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Lung Injury Attorneys in Los Angeles

If you want results, call us. If you want peace of mind, call us. If you want representation who understands the hardship that has been thrust upon you, call us.

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Los Angeles Lung Injury Attorneys

Since the late 1970s, the Los Angeles lung injury attorneys at DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo have helped thousands of their clients get the timely and comprehensive medical treatment they deserve and the maximum legal compensation that they need to be made whole again. We have seen how hard lung injuries can be on a person and we take pride in helping people during their difficult times. Contact our LA injury law firm today to set up your free initial consultation and to discuss your specific lung injury regardless of whether it was caused by blunt trauma, powders, hard metal dust inhalation or exposure to other poisons, disease, or irritants. There are those in the county that consider us to be the best Los Angeles lung injury lawyers. We promise to continue to work hard to live up to those highest of standards.

How to File a Lung Injury Lawsuit Claim

Getting any injury can be scary but, as you unfortunately may already know, a lung injury has the potential to be very life changing and life threatening. You probably have a lot of questions about what happens next and what your legal opportunities are. You may also be wondering about how to bring a traumatic or acute lung injury legal cause of action and/or how to file a long term work exposure lung injury workers’ compensation claim. Contact our experienced LA workers comp attorneys right away at (213) 416-2472 as you should get at least some legal guidance before proceeding with your asbestos case, hard metal dust inhalation lung injury case, punctured lung injury accident case, or any other lung injury case. We will discuss your claim during the free consultation:

  • Options and advice for how you could be able to do-it-yourself.
  • Potential litigation issues including: law and motion, pleadings, investigation, expert witness depositions, legal evidentiary standards of proof and legal requirements, types of causes of action, written discovery, lay witness depositions, potential special and general damages including: temporary disability benefits, loss of earnings, bodily injury, medical treatment, and other damages and benefits you are entitled to recover.
  • What might be involved in suing another party and filing your legal claim(s) for workers’ comp and/or third party personal injury.
  • Complete answers to your questions regarding how we may be able to help you navigate the legal system during this challenging time.
  • How we could make your case as simple, efficient and successful as possible.

Contact Our Local LA Law Firm

Our best Los Angeles lung injury attorneys are prepared to take the load, headache and stress of this lung injury case off of your back. If after meeting with us and discussing the numerous expenses and important steps that are needed to litigate, investigate, negotiate, file, and take your lung injury case to trial, please be aware that our firm will always be here for you. We hope this website also assists you in learning more about injury law and that you get to your maximum medical improvement as fast as possible. Call our Los Angeles personal injury and work injury law firm right away at (213) 416-2472. We will even come to you during regular business or we will also make appointments for night and weekends if that works better for you.

Definitions: Lung Injury, ALI & ARDS

Lung injuries can be very serious and lethal so you should be sure to take the proper precautions to avoid them like limiting exposure to toxins and dusts, wearing protective gear, and to always wear masks when appropriate. Keep in mind that traumatic lung injuries are possible whenever a trauma happens to someone’s back, neck, or chest. Furthermore, having rib pain is reason enough to check for lung injuries as rib injuries and lung injuries often go together.

More Common Types of Lung Injuries

Acute lung injuries (ALI) are one type of traumatic lung injury. They are mainly caused by a direct injury to the lungs like pneumonia or blunt trauma. Pulmonary lung injuries often occur after long term exposure to asbestos, dusts, chemicals, irritants, toxins, powders, and more. Another version of acute lung injury that is worse is ARDS or acute respiratory distress syndrome. Low lung levels (airway collapse) and reduced lung compliance are also symptoms of both ALI and ARDS so be sure to seek medical attention for diagnosis and treatment.

Critical Signs & Symptoms

Symptoms to look for include a dry cough, a feeling of breathlessness, rapid and shallow breathing, a bluish tint around the mouth and nose, light headedness, a difficulty to get a full breath, clubbing (fingernails that curve over the top of your fingertips), wheezing, hypotension, pain in the chest or ribs, an elevated heart rate, fever, dyspnea, and even no detectable breathing. Call a doctor if you have these symptoms as it is always better to discover lung injuries earlier rather than later. Please be aware that many of the above symptoms worsen over time so be careful to not just write them off as just aches, discomfort or “getting older.”

Causes of Lung Disease / Lung Injuries

The list of causes for lung injuries is rather long since they can happen as a result of direct or indirect trauma to the lungs, inhaling irritants over an extended period, and inflammation. The types of irritants that affect the lungs include toxins, hard metal dust (like cobalt dust from drilling), asbestos fibers, silica dust, grain, pollutants, dust, gases (such as ammonia and chlorine), airborne chemicals, sugarcane, saw dust, bacteria in hot tubs and humidifiers that are not maintained, dust from bird and animal droppings, moldy hay, and powders. Some of the other causes of lung injuries or lung disease are injury to the chest or ribs, puncture wounds, impaled objects, fat embolism, sepsis, poisoning, bicycle or skateboarding accident, a direct air bag blow to the chest, major trauma, eclampsia, truck accident, being in a car accident, a sports injury like being hit by a bat, wrestling rough or getting tackled hard, motorcycle accident, air embolism, radiation, amniotic fluid embolism, inhalation of noxious fumes, pneumonia, drugs, burns, near drowning, fungal infections, pancreatitis, parasitic infections, and pulmonary aspiration. Be sure to seek medical attention as soon as you are able to after any of these injuries.

