Occupational disease smokers are often not recognized

Occupational disease: Smokers find it harder to get recognition

21/11/2013

A locksmith widow from Marburg has suffered a defeat at the Hesse Land Social Court. The woman wanted to recognize the lung cancer of her deceased husband as an occupational disease in order to receive a claim to a survivor's benefit from the professional association. As a justification, the widow stated that her husband's lung cancer had arisen during his professional career as a metalworker and welder, exposing him to chromium, nickel and ionizing radiation.

However, on 23 August the DarmstädterGericht dismissed the claim. As a reason, the court stated that the illness is not sufficiently related to professional activity. The man, who died at the age of 60, had smoked about 20 cigarettes a day for 30 years, which contributed to a 10-fold increase in the incidence of lung cancer. This was crucial to the court's decision-making, even though the man was exposed to cancer-causing pollutants at work.

Damage must be clearly caused by the work
In order to be entitled to claims for benefits from accident insurance, proof must generally be provided that the damage can clearly be attributed to the activity performed, a court spokeswoman told t-online.de. A revision against the verdict, the widow can not intervene, the judges said. (Fr)