By John Cooper, Virginia Railroad Worker Injury Lawyer

Exposure to diesel exhaust fumes can cause railroad workers to be stricken with serious, life-threatening illnesses such as lung cancer, asthma, leukemia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which is most often called COPD. My colleague Rick Shapiro recently published an article that focuses on which potentially harmful chemicals diesel exhaust fumes contain and why a rail worker who was exposed to those toxic fumes and is now sick should speak with a VA railroad injury/FELA injury lawyer right away.

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About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is an injury law firm whose attorneys have long histories of representing railroad workers in FELA and other railroad injury cases.  Attorneys will our firm have served as chairmen of the Railroad section of the American Association for Justice. One of our attorneys wrote a major attorney’s encyclopedia section on railroad safety litigation. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Our offices are in Virginia Beach and Hampton, Virginia (VA), and Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC). Our lawyers also hold licenses to practice in South Carolina (SC), West Virginia (WV), Kentucky (KY), Florida (FL) and Washington, DC, and have handled hundreds of railroad injury and FELA cases throughout the eastern United States. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included in the 2011 issue of Best Lawyers in America. They, along with fellow attorney John M. Cooper, were also named 2011 Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law, an honor which fewer than 5 percent of outstanding lawyers receive. We would like to send you one of our FREE reports about railroad injury and FELA cases, such as Dos and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad — Yours FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). We provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at (800) 752-0042 before giving any statement or talking to a railroad claims agent. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Further, our lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.

By Randy E. Appleton, Attorney

When a railroad injury/accident involves release of toxic or hazardous fumes/smoke, a permanent lung/breathing disease or chemical inhalation injury may result. The cause may be a crash, derailment or even a defect or malfunction on an engine, affecting the engineer or conductor, or even a by-stander.  The Locomotive Inspection Act requires that railroads keep engines in good working order and most defects are violations of the federal regulations.  My colleague Richard N. Shapiro wrote an interesting article fully discussing engine explosions and the release of toxic fumes and smoke, as well as the locomotive inspection act requirements that apply to railroad activities.