More Causes for Lung Injuries and Lung Disease

Always be on alert anytime you have had traumatic injuries near your lungs. TRALI (Transfusions Related Acute Lung Injury) is a serious potential complication of blood transfusions. Talcum baby powder is even a cause of lung problems as it was found to be causing lung disease or cancer (called talcosis) in babies or adults if it was inhaled over a significant amount over time. Beauty mineral powders are another set of surprising culprits for causing problems as they have also been found to cause lung disease with long term use. Unfortunately, doctors are discovering more and more work environments, products, and situations where lung injuries are common.

Treatment & Diagnosis: Lung Injuries

Doctors use your medical history, bronchoscopy (the removal of a small piece of lung tissue for studying), high-resolution computerized tomography scan (HRCT), work history, exercise tests, chest x-rays, pulmonary function tests (like blowing into a spirometer), bronchoalveolar lavage (studying cells from air sacs in the lungs), annual check-ups and video-assisted thorascopic surgery (surgical lung biopsy) to help them diagnose lung injuries. Some of the possible treatment options include pressure control ventilation, anti-fibrotics, azathioprine, corticosteroid drugs, surgery, lung transplantation, acetylcysteine drugs, oxygen therapy, and mechanical ventilation. In most cases, early detection gives you the best chance for a full recovery.

LA Lung Injury Workers’ Compensation

The Los Angeles workers’ compensation firm of DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo is ready to investigate, research your claim for work comp lung injuries and protect your rights. We have assisted many clients during our career who have developed lung injuries while on the job either over time by being exposed to irritants, dusts, hard metal dust (possibly from drilling or being in a mine), asbestos, pollutants, powders, toxic vapors, or chemicals.

Workers’ Compensation for Blunt Lung Trauma Work Injuries

Our experienced attorneys have also been there for victims of blunt lung trauma like that sustained in a car accident, safety rail collapse, scaffolding collapse, debris dropped on you, chest injury, being crushed, equipment accident, fall, puncture wounds, conveyor belt accident, being impaled, crane accident, construction accident, forklift accident, nail gun accident, motorcycle accident, jack hammer accident, ladder accident, and many other injuries sustained on the job. We will be sure to interview your coworkers and other witnesses to help bolster your case.

Workers’ Compensation Insurance Protects the Employees and their Families

An important aspect of workers’ comp law that can be overlooked by the average worker is that employers cannot penalize or fire employees for filing a workers’ compensation claim. Our firm is ready to use every minute of our 30+ years of experience for you so call us at (213) 416-2472. Workers’ compensation has the potential to provide monetary compensation to you and your family for disability, income, medical benefits, medical expenses, permanent disability compensation, death benefits, and vocational rehabilitation, when the circumstances of the job injury warrant such distributions.

Aluminum Powder could cause Lung Disease & Lung Fibrosis

As everyone knows, pyrotechnics are dangerous for many obvious reasons. One reason that is not so obvious is that aluminum powder flakes are often found within air samples all throughout the pyro-producing factories and plants. It has been proven that employees can develop serious lung disease from the long term exposure to the hard metal dust and powder. It is important to call us today to discuss your aluminum powder exposure lung injury and to call your doctor.

E-Waste Recycling Hurts Lung Health for Factory Workers

One terrible side effect of electronic technology is what happens after we throw it away or recycle it regarding all of the electronics, circuits, and trace metals. Sure, taking your electronics to an e-waste recycler is many times better than throwing it away. The issue is with the health of the workers who melt the metals and take apart circuit boards, stereos, TVs, computers, cell phones, lap tops, smart phones, music players and other electronic devices down to their smallest components. They can be inhaling toxic levels of workplace dust and hard metal dust. In some studied cities where this is done, the air quality is poor throughout the surrounding city and hard metal dust can be found in air and dust samples from around town.

Mining & Drilling Can Cause Traumatic Lung Injuries

To try to improve the mining situation and lessen the rate of injuries among mine workers, our country passed the Miner Safety Act in 2006. The law hoped to help improve the conditions that miners and drillers worked in. Unfortunately, mining still has one of the highest rates of injuries and work deaths. Miners come across many dangers both when they are working under and above ground including toxic gas or fumes inhalation, electrocutions, explosions, falling rocks or boulders, equipment that is hard to handle and many others.

Miners At Risk of Lung Disease

An additional top ailment that miners face is that of developing respiratory problems, trace metal lung disease, black lung, hard metal lung disease, or pneumoconiosis disease. Drilling, workshop dust, mining for coal, and hard metal dust like cobalt seem to be a direct way to injure our lungs, put toxins into the body, poison our systems and lower one’s immune system. The mines are safer than they were back when we started thirty-plus years ago but they are still a cause of many lung injuries today.

