§ Mr. Frank Fieldasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the criteria by which the pneumoconiosis medical panel diagnoses asbestosis.
§ Mr. NewtonMedical questions, including diagnosis, relating to claims for disablement benefit for prescribed occupational chest diseases are determined by independent special medical boards (formerly pneumoconiosis medical boards).
Asbestosis is a form of pneumoconiosis which is characterised by fibrosis of the lungs caused by inhalation of asbestos dust. Diagnosis normally takes account of the claimant's occupational history and the presence of the following clinical findings:
- 1. Characteristic bilateral basal crepitations;
- 2. Radiological features of diffuse interstitial fibrosis in the lower halves of the lung field;
- 3. Impairment of the lung function consistent with diffuse interstitial fibrosis.