Maryland lead poisoning lawsuit verdict $4 million
Last week, a Maryland lead poisoning lawsuit resulted in a jury verdict of $2.5 million for a 23 year old man and $1.5 million for his 21 year old sister. The siblings suffered lead poisoning as a result of flaking lead paint during the 1980s when their family lived in a publicly owned rowhouse in Baltimore City. Although the verdicts will likely be reduced to $350,000 for each under Maryland damage caps for government entities, the jury verdict reflects the devastating impact lead poisoning can have on a child’s life.
The family lived in a Baltimore City house while the victims were under four years old, and the mother testified that she repeatedly complainted about flaking lead paint in the home which was owned and maintained by the Housing Authority of Baltimore City. Both plaintiffs were found to have elevated blood lead levels when they were children, which has resulted in continuing symptoms of lead poisoning.
Lead poisoning is a serious condition with permanent consequences that could result in:
- Brain Injury
- Damage to the Nervous System
- Seizures or Convulsions
- Decreased Growth Rate
- Mental Retardation
- Coma
- Death
>>INFORMATION: Lead Poisoning Lawsuits
Lead poisoning has been getting a lot of attention lately following the recall of several toys manufactured in China which contain dangerous levels of lead. Earlier this month, nearly 1 million different popular toys, like Elmo and Big Bird, were recalled by Mattel’s Fisher-Price division. Other recent recalls have involved Thomas the Tank Engine, Spiderman trinkets and kids jewelry.
While toys with high levels of lead can cause injury under some circumstances, most cases of lead poisoning reported each year are attributed to lead paint in homes. Household paint containing lead was banned nationwide in 1978, but many older houses are still standing with the paint on the walls. When the homes are not properly maintained, flaking or pealing paint could be injested by young children who are susceptible to lead poisoning.
In Maryland, lead poisoning has been a particular problem, especially in Baltimore City. There have been estimates that over one million homes throughout Maryland contain lead paint, and many have been poorly maintained, leading to chipping and flaking lead paint chips which pose a danger to children in the house. According to state statistics, 936 new cases of lead poisoning were diagnosed in Maryland last year, and over 60% of them were reported in Baltimore.
MARYLAND LEAD POISONING LAWYERS
The personal injury lawyers at Saiontz & Kirk, P.A. review potential lead poisoning lawsuits in Maryland and throughout the United States for children who have been diagnosed with elevated lead blood levels. If you suspect that lead poisoning was suffered as a result of a child ingesting flaking lead paint or from a recently recalled product, request a free lead poisoning lawsuit evaluation.
2 Comments • Add Your Comments
Amanda says:
I currently own a house that has lead paint in which the home is over 50 years old I found out by my neighbors.And, of course the couple that sold this home to me in April 2005 did mention to me and my husband that it had lead paint contained in it which i believe they had to put that it had that on the deed on the house.Anyways at the time we (me and my husband) had purchased the home and we were first time home buyers we never knew anything at all about this problem nor did we think it would be either a health risk or harm to either one of us.We had never really heard of it or anything else for that matter.And, the last owner did not go int details about the problem except he said this is in most older homes and said there was not or should be no concern over it.So, me and my husband did not think no more about it until this year 2008 and we started seeing advertisements on t.v. and internet about this problem what problems it was causing people everywhere.I have had to paint almost every room in my house except livingroom since I have lived there since 2005.There were old paint chipping away from window sills and around door facings and so forth before and after we started to paint each room of the house and no telling how old the paint was on the walls before we started doing any work to it.I can tell you I have noticed with my health that since 2005 my asthma has gotton worse,my breathing while staying in the house seems like it gets shallow and all while being in the house,I plan to get my doctor if he will to test me for lead poisoning as well as asbestos.We believe that both problems could be going on at the same time.Which we truly love our home and where it’s at and it would just devastate us at the thought of not being able to live there so what do you do in a situation like that?
Posted on September 18, 2008 at 1:40 am
Maria says:
I am trying to find out what rights we have as tenants when it comes to lead. My two year old daughter got tested last year for lead and it was at a 8. My landlord had a guy( who is supposed to be certified) come in and look at it and had his son come in and paint over where the lead was. we thought everything was ok cause he said that is was fixed. so we had our daughter retested a month ago and she is now at a level 12. obviously what ever they did the first time didn’t fix the problem and my landlord knowing that, still wanted to do the same failed fix. since he’s unwilling to do what’s necessary for my kids health, we wanted to break the lease and fine a safer place for our kids, which he agreed to, but he still wants the rent while we are trying to come up with moving expenses for a new place. that is not right at all. I just need some advice cause we gave him two chances to fix it and it’s not our fault that we have to move…
Posted on December 1, 2014 at 4:54 pm