Use of court records for supplementing occupational disease surveillance.

To conduct surveillance of occupationally related health events, the New Hampshire Division of Public Health Services analyzes death certificates and workers' compensation claims. In an effort to bolster these limited data sources, a previously unrecognized data-set comprised of court records was explored. Court records obtained from the Federal District Court proved to be a readily accessible and detailed source of information for identifying suspected cases of asbestos-related disease and potential sources of asbestos exposure.