Paraquat is an herbicide that has been used in the Sacramento area and throughout the state of California. People must now possess a special permit to apply for paraquat in the state of California. The reason for this is that multiple studies have linked prolonged, frequent exposure to paraquat with numerous medical issues, including Parkinson’s disease. If you or a loved one has developed Parkinson’s disease after being exposed to paraquat, California law entitles you to pursue financial compensation.
Paraquat cases fall under an area of the law known as product liability. In product liability cases, sick or injured consumers file claims or lawsuits against the manufacturers of defective products. Product liability claims often involve allegations of defective products, defective product designs, and/or a lack of warnings on products.
Product manufacturers are typically represented by very experienced insurance companies. These insurance companies will do everything under their power to pay you as little as possible or nothing at all for your injuries. These insurance companies will also have very skilled, expensive lawyers representing them, meaning you need to have skilled, experienced lawyers by your side to stand a chance against them. You need lawyers who won’t hesitate to fight against big corporations and their considerable resources.
If you or a loved one has developed Parkinson’s disease after being exposed to paraquat, you should contact the expert Sacramento paraquat lawyers at Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers. We have over 250 paraquat cases, and our legal teams have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in financial compensation for our clients, including financial recoveries recovered on behalf of product liability clients such as paraquat clients.
Our tough, battle-tested lawyers understand the court system in Sacramento County, California, and will aggressively fight to preserve your legal rights during settlement negotiations and, if necessary, in the courtroom.
Call us today at (916) 443-5486 for a free consultation if you or a loved one has developed Parkinson’s disease after being exposed to paraquat. You can also text us from this page. Our legal team will review all of the details of your potential paraquat claim and will get in contact with you quickly. We can tell you if your claim is viable and if you’re eligible to receive financial compensation for your injuries and illness.
Our lawyers stand up to the manufacturers of dangerous products like paraquat, so call us today so we can stand up for you.
Parkinson’s Disease Symptoms
Paraquat exposure has been linked by multiple scientific studies to Parkinson’s disease symptoms. You should watch for these symptoms. Contact a healthcare provider if you experience one or more of the symptoms.
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There are many symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease. The primary symptoms are:
- Tremors
- Slow movements and reflexes
- Balance issues
- Stiffness/rigidity
Those who suffer from Parkinson’s disease also usually suffer from secondary symptoms, such as interrupted walking gait, slurring of speech, monotonous speech, quiet speech, problems swallowing, progressively shrinking handwriting, a mask-like facial expression, and posture bending forward.
Paraquat can cause the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease for several reasons. Exposure to paraquat can cause oxidative stress in brain cells. This causes dopaminergic neurons in the brain to die. These neurons produce dopamine, which is critical for the body’s motor function. A person’s ability to produce dopamine is limited when these cells die. These cells do not grow back after they die. When enough of these neurons die, a person’s motor system is compromised and the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease develop.
Parkinson’s Disease Can Be Caused By Environmental Factors
The cause of Parkinson’s disease is the death of dopaminergic neurons in the brain, causing dopamine levels to fall. The brain uses dopamine to send messages throughout the central nervous system and brain, and these messages are critical for the brain’s control of our motor function. The symptoms of Parkinson’s disease start to show themselves once dopamine levels fall.
Parkinson’s disease usually does not manifest by itself. Rather, the environment around a person is typically what leads to the disease’s development. Environmental toxins are a common cause of the nerve cell damage which impacts the brain’s dopamine production.
Research has linked exposure to many things to Parkinson’s disease, including:
- Solvents
- Pesticides
- Metals
- Polychlorinated biphenyls
A person’s risk of developing Parkinson’s disease can depend on the area in which they live. This especially applies to those who live near farms or industrial areas. Farm workers do not file all of the paraquat lawsuits. Some paraquat cases are filed by neighbors who become ill after inhaling paraquat which drifted from a neighboring property.
Medical organizations have recently added herbicides to lists of dangerous chemicals which have been linked with Parkinson’s disease. Paraquat is very good at killing plants, its intended purpose, but the same properties which make it toxic to plants also make it toxic to humans. Paraquat kills plants by inducing oxidative stress, but it is this oxidative stress which also leads to the death of dopaminergic neurons in the human brain, causing the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
Paraquat And Parkinson’s Disease Are Linked By Research
Parkinson’s disease and paraquat have been linked since the mid-1980s. Multiple studies from 2006 to 2012 linked paraquat exposure with an increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. A newer study found that those exposed to paraquat were six times more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease than the average person.
A University of Guelph researcher, in a study, investigated why paraquat causes Parkinson’s disease. The study found that:
- Those exposed to paraquat were 250 percent more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease than an average person
- Dopaminergic neurons, in the study, were exposed to agrichemicals, and the chemicals stopped them from moving to where they needed to move to inside cells, leading to energy depletion in the neurons
- The effects of mutations which are known to cause Parkinson’s disease are mimicked by paraquat exposure
Multiple studies since then have continued to study the effects of paraquat exposure on people, finding that paraquat exposure causes an increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.
