Every case involving Legionnaires’ disease that this office has been involved in has always had the defense attorney arguing that the bacteria causing Legionnaires’ disease is ubiquitous (found everywhere). By this the defense attorneys mean that because the bacteria legionella can be found naturally in nature, their clients should not be liable to pay money damages to my clients. What the defense attorneys don’t tell you is that although legionella bacteria may be found in water everywhere, it only causes disease such as Legionnaire’s disease when the property owner does not properly maintain the water system. Failure to properly maintain…
New York City Council enacted a law in 2015 after a deadly outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the Bronx. The law requires that every cooling tower in New York City be identified, registered and inspected on a regular basis. The city has admitted recently that it is not sure it has found all cooling towers, three years after the legislation was passed (the city health department uses experts on the street and satellite imagery to find cooling towers). This failure to even identify all cooling towers takes on added significance after one remembers that there have been two recent outbreaks…
There is no national legislation controlling the propagation of the legionella bacteria in buildings, cooling towers, or jacuzzis in the United States. In fact, there is only one state, New York, that has any statewide legislation to control legionella growth in the state’s cooling towers. Various states have levels of residual chlorine that must be in spas. This haphazard and inadequate approach is very different from that taken by the United Kingdom as indicated in a previous blog. It is time therefore, for Congress to address a national problem and enact national legislation to control the increasing incidence of Legionnaires’…
A second cluster of Washington Heights residents have been hospitalized because of Legionnaires’ disease. The prior outbreak in the same geographic area in July of this year resulted in numerous persons being hospitalized and one person dying. The New York City Health Department has implicated a cooling tower at the Sugar Hill Project as the source of the second outbreak. The department has directed the Sugar Hill Project to disinfect its cooling tower for the second time. This second direction by the health department points up a major weakness in the current legislative scheme. Many of the cooling towers that…
About a month ago, Transparency Market Research estimated that the global legionella testing market was valued at US$180 million in 2016. In addition, Transparency Market Research also estimated that the testing market would reach around US$398.7 million by 2025. Perhaps one of the biggest factors for future growth moving forward is that the incidence rate is increasing globally, particularly in developing regions. With this higher incidence of infectious diseases comes a steady increase in the demand for diagnostic kits and with it the global legionella testing market is expected to substantially grow. As it stands now, the incidence rate of…
In August of 2015, 133 Bronx residents contracted Legionnaires’ disease, an outbreak which ultimately resulted in the death of 16 individuals. This incident would be the worst recorded outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in New York state’s history however now, more than two years later, New York continues to show problems as 2017 posts a record number of cases, including a far larger rate of Legionnaires’ disease than just about every other state per capita. New York once again led the United States for reported cases of Legionnaires’ disease in 2017 with a total of 1,009 cases reported to the CDC. And far from the situation improving, this rate of…
From New York to California, populations across the United States have an increased risk of a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak. Health officials are increasingly concerned about the continuous uptick of Legionnaires’ disease cases, which have risen steadily since 2000. While the waterborne bacterial disease is relatively rare ― with 6,238 cases nationwideso far this year ― there has been a 13.6 percent increase in cases since this time last year. That’s nearly double the increase of 7.8 percent from 2015 to 2016 in the same time period. The disease is not contagious. It’s contracted when people breathe in water droplets contaminated…
Even the happiest place on Earth is immune from the potentially lethal bacteria called Legionella. Orange County, CA health officials isolated Cooling towers located in Disneyland as the common source that caused at least 12 cases of legionnaires’ disease over the last three weeks. Most of those who were affected were visitors of the park while at least three were resident living closely to the cooling towers in question. At least 10 individuals were hospitalized. Legionnaires’ is a severe lung infection caused by exposure to contaminated water or mist. In other cases handled by Jules Zacher, we have seen cooling…
A “Notice to Tenants” was posted in the lobby of Hampton House at 93-10 Queens Boulevard, advising residents that the agency is working with the building management to test the water for legionella, the Legionnaires’ disease causing bacteria. This comes after multiple Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks in the NYC area. Since 2015, Legionnaires’ disease has sickened 120 people and killed 12 in the nation’s economic capital. If you believe you or someone you know has been diagnosed with this disease, Contact us to see what we can do to help. Jules Zacher is an attorney in Philadelphia who has tried Legionnaires’ disease cases…
According to new information published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) stainless steel fixtures contain a protective coating that can degrade over time; this degradation encourages the growth of Legionella. It is well known in among those who study Legionnaires’ disease that water containing rust particles is an environment where Legionella can better thrive. Similarly, a stainless steel sink without the protective coating creates an environment conducive to Legionella growth. The ECDC has released a list of more suitable materials for kitchen sink manufactures that are less likely to expose individuals to a higher risk of…