Patient discussions
Patients diagnosed with interstitial fibrosis, with or without pleural thickening, should be strongly advised of their markedly increased risk of lung cancer if they smoke cigarettes, more so than if they had either exposure alone (asbestos alone: 5-fold risk; cigarettes alone: 11-fold risk; and exposure to both: 53-fold risk).[25]
They should also be advised of other asbestos-related cancers (gastrointestinal, laryngeal and mesothelioma) and the need for medical screening for colon cancer.
Patients with pleural disease should be reassured that most people do not develop impairment from the pleural changes.
Compensation
In the US, few patients with asbestosis apply for workers' compensation. However, many patients have been successful in obtaining compensation not from their employers, but from the companies that manufactured asbestos products. This success has been based on documents showing that these companies, although aware of the hazards of asbestos, had concealed the information.[41]
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