Forty Years After Its Identification, Legionnaires' Disease Still Fells Too Many People
First identified at an American Legion convention in the middle of the 1970s, Legionnaires' disease has killed thousands of people since. That first notable outbreak, in fact, claimed 34 lives before all was said and done, with nearly 200 people being hospitalized with severe infections.
Despite the danger that the disease poses to even otherwise healthy people, efforts to prevent outbreaks are often lacking. Legionnaires' disease is caused by a form of bacteria that lives and grows in wet places where oxygen is scarce, with many water heaters, pool circulation systems, and other kinds of equipment providing amenable conditions.
Most Legionnaires' disease outbreaks, then, spring from commercial establishments like hotels and resorts where maintenance and preventative measures are allowed to slip. Even in clear-cut cases of such negligence, though, proving responsibility in court can be a difficult task, meaning that many who should be compensated for the harm they suffer end up empty-handed.
.jpg?timestamp=1427457505998)
In most cases, those who succeed in securing appropriate judgments do so with the help of an attorney who specializes in dealing with cases of Legionnaires' disease. Because of the very particular and unique nature of the disease and how it is contracted, those who are most experienced with it typically have the best chances of putting together compelling cases for their clients.
Working through the discovery process in a Legionnaires' disease case, for example, can easily prove to be the linchpin of the whole endeavor. A successful case will typically involve securing a wide range of maintenance records and other indications of diligence, with oversights on the part of the attorney often causing a case to fall apart later on. Attorneys like Johnny Denenea who understand Legionnaires' disease inside and out, on the other hand, are much more likely to be able to focus in on those demands for evidence that will prove in the end to be crucial.
For those who contract the disease, of course, the first priority must be getting better. While too many people still succumb to the disease every year, modern medicine offers hope of recovery to most. Whatever the outcome, the next step should be to figure out how the disease was contracted, always with the help of an experienced lawyer.
