Rochester, New York: Kitchen Countertop Lung Disease

Jed Dietrich, Esq., Is a Recognized Super Lawyer Who Is Committed to Providing Unparalleled Personal Injury Service. If You, or a Loved One, Have Developed Silicosis After Working With or Around Stone Countertop and Stone Countertop Slabs, The Dietrich Law Firm P.C. Could Help You Explore Your Best Options for Effective Legal Relief.

Health officials in Massachusetts are raising concerns about silicosis.

In a recently issued press release, the state Department of Public Health announced that a 40-year-old man who spent more than a decade working in the stone countertop industry had been diagnosed with silicosis. This serious lung disease can be fatal if untreated. Investigators believe the diagnosis was most likely due to extensive exposure to quartz-containing countertops.

“The confirmation of this case in Massachusetts is a tragic reminder that silicosis is not just a distant threat,” agency director Emily H. Sparer-Fine said in a statement. “It is here, and it is seriously impacting the health of workers in Massachusetts.”

New York has not yet confirmed any similar cases, but that does not mean workers throughout the state have not already been affected. If you, or a loved one, were diagnosed with silicosis after working with stone kitchen countertops, you could be entitled to significant compensation for your injuries.

Since our founding in 2005, the Dietrich Law Firm P.C. has helped our clients in Rochester and throughout Upstate New York secure more than $250 million in damages. We could help you, too. Please send us a message online or call us at 585-939-3939 to speak to a silicosis lawyer near Rochester and schedule your free, no-obligation consultation as soon as possible.

Silica is a naturally occurring mineral that can be found throughout nature: in plants, in the sand, in soil, and even in water. For decades, manufacturers worldwide have used silica for its inherent properties. When used correctly, silica can deliver significant benefits, from preventing food spoilage to making industrial materials more resistant to rust and corrosion.

However, health officials have long known that working with silica is unsafe.

Federal agencies such as OSHA have long issued regulations to protect workers from inadvertent silica exposure. Many of these rules are only applicable to high-risk occupations. Of these occupations, which include commercial fishing and general manufacturing, people who install “natural and [artificial] stone countertops” are believed to have a much higher-than-average risk for developing silicosis and related respiratory conditions.

“In recent years, the disease has become prevalent among stone fabrication workers due to the rise in popularity of countertops made from engineered stone,” a Massachusetts Department of Public Health official said in a statement.

The presence of quartz in kitchen countertops has also been identified as a concrete risk factor for silicosis. This is because quartz is comprised almost entirely of silica. During grinding and installation, pulverized silica fibers can disperse into the air and environment. Microscopic in size, silica particles are small enough to be inhaled. Once inside the body, they can slowly infiltrate the respiratory system, causing damage that often stays invisible until it becomes too serious to ignore.

If you have been diagnosed with silicosis, it is not too late to take action. Even if you think that the statute of limitations has elapsed, you may be able to take advantage of a grace period available to people who developed injuries they had no prior reason to believe existed. Call Jed Dietrich, Esq., today at 585-939-3939 to speak to a kitchen countertop lung disease lawyer near Rochester and begin exploring your best options for compensation.

Silica is not inherently unsafe. In most common forms, you can eat or drink silica without concern for illness or long-term complications. However, silica dust and particulate matter can be much more dangerous. This is because certain types of silica present a special risk to the respiratory system. It can damage the air sacs in your lungs, triggering small changes that, over many years, can accumulate into a far greater effect.

If you install kitchen countertops, for instance, you may well be exposed to silica almost every day that you are at work. The consequences, though, are not immediate. In most cases, symptoms typically appear after about 10 years. Many of these symptoms are subtle and can be easily misattributed to other, comparatively benign conditions.

As silicosis progresses, symptoms become increasingly severe. They could include:

1. A long-lasting cough that has no apparent cause and will not go away;
2. Inflammation in your lung tissue and surrounding structures; and
3. Scarring of the lung tissue.

Silicosis can also cause other problems, such as fatigue, weight loss, and general feelings of unease.

More problematically, silicosis can prime your body for conditions like lung cancer. Nobody understands exactly how cancer works, but scientists believe that inflammation provides an environment that is highly conducive to cancer. This is because inflammation is associated with higher rates of genetic mutation; if mutated cells begin to replicate uncontrollably, they can form a tumor. If the tumor is cancerous, individual cells can break off from the mass, potentially spreading the disease to other parts of the body.

You do not have to bear the full weight of a silicosis diagnosis.

If you were exposed to silica dust at work, you could be entitled to file a personal injury lawsuit against the person or party that caused your exposure. This could mean a construction company, a contractor, or a product manufacturer. Depending on the circumstances of your claim, you may be able to obtain damages for:

1. Your outstanding medical bills;
2. The cost of anticipated care;
3. Physical rehabilitation;
4. Reimbursement for paid co-pays and deductibles;
5. Reimbursement for exhausted vacation time and PTO;
6. Lost income from work;
7. Diminished earning potential;
8. Pain and suffering;
9. Loss of enjoyment; and
10. Wrongful death.

New York does not limit damages in most personal injury claims, which means there is no cap on how much money you could receive from a successful settlement or court-ordered award. However, filing a silicosis lawsuit is not easy. Even if you have saved your medical records and have rock-solid evidence, manufacturers will often do everything in their power to make amends because, from their corporate perspective, making amends means setting a precedent, and setting a precedent could well open the floodgates to further litigation.

You do not have to take chances with your right to a fair recovery. For more than 20 years, the Dietrich Law Firm P.C. has fought to protect the rights of workers in and around Rochester. We know what it takes to stand up to big corporations, and we have the results to prove it. Please send us a message online today or call us at 585-939-3939 to speak to a kitchen countertop lung disease lawyer near Rochester and schedule your free, no-obligation consultation as soon as possible.

Call the Dietrich Law Firm P.C. immediately at 585-939-3939 so that our aggressive, tenacious, and hardworking personal injury lawyers can fight to obtain the best result for your personal injury claim in Buffalo, New York. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and there is never a fee until we WIN for you!