Asbestos flameout.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Almost everyone involved can find something not to like about Sen. Arlen Specter's bipartisan bill to establish a trust fund for asbestos victims, but no one believes Congress can afford to ignore the problem any longer. If asbestos claims remain mired in the courts, victims will continue to be denied quick and fair compensation while companies face financial ruin.

Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, recently introduced the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act in an effort to address what the U.S. Supreme Court called the "elephantine mass of asbestos cases (that) defies customary judicial administration and calls for national legislation."

The FAIR legislation would move asbestos compensation out of the courts and into a workers' compensation-style system. Claims would be processed on a no-fault basis according to established medical criteria and paid out of a federally managed trust fund generated by contributions from defendant companies and insurers.

There's little disagreement about the concept. Victims would receive prompt payments and industry would escape unpredictable, unlimited liability. But previous efforts have broken down over the size of the trust fund, how long it should exist, the amount of compensation victims should receive and what happens if the fund runs out of money.

After long and difficult discussions, Specter and Leahy settled on a $140 billion fund over 30 years. If the fund runs out of money, claims would revert to the court system.

Various aspects of the bill sparked objections from trial lawyers, labor unions, insurance companies and manufacturers. Smaller companies complain that they've been given a disproportionate share of the burden. The AFL-CIO, the nation's largest labor organization, says the FAIR act doesn't do enough to compensate victims of asbestos-related injuries.

There's some truth to all the objections, but that's no excuse to settle for the status quo. No one, least of all victims, is served by the current process.

Between 2,000 and 5,000 people die from asbestos-caused illness each year. A Rand Corp. study reported that more than 600,000 cases are pending against more than 6,000 companies. In the past 30 years, companies have paid out more than $70 billion in claims, and as a result, at least 74 companies have filed for bankruptcy.

In 2003, more than 100,000 new cases were filed. But the current system does a terrible job of distinguishing between those with conditions directly related to asbestos exposure and those claiming illness from very limited exposure. Studies show that in the last two decades, three-quarters of new claimants were not ill and might never become ill.

Meanwhile, people with legitimate claims die uncompensated, and companies face endless liability. It's time to admit that the U.S. court system's efforts to resolve the asbestos problem have been a colossal failure. Congress must not allow the scope and complexity of the issue to once again provide an excuse for doing nothing.