Carbon monoxide poisoning is a dangerous illness that can cause permanent damage if you do not pursue treatment. Of course, it can be difficult to seek medical help if you do not know what’s wrong, and when doctors often misdiagnose carbon monoxide poisoning with other sicknesses, it is no wonder that people are often negatively afflicted. Fortunately, victims of carbon monoxide poisoning are seldom to blame for their conditions; more often than not, fault can be assigned to someone like a landlord or a property owner for his negligent actions. If this is the case, you can pursue legal action and receive monetary compensation for your damages. You should not have to worry about your expenses stemming from the illness if another party caused the poisoning to occur, if only through negligent action. Our team of expert attorneys at our carbon monoxide exposure law firm in San Diego, Normandie Law Firm, can make sure your lawsuit goes smoothly and that you receive what you are entitled to.
Physical Effects of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
The physical effects of carbon monoxide are varied and damaging. Because it is a toxic gas, it is extremely harmful to humans; the more concentrated the air is with carbon monoxide, the quicker the debilitating effects would take hold. When carbon monoxide is inhaled, it deprives red blood cells of oxygen, causing them to die off. Red blood cells are meant to carry oxygen to other organs in the body; a lack of adequate and living red blood cells results in a lower oxygen intake for the organs, which makes them function worse and eventually shut down.
To get more information, call a CO lawyer in San Diego.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is another lethal gas. It’s the gas we breathe out every time we exhale. It isn’t a flammable gas and so irt does not come out of stoves, but is present in smoke. If there is a fire in your home and breathe in the deadly gas, it can kill you.
Symptoms
Identifying the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning can be problematic; the common symptoms are sometimes confused with those of the flu and other similar sicknesses. The more reliable way to determine if you are poisoned is to request a test for the oxygen levels in your body; if they are low, you are likely suffering from the condition.
Other symptoms include:
- Headache
- Nausea
- Fatigue
- Shortness of breath
- Loss of coordination
- Dizziness
- Balance problems
- Vomiting
- Confusion
- Muscle weakness
- Loss of consciousness
If a doctor misses these symptoms or misinterprets them, he may recommend that you go home and get bed rest. This can be highly detrimental to your health, as your home may be the primary location where the carbon monoxide is located, and returning back would make you sicker.
Do not let a healthcare professional misdiagnose your illness and cause you to suffer from carbon monoxide poisoning. Reach out to a San Diego lawyer for carbon monoxide poisoning today.
Physical Damage
CO poisoning is dangerous, and at high levels, can prove to be fatal. The various organs in your body can suffer from small amounts of carbon monoxide; repeated and prolonged exposure can be even worse. Some of the effects include:
- Delirium
- Cognitive issues
- Memory loss
- Constant headaches
- Trouble sleeping
- Lung injuries
- Heart problems
- Brain damage
- Death
One of the most frustrating aspects about carbon monoxide poisoning is how difficult it is to pinpoint. It is a tasteless, odorless, colorless gas, and you cannot point to it as at the culprit. It is not hard to pinpoint another type of toxic fume, like smoke, and blame it for your lung problems; smoke inhalation is very damaging, for example, but we can see, smell, and taste smoke. We do not have that luxury with carbon monoxide, and as a result, the problems may last a long time. In fact, these damages can be permanent; there have been instances where repeated exposure to carbon monoxide has caused children to suffer decreased cognitive abilities throughout their adolescence.
For more assistance, call a San Diego attorney experienced in CO exposure lawsuits.
Determining the Cause
Carbon monoxide can be emitted by a number of sources. They all have something in common, however; the presence of fuel sources and the process of combustion. Combustion is the process of burning, but when carbon-based materials are improperly or incompletely burned, carbon monoxide is the result. Fuel sources include kerosene, propane, oil, gasoline, wood, charcoal, and more. Figuring out what is causing you the sickness is important, and you should check everything in your home and in the places you go often.
