Des Moines Legionnaire Disease Lawyers

Contact an experienced Legionnaire’s Disease Lawsuit Lawyer at 515-493-4878 or via email for a free consult. Helping people nationwide.

Experienced Legionnaire’s Disease Attorneys

If you have been diagnosed with Legionnaires Disease, our personal injury lawyers can help – nationwide. Although you always have your choice of lawyer, we believe that our personal injury lawyers are uniquely qualified to help you.

Why? Because in addition to being experienced trial lawyers, partner Christopher Johnston has an extensive background in hotel and building operations and, prior to becoming an attorney, he managed maintenance and housekeeping departments at some of the country’s finest hotels and commercial buildings. He holds an undergraduate degree in Hotel Management and earned additional recognition through the American Hotel & Motel Association. You can learn more about Mr. Johnston’s background here.

In the context of Legionnaire’s Disease cases, Mr. Johnston’s background gives him a distinct advantage over many other lawyers as he already knows how buildings are to be cleaned, monitored, and inspected. This information allows him to hit the ground running on your case. His background gives him a distinct advantage over less experienced lawyers in the discovery aspects of a Legionnaire’s Disease lawsuit as well.

In fact, the first recorded outbreak of Legionnaires Disease was in 1976 and it was due to bacteria found in the cooling towers of the Bellevue – Stratford Hotel located in Philadelphia. In January 1977, the “Legionella bacterium” was identified as the culprit and was found to be living in the cooling tower of the hotel’s air conditioning system which then spread it through the building.

If you have been diagnosed with Legionnaires Disease, or suffered any type of hotel injury or premises liability injury, contact one of our personal injury lawyers now for a free consultation.

What is my Legionnaire’s Disease case worth?

As with any personal injury case, determining the value of a case takes into account multiple factors including:

• Whether the victim dies or lives and the extent of any associated permanent injury. As noted above, Legionnaires can be fatal and, if it is, a wrongful death claim can be made against the liable party on behalf of the next-of-kin of the victim.

• Whether or not the source of contamination has been, or can be, identified. Therefore, it is helpful for you to contact one of our Legionnaire lawyers immediately if you have been diagnosed with Legionnaire’s Disease so proper testing can be performed before changes are made and evidence lost. If the source of the offending bacteria cannot be found, there is no claim to be made.

• To what extent the victim will have ongoing problems. The length and severity of complications related to the Legionnaires plays a large role in determining the value of your case.

• The age of the party exposed. A general rule of thumb for all personal injury cases is the longer the victim has to live with the condition, the more “valuable” the claim.

• The victim’s job. If a victim of Legionnaires is unable to work, either temporarily or permanently, the amount of lost wages plays a large role in determining the value of the case.

Click on what is my personal injury case worth for additional information on valuing cases.

What is Legionnaire’s Disease?

Legionnaires’ disease, also referred to as Legion Fever or Legionellosis, is a kind of atypical pneumonia that is caused by any strain of the Legionella bacteria. It is transmitted by inhalation of aerosolized water or dirt that contains the Legionella bacteria. Legionella lives and grows in water with temperatures ranging from 77 and 113 degrees Fahrenheit, with an optimum temperature of 95.  Given the makeup of this particular bacteria, it thrives in hot-tubs, water heaters and tanks, cooling towers, and some types of air-conditioner condensers, such as those often found in hotels and large office buildings.

Symptoms of Legionnaire’s Disease

The following list of symptoms associated with Legionnaire’s Disease is not meant to be exhaustive and you should contact your doctor immediately if you believe you have been exposed:

• Fever
• Chills
• Cough (with or without sputum)
• Fever
• Muscle aches
• Headache
• Fatigue
• Ataxia (loss of coordination)
• Chest pain
• Diarrhea
• Confusion
• Death

Are some hotels “safer” than others?

With the naked eye, it is impossible to tell if a hotel or office building is free from harmful bacteria. However, a recent study performed by “Travelmath” found that many four and five-star hotels are actually have a higher rate of bacteria than many three-star hotels.

The study was performed by teams who visited nine separate hotels wherein they collected thirty-six samples from various surfaces in their assigned room. And, although three-star hotels are typically basic rooms with average standards, they were found to be cleaner than their more highly decorated counterparts.

That is not to say that these rooms are bacteria free as there was still bacteria found within the rooms with the dirtiest surface being the bathroom counter. However, it is worth mentioning that the bathroom bacteria in the three-star hotels was eight times less than that found in the four star room and three times less than that found in a five-star room.

In all the rooms studied, the dirtiest surfaces included the bathroom counter and remote controls.

It is impossible to know if these findings would hold true against a larger sample size. However, they do tell us that there really is no way to be certain whether or not your hotel is safe in regards to contaminants.

Contact a Legionnaire’s Disease Lawyer

If you have been diagnosed with Legionnaire’s Disease, contact one of our experienced lawyers today for a free consultation. We can be reached at 515-493-4878 or via email.

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