Asbestos Liability To Get Senate Hearing

ByJohn S. McClenahen The Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has slated a hearing for March 5 on asbestos liability, a costly and controversial issue that manufacturers have been trying to resolve for several years. The hearing follows by less than a month the introduction of S. 413, the Asbestos Claims and Criteria Act, by Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla. The bill would establish medical criteria to guide courts in asbestos cases. More than 200,000 asbestos liability cases are pending in U.S. courts.