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Royal doctor forced to quit after developing lung cancer 'caused by exposure to asbestos'
Last updated at 01:22am on 28.01.08
The Queen's trusted doctor has been forced to quit due to lung cancer
A trusted doctor to the Queen has been forced to quit after developing lung cancer, which he claims was caused by exposure to asbestos more than 40 years ago.
Dr Ian Campbell held the title of Apothecary to the Royal Household at Sandringham for 15 years before being forced to retire last year after contracting mesothelioma, a cancer of the membranes of the lungs.
He is now suing a pharmaceutical company for almost £1million because he claims his illness is the result of being exposed to asbestos while employed there.
In a High Court writ, he alleges that during his teens and early 20s at the Allen & Hanbury plant in Ware, Hertfordshire - where his adoptive father, Dr Norman Campbell, was managing director - he repeatedly polished, screwed, shaped and drilled Ferobestos, a plastic which contained asbestos fibres.
The writ alleges the company failed to provide workers with suitable protection. It is now owned by GlaxoSmithKline.
Yesterday, Dr Campbell's wife Averil was with him at their home in Snettisham, near Sandringham, as he recuperated from an operation.
A spokesman for GlaxoSmithKline said: "We have the deepest sympathy for Dr Campbell. A claim has been received by our insurers and is being progressed with all due diligence."
