At Coogan Gallagher, our Chicago personal injury attorneys help victims of negligence recover compensation for their injuries and damages. One company that is under fire right now for releasing chemicals that may have caused thousands of cases of cancer within the community of Willowbrook, IL, is Sterigenics, a medical device sterilization plant. If you or a loved one lives in the community of Willowbrook, learn more about Sterigenics cancer risks contact Coogan Gallagher today to explore your legal options.
Town Has Been Living With Cancerous Conditions For Possibly Decades
In August 2018, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a report that informed the residents of Willowbrook, IL that their local medical device sterilization plant is responsible for releasing a toxic chemical into the air called ethylene oxide. The emissions are three times higher than the EPA’s acceptable limits. Long-term exposure to high levels of ethylene oxide is known to cause several adverse health consequences, including but not limited to the following:
- Irritated eyes, skin, and respiratory tract
- Central nervous system depression
- Induced nausea and vomiting
- Certain cancer risks, including stomach, leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and pancreatic cancer
Impacts Of Negligence
The report may explain why Willowbrook has some of the highest cancer rates in the nation and why so many residents are in an uproar over this newfound information. As reported by NBC5 Chicago, one woman who lives less than a mile from the plant claims that her eldest daughter has experienced strange and persistent health issues since she was in second grade. According to the woman, her daughter’s coughing fits would be so violent and uncontrollable that they would cause her to vomit. These fits happened at all times of day and night, plaguing her sleep, school, and daily activities.
Another woman claims that her breast cancer was caused by the emissions, as she has no family history of the disease, demonstrates no risk factors, and no bracket genes. Yet another, whose home is closer to the plant than all of the others, claims that her family has always been plagued with health issues, a fact she attributed to bad genes—until now.
Sterigenics Denies Cancer Risks
The company has produced report after report in an attempt to combat the government’s findings. Sterigenics spokespeople give the same line, claiming that the ethylene oxide emission levels are far lower than those found in nature, or even than those found naturally in the human body. But the number of stories, and the elevated cancer rates in the population immediately surrounding the plant tell a different tale.
Willowbrook Residents Want & Deserve Justice
If you or a loved one who lives in Willowbrook, IL have recently developed a chronic health condition or have been living in persistent bad health for years, you may be the victim of Sterigenics’ negligence. Unfortunately, the adverse consequences caused by the company’s actions may be irreversible. But that does not mean that you do not deserve justice, or that the company does not deserve to be apprehended.
One of the most important roles that injury lawyers play in the United States is to go beyond government investigations to help investigate individual instances of injury or disease to prosecute cases on behalf of individuals injured by negligence. This includes when individuals are injured by environmental emissions—whether in Willowbrook or anywhere else. One of the most difficult challenges people exposed to environmental toxins face is the helplessness that accompanies a diagnosis, feeling like they are powerless to do anything about what has happened to them.
Our personal injury lawyers at Coogan Gallagher are prepared to help you build a case against the negligent corporation and fight for the compensation you may currently need, or will need, to cover the cost of medical expenses and other damages.
Contact us today for a free consultation.
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