We recently wrote about the progress of a bill in the Illinois legislature which would promote the prompt notification in the case of an outbreak of an infectious disease like Legionnaires’ disease. There is, however, another push within these legislative efforts to also promote more rigorous Legionella monitoring. In order to keep Legionnaire’s bacteria from spreading, lawmakers are proposing, in addition to the notification requirements we discussed previously, a new water management plan which would require state operated residence facilities to monitor their potable water systems for Legionella. According to Senator Mike Hastings, “(V)eterans at these homes deserve homes that are safe,”. This post certainly agrees with that sentiment and so as such, is pleased to see that the legislature is theoretically not only pushing for a more prompt notification system, but perhaps more importantly, that they are embracing more monitoring of their water systems for Legionella bacteria. Indeed by monitoring a system more regularly, a water management system can identify any potential growths of Legionella bacteria and thus, can respond early in order to ensure no one becomes infected. Clearly the aftermath of the Quincy, Illinois Veteran’s Home Legionnaires’ disease outbreak has been significant however it remains the hopes of this post that this whole incident will at the very least promote more safety and security measures for the residents of these homes and more generally, the residents of Illinois. Jules Zacher is an attorney in Philadelphia who has tried Legionnaires’ disease cases across the U.S. Please visit LegionnaireLawyer.com again for updates.
Legionella Monitoring Bill in Illinois Senate was last modified: March 14th, 2018 by