You Need Trusted Legal Assistance After Suffering Paraquat Injuries
You need an experienced, knowledgeable legal team to represent you in a paraquat claim from start to finish if you are thinking about pursuing a product liability lawsuit or claim against a paraquat manufacturer.
A skilled attorney can determine if you have a viable paraquat claim. If your product liability claim is viable, your attorney can file the claim for you as well as any needed supporting documents. Your attorney can also negotiate with the insurance company representing the paraquat manufacturer for you and pursue financial compensation for your injuries or illness. If an insurance company refuses to adequately compensate you, your attorney can file a civil lawsuit on your behalf and fight in court for the financial recovery you deserve.
The expert, experienced Sacramento paraquat lawyers at Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers have a long track record of successfully litigating and settling paraquat injury claims. Our lawyers have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for our clients due to our experience and tenacious nature. We have successfully obtained recoveries for countless clients in product liability cases such as paraquat litigation and settlements.
Call us today at (916) 443-5486 or contact us online for a free consultation regarding how we can help you with your paraquat claim or lawsuit. You can also text us from this page.
How Much Is My Paraquat Lawsuit Worth?
We are often asked how much paraquat cases are worth. It is understandable that our clients want to know how much money to expect from a paraquat case. Parkinson’s disease is very difficult to deal with and it only gets worse as time goes on.
Parkinson’s disease, unfortunately, can be extremely expensive to treat. Many treatments can slow the disease’s progression, but they are very expensive.
If you settle or win a paraquat claim or lawsuit, you can expect to be paid for:
- Medical bills
- Lost wages if you’re unable to work due to Parkinson’s disease
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of quality of life
- Emotional distress
- Loss of consortium for a spouse
Parkinson’s disease can lead to significant psychological effects. Parkinson’s disease sufferers must live knowing they can no longer do what they used to be able to do, and the disease slowly gets worse and worse. Sufferers know they won’t ever be the same, and they will probably get worse and worse over time. This causes depression and anxiety, and a defendant in a paraquat case may be forced to pay for all of this.
However, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question of how much your paraquat case is worth. Every case is different and the amount your case will be worth depends on the individual circumstances in your case.
Call us today at (916) 443-5486 for a free consultation if you’d like to learn more about how much your paraquat case may be worth.
Filing A Lawsuit Or Claim After Paraquat Exposure
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease after being exposed to paraquat, you should talk with an experienced lawyer as quickly as you can.
The experienced legal team at Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers can file a claim or lawsuit on your behalf based on one or both of the following causes of action:
- Strict liability: Under the legal theory of strict liability, a lawyer can claim that the manufacturer of a product designed a product defectively, that something went wrong during the manufacturing process causing a product to be defective, or that a manufacturer failed to provide warnings on the product about dangers associated with the product. Sometimes warnings are present on products, but lawyers can claim that the warning wasn’t located in a place an average customer would see.
- Negligence: Under the legal theory of negligence, lawyers can claim that the manufacturer of a product did not behave reasonably; that the manufacturer did something a reasonable manufacturer wouldn’t do, or that the manufacturer did not do something a reasonable manufacturer would do. For example, a lawyer might claim that a manufacturer didn’t adequately test their product before putting it on the marketplace, or a lawyer might claim a manufacturer was unreasonable by failing to warn about dangers associated with the product.
Injured consumers have the legal burden of proof in products liability negligence claims. This burden must be satisfied in order to recover financial compensation. The injured consumers must show that the manufacturer of the product acted unreasonably, that they were injured, and that the manufacturer’s unreasonable behavior directly caused the injuries.
An experienced Sacramento paraquat attorney at Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers can help prove any legal elements in your negligence or product liability case and will fight to get you the financial compensation that you deserve and need for your injury or illness.
Talk To An Experienced, Expert Sacramento Paraquat Lawyer About Your Symptoms Today
Parkinson’s disease can be caused by exposure to paraquat. If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease after paraquat exposure, you need Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers to represent you from start to finish, seeking every penny of damages and financial compensation that you are entitled to under California law.
Our skilled team of local lawyers is familiar with Sacramento County’s court system and its inner workings. Our combined experience and knowledge have helped us recover hundreds of millions of dollars for our clients since 1990.
We can represent you throughout your case and fight to get you the financial compensation you deserve, whether it be through a settlement, an arbitration award or a jury verdict. We can represent you in court and aggressively fight for you there if a paraquat manufacturer’s insurance company won’t offer you the financial compensation you’re entitled to.
Call us today at (916) 443-5486 or contact us online to discuss your possible paraquat lawsuit.
