Over two million people suffer from the effects of lead poisoning which can result in serious developmental, behavioral, neurological, and gastrointestinal health problems, particularly in developing fetuses and young children. There are no safe levels of lead, it is a neurotoxin that does irreparable damage.
Ronemus & Vilensky, New York City lead poisoning attorneys, have recovered millions of dollars in damages for their clients to cover the loss of income, pain and suffering, medical bills, and more.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC) has said that lead paint is the most common source of lead poisoning, especially for children living in houses built before 1978, which is the year the U.S. Federal government banned lead paint from being used in residences. Adults renovating homes built before 1978 should also be extremely careful, as they can suffer from lead poisoning as well, and those homes often have multiple layers of paint.
Exposure to lead paint in homes and schools is a common occurrence in New York, where we have many older buildings, and owners may be negligent in fixing this as quickly as they should. Lead poisoning in children is more likely than in adults and is not curable. It is a permanent problem and can manifest as learning disabilities, children acting aggressively and having outbursts, milestone delays, and compromised the ability to reason logically.
A child who has been poisoned with lead is more likely to repeat at least one grade in school, is less likely to graduate from high school, and more likely to have lower comprehension skills and a diminished attention span. Even low levels of exposure to lead can create mental disabilities in infants.
Adults with Lead Poisoning are more likely to have:
- Reduced sperm count or abnormal sperm
- Difficulties with pregnancy, including miscarriage, stillbirth, and premature birth
- Headaches
- Mood disorders
- Digestive issues
- High blood pressure needing medications
- Nerve issues
- Muscle and joint pain
- Concentration issues, as well as memory problems
How do you know if you or your child are suffering from lead poisoning? Here are the signs and symptoms of lead poisoning that you should be looking out for, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Lead Poisoning Symptoms in Children:
- Developmental delays
- Learning difficulties
- Irritability
- Loss of appetite
- Weight loss
- Sluggishness and fatigue
- Abdominal pain
- Vomiting
- Constipation
- Hearing loss
- Seizures
- Eating things, such as paint chips, that are not food (pica)
Symptoms in newborns who have been exposed to lead before being born include:
- Premature birth
- Lower birth weight
- Slowed growth
Other than paint, products, and substances that commonly contain lead are:
- Household Dust
- Ceramics
- Home remedies
- Hair Dyes
- Cosmetics
Bringing about a lead poisoning lawsuit requires experienced attorneys who understand these cases. They will need to investigate the case, help gather and review all evidence, and can make sure a qualified inspector determines the source of the lead paint or lead chips that caused the poisoning in your child, as well as speak to medical professionals and do any research needed for your case.
Landlords and homeowners may try to avoid taking responsibility for their negligence in many ways. They can deny that they knew there were kids living on the premises, or deny that they knew of the lead paint on the walls, or they may even try to claim that the child’s medical issues are a result of something other than lead paint, and shift the blame.
Medical professionals in New York, especially pediatricians, are required to test kids for the presence of lead in their systems, watch out for symptoms of lead poisoning, and give parents and caregivers advice on what to look for and how to recognize those symptoms themselves, as well as potential risk factors. Healthcare providers can fail to administer these required tests or could forget to give advice or preventative information to caregivers, or may even fail to accurately diagnose and treat lead poisoning.
Some lead poisoning lawsuits that Ronemus & Vilensky have won for their clients include:
- We won $4.75 million for an infant plaintiff who was diagnosed with learning disabilities after eating paint chips that fell off of the walls of the family’s rented home, and the lead went to the child’s brain.
- We made a settlement of $1 million in a case involving a 3-year-old child who was exposed to lead after paint chipped off of the walls of their family’s rented apartment. They asked the landlord multiple times to fix it, he refused, and The Department of Health found multiple instances of excessive lead in the paint of the home. The child was diagnosed with permanent brain damage from ingesting the lead.
- We recovered $175,000 for another client, who as an infant, ingested lead paint in their rented apartment after the walls started peeling and chipping. The child’s poisoning was discovered when a doctor ran a test and found a lead level of 22Pb. The Department of Health investigated and the landlord has issued violations. We brought suit, as the child was diagnosed with loss of IQ points and hyperactivity.
If you or your children suffer from neurological, behavioral or gastrointestinal problems and suspect that these may be the result of exposure to lead, contact Ronemus & Vilensky and speak to qualified and caring lead poisoning lawyers and personal injury attorneys who will determine the best course of action.
