The law, signed June 3 by Gov. Bob Taft, makes Ohio the first state striving to give priority to the truly sick by requiring minimum objective medical criteria to be met before an asbestos lawsuit can be filed. Claimants unable to demonstrate actual asbestos-related impairment will have their cases dismissed. They may refile, however, should an impairing condition later develop.

The state also passed a bill relating to silica lawsuits?judged the next big profit center for plaintiffs' lawyers?but that bill is not subject to the referendum.

At this point, the industry is just monitoring any signature-gathering that is occurring, said Steve Schneider, American Insurance Association regional vice president for the Midwest.

He said that to his knowledge, the lawyers "haven't started getting signatures yet. At the moment, this is a conceptual problem, not a practical one."

But Jeffrey Junkas, director of public affairs at the AIA Midwest region, admits the issue is important. "This provides a blueprint for other states to take protective action, especially in light of the stalemate in Washington on legislation dealing with the issue."

He said that at the moment, supporters of state action "are just focusing on the Ohio referendum. But if there is a win here, I'm sure our industry and our coalition will look to other states to try to have similar success."