Personal Injury Law

Personal injury plaintiff files wrongful death lawsuit after infant death

A wrongful death lawsuit was filed after an infant son died because he was exposed to deadly chemicals escaping from the BP refinery after the oil spill. The wrongful death lawsuit seeks $10 billion from BP. The mother of the infant victim states the six-month-old son died in June from symptoms connected with pneumonia, which the wrongful death lawsuit alleges were worsened by lengthy exposure to the more than 500,000 pounds of chemicals released at the refinery between April 6 and May 16.

The BP wrongful death lawsuit states that while his mother worked, the infant was cared for at his aunt?s house, which is a mile from the refinery. The emissions allegedly began when the hydrogen compressor in the unit went offline. The plaintiff claims that after the chemical release began the child began to have a runny nose, a bad cough, and mucus in his eyes. The victim?s mother states that she took him to three area hospitals and physicians at each facility were unable to find the cause of his illness.

Wrongful death is a legal term for a death that has been caused by the fault of another person. Damages can be recovered in wrongful death lawsuits that include expense associated with the death, lost benefits, pain, suffering, or mental anguish suffered by the survivors, and loss of companionship. Punitive damages are also occasionally available. In addition to the wrongful death lawsuit described above, a personal injury class action lawsuit has already been filed against BP over the alleged chemical leak on behalf of thousands of oil refinery workers and residents who lived near the facility.

Read more about the BP wrongful death lawsuit by clicking the link.

Full post as published by Illinois Injury Lawyer Blog on September 02, 2010 (boomark / email).