Emphysema

Emphysema

Duncan Lewis Industrial Claims Solicitors – No win no fee Emphysema Compensation Claims

Emphysema is a degenerative industrial lung disease which can develop as a result of workers inhaling or ingesting airborne particles in materials such as coal dust, silica dust, wood dust, lime or particles in smoke, including cigarette smoke.

The symptoms of emphysema include breathlessness, fatigue, coughing up mucus and pain or tightness in the chest. The symptoms are caused by the air sacs in the lungs becoming blocked and inflamed as a result of ingesting fine particles of dust at work. Emphysema is classed as an obstructive lung disease because the blockages prevent the lungs from expelling air.

Diagnosing emphysema may only occur in the later stages of the condition, when more than half the lungs have become blocked and symptoms start to cause a problem.

Final diagnosis of emphysema may involve a chest X-ray, CT scan and blood tests, as well as lung function tests and a spirometry test – a pulmonary function test (PFT) which measures how much air a patient is able to exhale.

Treatment of emphysema can involve antibiotics if a bacterial infection develops – and use of a bronchodilator, which delivers a dose of medication. Drugs such as steroids may also be prescribed. However, in severe cases of emphysema, a lung transplant may be needed.

Employers have a legal duty to ensure that industrial workers are protected from developing diseases in the workplace such as emphysema – as well as informing workers of any risks and arranging any medical checks which made be needed during the course of their employment.

Duncan Lewis industrial claims solicitors can advise workers who have been diagnosed with work-related emphysema or COPD on how to make no win no fee emphysema compensation claims.

Making a Claim for Work-Related Emphysema

Workers who have been diagnosed with work-related emphysema have three years from the date of diagnosis in which to make a no win no fee compensation claim, if an employer has failed to protect a worker from developing emphysema – or has failed to advise a worker of the risks under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002.

If work-related emphysema has been diagnosed years after exposure to hazardous dust at work, Duncan Lewis industrial claims solicitors can help with tracing the insurers of a former employer using the Employers’ Liability Tracing Office (ELTO) and records held at Companies House. Even if an employer is no longer in business or a company was taken over a former employer’s business, it is still possible to trace the Employers' Liability (EL) insurer to make a claim for emphysema industrial compensation.

Duncan Lewis can also advise bereaved families whose loved one has lost their life from work-related emphysema – or was diagnosed at post-mortem with industrial emphysema – on how to make a no win no fee compensation claim.

Duncan Lewis Industrial Claims Solicitors – No win no fee Work-Related Emphysema Compensation Claims

Duncan Lewis industrial claims solicitors are leading firm of no win no fee lawyers and can advise victims of industrial diseases and their families on how to make emphysema compensation claims – including historic cases where a disease or degenerative condition caused by exposure to hazardous dust at work has been diagnosed.

Duncan Lewis industrial claims solicitors employ medical experts in industrial diseases if it is necessary to prove a link between a claimant’s employment and later being diagnosed with emphysema caused by exposure to dust in the workplace.

Because of the limitation period for making claims for work-related emphysema, Duncan Lewis industrial claims solicitors advise claimants to get in touch as soon as possible after diagnosis of work-related emphysema to discuss making a compensation claim.

For expert legal advice on no win no fee Emphysema Compensation Claims call Duncan Lewis Industrial Claims Solicitors on 020 7923 4020.