Some of the most common culprits of carbon monoxide poisoning are:
- Smoking: The emissions that can come from cigarettes are generally the least damaging; the smoke usually dissipates into the air, but if you are a constant smoker at home, you may always inhale lessened amounts of carbon monoxide.
- Natural occurrences: Forest fires, swamps, mines, and marshes may emit gases from the different reactions going on within each. Fortunately, you are seldom near these areas and can usually count on not being affected by these fumes in particular.
- Vehicles: Carbon monoxide emissions that are in the public space are usually attributed to vehicles. The exhaust fumes emitted by cars, trucks, buses, boas, and other automobiles often contain large amounts of carbon monoxide. However, if you consider legal action, you may find that you have no reliable individual to sue due to how many cars there are on the road all contributing to the illness somehow.
- Defective appliances: The appliances in your home may be malfunctioned in some way. Renters often move into homes that have not been properly inspected; as a result, refrigerator, stove, or grill could very easily cause the poisoning.
- Defective products: Products that you purchase commercially should not place you in harm’s way, and this is true of any product that uses combustion as its main source of energy. Some items like lawn mowers and snow blowers run on gas, and if there is a leak, the fumes can be released into the garage or basement and contaminate the air.
- Faulty heating systems: Heating systems are present in homes and commercial properties, but they are not always limited to providing central heating for the home. Water heaters, furnaces, fireplaces, boilers, space heaters, generators, and other kinds of systems can give off carbon monoxide if they are not properly vented or if they do not burn their fuel sources correctly.
If you need help figuring out what is causing your carbon monoxide sickness, you can talk with a San Diego lawyer with experience in carbon monoxide poisoning lawsuits today.
Determining Responsibility
There are numerous entities you can blame for your carbon monoxide poisoning. If you can prove that a party was negligent in its actions and could have prevented your sickness, you can successfully win your lawsuit.
Often, victims of the illness can blame a landlord for the problem. Landlords need to inspect all facets of homes they are renting to individuals, and if any of the appliances cause carbon monoxide emissions or if there is a potential for the emissions to come to fruition, the landlord must give fair and proper warning to the renter. Further, landlords are required to install carbon monoxide poisoning detectors in any home meant for human occupation. This is the result of a law passed in 2010 called the Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act.
This need to provide warnings to individuals is also present with respect to property owners. If a property owner’s office building, for instance, exposes people to carbon monoxide emissions, there must be a warning and an attempt to remedy the issue.
If you purchased a product that was proven to emit toxic fumes, you should hold on to the item and file a lawsuit. If the company asks to replace the item, you should decline; losing your key piece of evidence would mean your case is much more likely to fail.
Legal proceedings can be confusing. For help, call one of our San Diego lawyers with expertise in CO poisoning.
Compensation
By filing a carbon monoxide poisoning lawsuit, you can receive various kinds of compensation for your damages. You may be able to receive coverage for medical expenses, property damage, lost wages, pain and suffering, and punitive damages. An expert attorney can help you assemble your evidence and handle your claim.
In the event that a loved one dies from the illness, you could file a carbon monoxide wrongful death lawsuit, which will allow you to recover funeral expenses, pre-death medical expenses and pain and suffering, loss of consortium, loss of expected inheritance and savings, and more.
The Right Law Firm
Our law group, Normandie Law Firm, is dedicated to helping victims of carbon monoxide poisoning. You should not have to pay your own expenses if a landlord, property owner, or company negligently contributed to your sickness. Our lawyers will ensure that you are properly taken care of by the relevant insurance agency. Our aggressive attorneys will work around the clock to bring you the compensation you can be satisfied with.
Call us today to speak with a CO exposure poisoning injury lawyer in San Diego. You can receive a free legal consultation and learn more about our zero fee guarantee, which states that you do not pay any out of pocket expenses throughout the litigation process Our fees are only taken care of if we win, and the expenses will be taken from the settlement we bring you; if we lose, you owe us nothing at all. Your personal savings will never be touched throughout the case.
For more help, contact our law firm in San Diego.
