The compensation arrangements for patients are woeful,” he said. He says he has financial backing for the case but will not name the backers.
In 30 years as a GP in Diepenheim, De Vries says, he came across “at least fifty patients” with asbestos cancer. Until a national ban in 1993, Eternit processed asbestos on a large scale in Goor.
Eternit also gave industrial waste to local residents for years, without safety warnings. They used it to pave tracks.
Separately, the Public Prosecution Service is prosecuting Eternit for manslaughter. It alleges the company knowingly failed for decades to protect its employees adequately against inhaling asbestos. That criminal case starts in December.
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Eternit
Eternit is the name of a company that made asbestos-cement building products, with a production site in Goor, Overijssel. In the Netherlands the name is closely linked to asbestos exposure among workers and residents near the plant, and it is the subject of ongoing legal claims by victims and their representatives.
OM (Openbaar Ministerie)
The Public Prosecution Service is the Dutch authority that investigates and prosecutes criminal cases. It decides whether a suspect is brought to court, presents the case before the judge, and sees to it that court sentences are carried out. It operates independently of the government, which is why it matters for how criminal cases against companies and individuals are handled.