Victims of carbon monoxide poisoning may not be aware that they are afflicted by the condition until many doctor’s appointments have passed by. The gas is known as the “silent killer” and can be present in commercial buildings, nature, homes, apartment buildings, and more. Many times, the illness comes about due to the negligence of another party, allowing victims to sue for financial compensation. Some individuals may not know who they can sue or if there were any negligence in the first place. For this reason, it is important that you call our carbon monoxide exposure law firm in Fresno, Normandie Law Firm, for more assistance. We will be able to point you in the right direction to take proper action against the responsible party, and we are willing to represent you in all legal matters.
Where Does Carbon Monoxide Come From?
Carbon monoxide comes from various sources. It occurs when fuel sources are burned improperly or incompletely; the carbon that is emitted is impure and is toxic to breathe in. Because the gas comes from fuel sources, it can occur in many places. Gasoline, kerosene, propane, oil, wood, and more are just a few of the fuel sources that are burned that result in emissions. A few common causes of carbon monoxide emissions are:
- Motor Vehicle Exhausts: Cars on the road that are not properly maintained may have excessive emissions. Other vehicles, such as semi-trucks, may also emit copious amounts of fumes that contain carbon monoxide.
- Defective Household Appliances: Many homes come equipped with stoves or ranges. If these appliances do not properly work, carbon monoxide may be emitted. It is imperative that you have a carbon monoxide detector in your home to determine if there are toxic gases, and if your detector shows that there are, you need to determine what appliance is causing the issue.
- Faulty Heating Systems: Water heaters, fireplaces, central heating systems, and more can all be improperly installed and may not work correctly. These heating systems may be on for hours at a time and can steadily pump carbon monoxide into a home or building.
- Natural Occurrences: Forest fires are natural occurrences that feature a lot of burning, often acres at a time. These gases can travel into residential areas and settle in the thick air. Other natural occurrences include the gases that are emitted from marshes and swamps and ocean release.
- Defective Products: Some products, such as lawn mowers, chainsaws, snow blowers, leaf blowers, and other items, may be produced with defects that cause the fuel sources to inefficiently burn. They can leak and emit carbon monoxide. Because these products are usually kept in sheds or garages, the concentration of carbon monoxide in the air can drastically affect your health.
- Industrial Waste: Factories tend to give off large amounts of industrial waste, which can pollute the atmosphere. If you are located near a factory, the sheer amount of carbon monoxide emissions can have an intensely negative effect on your health.
- Smoking Products: Individuals who spend a lot of time smoking cigarettes, cigars, hookah, and other products risk exposing themselves to carbon monoxide poisoning. Because many people smoke indoors, the fumes will be trapped inside; this can be another source of toxic emissions that are of compound detriment.
If you have any questions regarding how carbon monoxide can be present in your home, call one of our Fresno lawyers with expertise in CO poisoning. We will help you contact the necessary parties to investigate the source of your illness.
Symptoms of CO Poisoning
CO poisoning can be hard to detect because of its symptoms, which are not unique to the illness at all. The sickness is most commonly misdiagnosed as the flu, the treatment for which involves going home and getting a lot of rest. However, home may be where the CO poisoning occurred, and your doctor would just be making you even sicker. Therefore, it is important that you ask your doctor to check your oxygen levels. If you have low oxygen levels in your blood, there is a chance you will be suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide poisoning essentially suffocates your cells and prevents them from getting oxygen, which can cause long term damage to your internal organs and drastically weaken and harm your lungs, heart, and brain.
Some symptoms include:
- Fatigue
- Dizziness
- Shortness of breath
- Confusion
- Headache
- Vomiting
- Trouble breathing
- Loss of consciousness
- Muscle weakness
- Delirium
If you experience these symptoms, you should immediately seek medical treatment. If you do not get proper treatment, intensely adverse injuries can arise. Some damages that can come from carbon monoxide poisoning include:
- Memory loss
- Chronic headaches
- Sleep deprivation
- Cognitive problems
- Lung trouble
- Heart issues
- Brain damage
- Death
Do not let carbon monoxide poisoning harm you or your family. Call a Fresno lawyer for carbon monoxide poisoning today.
Who is Responsible?
In some instances, you cannot hold anyone responsible, such as when forest fires or mines emit gases. This is simply nature going about its business, and if you are harmed by these gases, you would do best to relocate and avoid the toxic areas. Similarly, if you are subjected to many motor vehicle exhaust fumes, you would not be able to sue each and every individual driver.
However, if you are a tenant in an apartment building, your landlord has a duty to provide you with a safe and healthy living quarters. If the appliances and heating systems were faulty or defective and emitted carbon monoxide gases when you moved in, it would be the landlord’s responsibility to fix them and ensure that you are not being harmed by using the heat or by cooking. If, however, you caused the appliance to break, the landlord would not be held responsible.
It is important to note that the Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act of 2010 mandates that all landlords must provide tenants with carbon monoxide detectors or face legal action.
Commercial buildings like grocery stores or offices also need to have a warning of some sort if there are any instances of emissions. You may be able to sue the contractor or the property owner if no steps were taken to fix the carbon monoxide emissions in a building. The heating systems may have been improperly installed, for example, which could lead to numerous individuals inhaling toxic amounts of CO each day.
You may also be able to sue a company if the business sold you faulty products that leaked carbon monoxide while being used. These products must have hazard labels on the packaging or on the items themselves. If you discover that a business sold you an item that caused carbon monoxide poisoning in you or your family, you have the right to pursue legal action.
With the help of a Fresno lawyer with experience in carbon monoxide poisoning lawsuits, you can be sure that you will be filing a carbon monoxide poisoning lawsuit against the correct entity. We will be able to file your claim within the statute of limitations as well – personal injury lawsuits have a deadline of two years, for example. You should not be worried about the legal ramifications that accompany CO poisoning – your focus should be on healing, and we will bring you the compensation you deserve.
Earnings
With the help of a CO lawyer in Fresno, you can earn various types of compensation for your lawsuit, including coverage of medical expenses from both the past and the future, your missed income from days you were absent from work, future lost wages from additional recovery time or medical procedures, property damage if your personal items were harmed and require repairs or must be replaced, and pain and suffering damages (emotional anguish, psychological trauma, PTSD, and more).
If a loved one passed away from the illness, you could file a carbon monoxide wrongful death lawsuit. This will allow you to recover compensation for funeral expenses, loss of consortium, loss of companionship, loss of future savings and inheritance, pre-death pain and suffering, and more.
Normandie’s Role
Normandie Law Firm, one of the premier law groups in California, is here to help victims of carbon monoxide poisoning. We will do all we can to bring you the compensation you deserve. You should not sit idly by if your illness were caused because of another party’s negligence. Our aggressive lawyers will relentlessly pursue a fair settlement with the relevant insurance agency and will not stop until you are satisfied.
Call us today to speak with a Fresno attorney experienced in CO exposure lawsuits. You can receive a free legal consultation about your case. If you have questions about CO poisoning, we will gladly answer them, and we will tell you what we believe we can earn for you. If you choose to select us for legal representation, we will give you a zero fee guarantee that promises that you will never pay us any out of pocket expenses for our services. If we win your case, our fees will be withdrawn from the settlement we bring you, and if we lose, you do not owe us a single cent.
Contact our offices to get in touch with a CO exposure poisoning injury lawyer in Fresno.
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