Carmakers sound out asthma patients on settlement over pollution

This case will open a huge can of worms. Gonna be real intersting to see how it plays out.

Off the top of my head I can think of another 900 things asthma patients could potentially sue for.

 

For example?

 

Notice how Honda isn't one of them.. Is it because of the trucks division ?
As far as i know Honda do not make trucks (or lorries as it is called in UK).

 

These folks should be happy they were offered anything.

 

People want too much money just because they might be able to get it. How greedy!

 

You can get bad asthma from cats and dogs too.. they going to sue them also?? give me a break. don't give them shite!

 

smoking cigarettes, second hand smoke, yakitori charcoal smoke, chinese yellow dust pollution, fireworks, pollen from over sized trees, blah, blah blah

 

What they should do is take the monies gained from any lawsuits and force the companies to reinvest it into R&D towards greater reductions in emissions from their vehicles.

 

Understand something here. Car polution affects everyone. Those with Asthma have it more difficult living a normal life with the heavy amount of Smog caused by car emissions; and lets not forget that the Japanses burn their trash, then those who do not have asthma. Before I moved to Japan I did not have Asthma, but after years of breathing problems making me sick and testing I was diagnosed with it. I must take medication every day just to be able to breathe normally. Many factors attribute to cause asthma and many of those can not be controlled suck as those that "starcraftcommand" mentioned. Some, such as what the plantifs case revolves around are preventable, but the government is only recently taking control over and imposing restrictions. As for the 1 million JPY per plantif I agree it is not enough. My medications costs 30,000 JPY/Month. That is 360,000 JPY a year. That 1 million JPY would not cover my costs after 3 years. Als remember that they have to pay the court fees and lawyer fees because I highly doubt these lawyers are working this case for free. These people have every right to deny what bread crumbs have been thrown at them, and so would you I suspect if you were in their place.

 

Something that I think some here may be overlooking is that asthma is not some unfortunate illness that only affects the "skinny, wheezy kid down the block." It's one of the fastest growing chronic illnesses on the planet right now, with the rate of asthma sufferers having doubled since 1977 in many industrialized nations, including Japan. The reasons for the increase are varied and complex, but most researchers agree that airborne pollutants are a big contributing factor. Considering the cost American suffers due to asthma is in the realm of $12.7 billion per year, I wouldn't be surprised if governments took up the lawsuit as a means of forcing companies to make their products less damaging to the air we breathe as a way of recouping a cost that is invariably passed on to the taxpayer. This is an issue that affects everyone.

If I sounds biased, it's because I am. Being an asthma sufferer myself since I was a child, I'm rather bummed that I can't take my morning jog anymore since coming to Japan because the pollutants spewed out by trucks and poorly maintained cars give me asthma attacks every time. I'm sick of having to curtail exercise that I took for granted in the States, because the drugs I used to use to control my asthma no longer work like they used to. I'm sick of having to shape my dining-out plans based on whether or not the restaurant I want to go to has either a smoking section or a heavy smoking section, never mind non-smoking sections, as if that meant anything when they comprise less that a third of the total seats available in any given open-floor plan restaurant in this country, if at all.

Yes, there are things like the yellow sand from China, pet dander, pollen, dust mites, and a whole host of naturally occurring things that make an asthma and allergy sufferer's life hell, but given that the government goes through the motions of giving a crap about the road worthiness of cars by making the general populace submit to the sham that is the shaken car inspection system, where they won't let your car leave the garage until it's emitting daisies, the least they could do is make some pretense of trying to address the things that pollute our environment that they can control, like fume-belching diesel-powered trucks that crowd the narrow highways of this country.

When companies won't take the steps necessary for addressing preventable pollution, and the government won't lift a finger to correct its double standards, then something needs to be done. Not that I support or cheer for the lawsuit-happy cesspool that America sinks into from time to time, but the unfortunate truth is that when given a choice between doing the right thing and making money at the expense of others, most people will choose the latter, and that's when it's time to whip out the lawyer stick and start swinging.