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LEAD PAINT POISONING OF CHILDREN
SEE OUR WEB PAGE ON THE RECALL OF TOYS WITH LEAD PAINT
[Introduction: Although our offices are located in Maryland (MD), Virginia (VA) and Washington, D.C. (DC), our lead paint practice is national in scope. Our lawyers accept lead paint lawsuits around the country. Therefore, regardless of what state you're in, please complete our inquiry form on this web site or email us so that we can have an attorney from our lead paint litigation department contact you about your potential lawsuit.]
Childhood lead poisoning is one of the greatest environmental health threats facing American families today. Lead is a soft metal found naturally in the Earth's crust. At one time it was freely used in many products, including paint, batteries, solder, pottery and gasoline. This metal is virtually indestructible, and it is not biodegradable.
Lead poisoning can affect virtually every system in the human body and often occurs with no distinctive or outward signs or symptoms. Doctors and scientists have determined that lead can be especially harmful to young children and fetuses. Lead is very dangerous at all stages of a child's development, because during the developmental period the human brain is much more susceptible to injury from chemicals and poisons.
Lead at very high levels can cause brain swelling, convulsions, coma and even death. At low levels, lead poisoning has been associated with loss of IQ points and intellect, learning disabilities, academic failure, attention problems (ADHD and ADD), hyperactive behavior, school failure, and antisocial or criminal behavior.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found that lead in paint is the most common, high-dose source of lead exposure for children. Children are exposed to lead when they ingest chips of lead-based paint or swallow or breath lead contaminated dust. HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) conducted a study that determined that about 74% of privately owned housing units in the United States built before 1980 contain lead-based paint. The United States Congress passed laws during 1978 outlawing the use of lead in paint. However, the law only banned the use of lead in paint sold after that time period. Layers and layers of old lead-based paint remain on houses and apartments constructed before the ban went into effect. Old and poorly kept or maintained housing poses a great risk, because the lead paint flakes, chips and dust can shed and can come in contact with small children. Many cases of lead poisoning also result when homes containing lead-based paint are remodeled or renovated without precautions being taken.
Lawsuits are often brought by lawyers on behalf of children who have sustained lead poisoning from lead paint. The lawsuit filed by the lawyer seeks an award, settlement, verdict, judgment or some other form of recovery for money damages. A parent or other adult responsible for the child may retain a lawyer to represent the child in filing a law suit to recover for the child's injuries and also to recover for the medical and rehabilitative expenses incurred by the parent. Many of these cases filed by lawyers are brought against landlords or contractors. The lawyer representing the victim who files the lawsuit alleges that the defendant failed to follow the local housing, construction or abatement laws. Because children exposed to lead paint may suffer mild to moderate brain damage, it is the responsibility of the attorney representing these children who files the lawsuit to see that they are compensated by those responsible for the poisoning. Many jurisdictions have a very long statute of limitations for lawsuits filed by children. This means that even if a child sustained lead poisoning five (5), ten (10) or even twenty (20) years ago, the attorney representing him or her may still be able to bring a claim and file a law suit. The law in may states allows attorneys representing children to file lead paint lawsuits for harms they have suffered even past the time they are legally considered adults. It is vitally important that the attorney representing the child with possible lead paint poisoning who plans to file a lead paint lawsuit have experience handling these claims so as to recognize all of the defenses and pitfalls that are raised by landlords and contractors in fighting these cases. The lawyer handling one, two or just a few of these cases may well feel overwhelmed, and may wish to associate with an experienced lawyer in pursuing the case. Within the legal field, lawyers experienced in handling lead paint litigation are a select group, and often they are willing to travel to various locations around the country to assist in the handling of individual lead paint cases.
The attorneys at Ashcraft & Gerel have broad experience litigating lead paint claims and have been instrumental in causing the payment of millions of dollars in awards, settlements, judgments, verdicts and other lawsuit recoveries. Our attorneys have handled lead paint claims where the child was only recently exposed to lead paint, and our attorneys have successfully handled cases where the lead poisoning happened as long ago as twenty years. While Ashcraft & Gerel's lawyers are physically located in our offices in Maryland (MD), Virginia (VA) and the District of Columbia (DC), we are willing to become involved in some lead paint claims throughout the United States. If you would like to speak to a lead paint attorney, please do not hesitate to telephone us on our toll free line at 1-800-400-1949. Please ask for the head of our lead paint litigation department, Alan Mensh, in our Baltimore, Maryland office. Alternatively, please feel free to email us or complete the form on our help page.
Below are some excellent links for additional detailed information regarding lead poisoning and lead poisoning prevention:
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Lead in Paint, Dust & Soil
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U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Healthy Homes & Lead Hazard Control
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Alliance to End Childhood Lead Poisoning / Alliance for Healthy Homes (Protecting Children from Lead and Other Environmental Health Hazards)
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American Academy of Pediatrics (search for the key words "lead paint")
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*IMPORTANT: It is important to note that there are few instances when any two states agree on issues within a given field of the law. This document is intended to provide only an overview of lead paint claims and lawsuits in general, and it is not intended to substitute for the advice of experienced attorneys or be relied upon in the handling of a particular case. The rules and principles set forth in this article may vary from state to state. Lead paint litigation is fraught with danger to the inexperienced lay person, as well as to the inexperienced attorney. It is strongly recommended that any injured victim of lead paint poisoning reading this page who is not already represented by an experienced lawyer, immediately seek an experienced lawyer to review the facts of the claim to determine whether a lawsuit should be pursued.