Ohioans exposed to cancer-causing asbestos will be barred from suing if they have not yet exhibited symptoms of disease under a bill just approved the Ohio state Senate. As reported by the Toledo Blade the bill would make Ohio the first state to establish medical criteria for asbestos lawsuits, despite arguments it would not protect Ohio companies doing business nationally from being sued in other states. The Senate voted 22-11 in favor of the bill with all Republicans supporting it and all Democrats voting "no."

Excerpts of the debate reported by the Blade include:

"There has not been a single state that has enacted medical criteria. None," said Steven Wolens, a Texas attorney and state representative whose firm represents 2,500 Ohio families suing primarily steel mills here.

Sen. David Goodman (R., Bexley) argued that the amount of money available from asbestos suit defendants is limited, with part of it being eaten up by people who are not sick.

"This is a terrible thing," he said. "People will suffocate, drown within their own lungs, and die, and it's an awful way to go," he said. "I want to make sure that people who are actually injured are appropriately compensated."

The bill, according to the Blade, is the latest measure in Ohio designed to limit the number of lawsuits filed or how much a plaintiff may collect in damages if successful. It is aimed at helping companies like Owens-Illinois and bankrupt Toledo-based Owens Corning dig out from under hundreds of thousands of lawsuits filed nationwide. Pushed by Gov. Bob Taft and the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, this bill could retroactively place 30,000 of 40,000 cases already pending in Ohio courts in litigation limbo until the plaintiffs develop cancer or suffer significant loss of lung function.

Sen. Marc Dann summed it up best: "This is not about victims, this is a bill that throws up impediment after impediment to keep people from being able to access the courthouse door. And now we're closing the Statehouse door as well."