“that there may well have been small hazards of leukaemia and multiple myeloma associated with participation in the programme, but their existence is certainly not proven and further research is desirable.”
“On the balance of probability those exposed to increased doses of radiation are more likely to develop one or more of the conditions listed above later in life. The existence of a safe threshold is in my opinion immaterial to those witnessing above ground atomic bomb tests as the doses received would have exceeded any reasonable estimate of a safe dose.”
“(i) the claimants’ knowledge of the existence of scientific evidence to demonstrate that their injury was attributable to the acts or omissions of the Defendant did not arise until after the commencement of proceedings and for that reason the claims are not statute barred”
“In the event that the Defendant may allege that the instruction of solicitors in early 2002 and/or the issue of proceedings in 2004 indicates that such knowledge arose before the issue of the Rowland report, the Claimants will contend that these events are explicable not solely by reference to the existence of knowledge on the part of the Claimant but also by reference to the need for caution when dealing with events that occurred many years ago.”
“The importance of the Rowland report is that it shows (on the balance of probabilities) that, despite the frequent and repeated denials of the Defendant, the New Zealand veterans (and, by extension, the British, Australian and Fijian veterans) were exposed to significant ionising radiation during the tests because of the higher frequencies of chromosomal translocations compared with a non-exposed but otherwise matched group. Further it was well-established (long before Dr Rowland’s report) that ionising radiation can cause certain illnesses, including (but not limited to) cancers. It follows that, by exposing the participants to ionising radiation, the Defendant materially increased the risk of the participants suffering the illnesses from which they have actually suffered.”
“For the sake of completeness, the claim … that any of the individual Lead Cases are doomed to fail because the Claimants are unable to establish causation is refuted. You are in receipt of cogent and compelling expert evidence in support of the claims and establishing causation.”
“For the majority of the conditions complained of, I think it extremely unlikely that, until very recently, Claimants would have at any time been told that their conditions were potentially linked with radiation, or have received overt medical support from their treating doctors for their own belief that they were so linked.”
“There are a minority of medical conditions complained of where a potential causal link has in the past been better established. Principally, these comprise some malignant (ie “cancerous”) conditions and cataracts of the lens of the eye. For these conditions, the link has been with radioactive exposure greater than that which has been generally regarded as having occurred in these Claimants.”
“These Claimants could not have contemplated litigation, with a reasonable expectation of medical and scientific support for a causal link between the conditions of which complain and the atomic tests in which were involved, before about the present time.”
“ have largely focussed on cancer, which has consistently been found to occur at increased levels following exposure to moderate and high levels of ionising radiation (i.e. generally well above 500 mSv, apart from leukaemia, which is associated with lower exposure levels).”
“It was well established (long before Dr Rowland’s report) that ionising radiation can cause certain illnesses, including (but not limited to) cancers. It follows that, if, as Dr Rowland found, the veterans were exposed to ionising radiation, then this materially increased the risk of the veterans suffering the illnesses from which they have actually suffered.”
“provides extremely strong evidence that the nuclear test veterans have a statistically significantly increased burden of chromosome aberrations, compared to the controls. The measured aberration rates in the matched control group were what one would expect for individuals of their age – indicating that the methodology, precision and accuracy of the 2008 mFISH study was appropriate.”
“(1) The knowledge required to satisfy section 14(1)(b) is a broad knowledge of the essence of the causally relevant act or omission to which the injury is attributable; (2) “Attributable” in this context means “capable of being attributed to”, in the sense of being a real possibility; (3) A plaintiff has the requisite knowledge when [he] knows enough to make it reasonable for [him] to begin to investigate whether or not [he] has a case against the defendant. Another way of putting this is to say that [he] will have such knowledge if [he] so firmly believes that [his] condition is capable of being attributed to an act or omission which [he] can identify (in broad terms) that [he] goes to a solicitor to seek advice about making a claim for compensation; (4) On the other hand [he] will not have the requisite knowledge if [he] thinks [he] knows the acts or omissions [he] should investigate but in fact is barking up the wrong tree; or if [his] knowledge of what the defendant did or did not do is so vague or general that [he] cannot fairly be expected to know what [he] should investigate; or if [his] state of mind is such that [he] thinks [his] condition is capable of being attributed to the act or omission alleged to constitute negligence, but [he] is not sure about this, and would need to check with an expert before [he] could be properly said to know that it was.”
“(i) That the injury of which he complains is capable of being caused by radiation and by more than just background radiation, the existence of which we must all be taken to appreciate. (ii) That there is some credible evidence that he was exposed to ionising radiation in consequence of his time at the tests which was at a level above the ordinary background level.”
“…the court should look at the way the Plaintiff puts his case, distil what he is complaining about and ask whether he had in broad terms knowledge of the facts on which that complaint is based.”
“By these provisions, Parliament sought to identify the knowledge a claimant needs to possess before it is fair and reasonable that time should run against him. That is their purpose. .. The claimant is to have a reasonable period, set by Parliament at three years, in which to start proceedings after he has the knowledge he reasonably needs for that purpose”
“Thus, as to the degree of certainty required, Lord Donaldson of Lymington MR gave valuable guidance in Halford v Brookes[1991] 1 WLR 428 ,443. He noted that knowledge does not mean knowing for certain and beyond the possibility of contradiction. It means knowing with sufficient confidence to justify embarking on the preliminaries to the issue of a writ, such as submitting a claim to the proposed defendant, taking advice and collecting evidence: “Suspicion, particularly if it is vague and unsupported will indeed not be enough but reasonable belief will normally suffice”
“I would … hold that the lack at this stage of individual medical reports in each individual case supporting a causation approach is not fatal to success on the limitation issue. There is, in my view, sufficient material available at this stage to support the (adequately) pleaded case.”
“Q: But in your mind, the cancer had caused by --- A: No, no, I was just asking Q: So you weren’t sure, but you knew it was capable of having been caused by radiation? A: Well yes. But John had been protected. He understood that he had been protected totally. ---- So it was just—it did not apply to him.”
“I have always believed that that John’s cancers were caused by his RAF service in 1956/7, when he was flying through atomic clouds, collecting radiation samples at the Monte Bello Islands, Maralinga and Christmas Island. I have recently obtained a copy of his Radiation Dosage Chart. …….”
“The Defendant’s argument is that she had raised in her own mind (and indeed directly with her husband) the question of whether the tests could have had anything to do with the cancer that he developed. However, as it seems to me, her husband’s adamant view that it was nothing to do with that would have to be conclusive on the issue unless there was clear evidence that she did not accept it and had been looking into the matter with vigour prior to his death. … I have absolutely no doubt that, entirely reasonably, the whole focus of her life and that of her husband after the diagnosis in 1997 was to address the treatment he needed rather than to spent time questioning how it all came about. …. There is nothing in the contemporaneous medical records to suggest that either she or Mr Brothers raised the question of the tests with any other doctors. The only basis upon which it could be suggested that Mrs Brothers was herself convinced of a connection between his presence at the tests and the cancer was the sentence in her letter, commencing with the words “I have always believed”