Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Injury and Lawsuits

Injuries from carbon monoxide poisoning, which is an odorless and colorless gas, pose serious risk of lifelong debilitation to victims. Everyday items, such as automobile, boats, heaters, fireplaces, and stoves, emit carbon monoxide, and if left in poor working condition or unattended, can easily cause carbon monoxide poisoning to the otherwise unsuspecting home resident. Furthermore, defective and otherwise flawed products are often cited as the main or contributing factor in almost all accidental residential carbon monoxide poisonings. Individuals, who they themselves or their loved ones, which have suffered medical damage as the result of carbon monoxide poisoning, may have legal recourse, if they believe their injuries were caused by faulty or defective equipment or appliances.

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning and Injuries

If inhaled, carbon monoxide gases inhibit the transmission of oxygen to the brain and the rest of the body systems. At the initial onset of carbon monoxide poisoning, the following symptoms are recorded, including dizziness, headache, nausea, and cognitive difficulty. Exposure lasting more than a few minutes often results in permanent damage to brain function, heartbeat regulation, and if enough exposure occurs, coma and death result. If a household appliance or device is releasing carbon monoxide into the home or workplace while residents or workers are present, they may prolong their exposure time by assuming symptoms are non-threatening, or as seen in many fatal cases of carbon monoxide, the victims are asleep the entire time.

Filing a Lawsuit and Liability Factors

In the United States alone, an estimated five thousand persons expire annually from carbon monoxide poisoning, with another ten thousand individuals suffering serious injuries. The overwhelming majority of these cases stem from defective or dangerous products in the home or workplace, which malfunction in a closed or semi-closed area leading to dangerous levels of carbon monoxide being inhaled by unsuspecting victims. The vast majority of victims that live through the initial exposure are often left with lifelong brain damage, including cognitive difficulties, inhibited motor skills, and other neurological and muscular conditions.

Victims and their family members often successfully seek compensation for their injuries and other damages following exposure to carbon monoxide as the result of dangerous, defective, or faulty products. These suits often make legal claims for negligence against the manufacturers, designers, marketers, and retailers of the product in question for a number of issues, including:

Negligence in product liability
Failure to properly warn consumers
Negligence in design, marketing, or retailing practices
Strict liability for dangerous or faulty products

Damage claims from injured persons often cite issues such as medical costs, prolonged medical care, loss of quality of life, lost income earning capacity, permanent disability, and a litany of other damages that a carbon monoxide poisoning victim may experience.

Hiring a Lawyer for Carbon Monoxide Injury Claims

Having an attorney represent carbon monoxide injury claims is essential to obtaining any form of favorable outcome in a claims case. These product liability cases require significant time and energy spent in discovery, as well as litigating with named defendants before a suit even comes to trial. Consult with an attorney today about your legal rights following a carbon monoxide injury today.

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