“Popcorn Lung”: Exposure to Diacetyl may Cause Severe Lung Disease & Asthma

Food processing workers and other employees who work with some types of butter flavoring could be at risk of developing severe lung disease, respiratory injuries, or being afflicted by asthma due to the natural ingredient of diacetyl. Workers in bakeries, microwave popcorn factories, flavoring companies, snack factories, theatres, popcorn factories, and mass food production plants are some of the workers who could have been or will be exposed to diacetyl. It can also be called “popcorn lung” and, sadly, the symptoms of popcorn lung do not go away when someone stops being exposed to diacetyl. Bronchiolitis obliterans is a possible condition that may come from popcorn lung. It causes the airways to thicken and narrow which could have devastating effects.

Asbestos Hurts Construction Workers, Repair Workers & those who live in older homes

Before the dangerous truth was known about asbestos, it was used throughout all kinds of product lines and industries in construction products and home products. It has since been found to cause mesothelioma, diffuse pleural thickening, asbestos warts, malignant lung cancer, pleural plaques, asbestosis and other serious health problems after long term exposure to it. Certain products and environments around today are still at risk of containing asbestos including popcorn ceilings, old insulation, old homes, old kitchen products and old plaster. Given how dangerous asbestos is and the many years of studies and trials proving long term exposure and medical issues are related, be sure to call the doctor right away and our firm next.

Lung Disease Risk Higher for Construction Workers

Construction workers are not only constantly in work environments and situations where traumatic injuries to the neck, back, and chest are possible, they are also around elevated levels of powders, sawdust, dust, pollutants, dirty air, and other irritants. The people who work at the table saw or with the chain saw are constantly inhaling in sawdust, splinters and other particulates are examples of how construction workers often get lung injuries or lung disease. The particles that are so bad for us to breathe can be even too small to take much note of.

Protective Gear May Keep Your Lungs Healthy

Even though there is a chance that your lungs still get injured or a disease when wearing all of the proper gear, it is still important to wear the suggested safety gear and masks. This includes gas masks, hard hats, goggles, face masks, nose and mouth masks, and more. It is also important to be aware of and use all the safety devices on the heavy machinery, sanders, tools, equipment, and saws.

OSHA Prevents Work Accidents

OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) has a history of creating rules and regulations to try to make working and being on the job safer for most workers in this country. OSHA still states that “Every day in the USA, more than 14 workers lose their lives in preventable workplace tragedies.” With that terrible statistic in mind, OSHA continues to tighten safety regulations and rules and press industries to train their employees better and work hard to prevent injuries.

OSHA Enforces Safety Rules to Decrease Injuries

OSHA investigates accidents, equipment, injuries, mines, collapsed mines, defective products, manufacturers, tools, and safety code violations by conducting site inspections, interviewing witnesses and employees, reviewing maintenance records, talking with management and ownership, checking logs, and by other investigations.

Additional Third Parties

Filing a claim for workers’ compensation could help you recoup some part of your lost wages due to the work injury or accident while on the job. To get the most compensation possible under the law (even potentially including your full income), there needs to also be a third party who is proven to have had a part of the fault in causing your lung injury. Those that could be a third party for lung injuries include manufacturers, companies, contractors, part suppliers, factories, sub-contractors, repair shops, government entities, product manufacturers, or anyone else who may also be at fault but is not your employer. Be sure to contact us soon at (213) 416-2472 if there is a potential third party as those cases are greatly improved the sooner that one of our Los Angeles work comp attorneys can start investigating the injury and preparing the dual cases.

Blast Lung Injuries: Also Dangerous

Blast lung injuries (BLI) are a very harmful potential result of being too close to an explosion either by a detonation, gas explosion, or otherwise. They can be caused by blast waves and they may cause tears and contusions on the lungs. Symptoms and signs of BLI include hemoptysis, chest pain, cough, wheezing, decreased breathing sounds, hemodynamic instability, apnea, and dyspnea. Blast lung injuries are definitely serious and need immediate medical attention to diagnose and treat the injury.

Free Consultation and Case Evaluation

The Law Offices of DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo
Los Angeles, CA ~ (213) 416-2472
We will be with you all the way!

We want you to get to know us. We find that once people meet us and learn about our unique and successful approach to injury law, they are at ease throughout the legal process. We will work for you on a contingency basis where you won’t pay us anything unless we win your injury case. The lung injury lawyers at DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo, Los Angeles will come to you at your house or hospital room if you are unable to come to our office for any reason whatsoever. We will also be available to meet with you, by appointment, on the weekend and in the evening if you cannot meet us during the normal times of Monday through Friday between 8:30am and 5:30pm. Our firm is well known throughout Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Ventura, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Francisco, Long Beach and Orange County. We are the Los Angeles law firm you can trust and we hope that you and your family recover as quickly as possible.

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Covid 19 Update: We are accepting new cases and we handle everything electronically and remotely, so our clients never have to leave their homes.