I am submitting this question on behalf of my cousin. 
Here is the situation:
He is 35 yrs old, with no health problem whatsoever till recently. He is an
organic chemist and works at a drug design startup. His work involves handling
many chemicals. During the last 2-3 months, he complained about nausea, headache
and vomits every 3-4 days. Last week he had severe headache and was admitted to
the hospital. Preliminary tests indicated a very high blood pressure (190) and 
doctor diagnosed acute renal failure in both kidneys (functioning
about 15-20%). Subsequently a biopsy was performed. Details are
available upon request. There is no family history which caused these
problems. He does not drink or smoke. So
it is likely that all these problems are due to the nature of his work.

For some reason, he could not sign up for the health insurance because
there was a lot of work pressure and the company (based in NC) did not
have a HR
department to handle it. 

My cousin is married and has one 2 year old kid and another one
expected in January. He is not is a condition to resume work until his
medical condition
is back on track.

I feel that if his health condition is infact a side effect of the work he
performed at his employer, does he have right to receive compensation? 
He is potentially looking at a large medical bill, loss of ability to work
in the near future, etc. If so, how should we proceed? Which type of lawyer is 
required to handle our case (I have no personal interest other than to see that
he is taken care of for his loss)?  On what basis should we select the lawyer?
What other things do we need to be prepared for? Thank you.

---

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 25 Oct 2005 19:04 PDT

Your cousin should certainly make known to his doctors -- and the
doctors should have asked while taking a history -- about his working
conditions, and chemical exposures.

If he feels there are dangerous conditions in the workplace, he should
certainly consider filing a complaint with workplace safety
authorities at the state and federal level.

I am no expert on either medical or legal matters, but it certainly
seems to me that if your cousin's health problems are related to
workplace exposures, then the company -- at the very least -- bears a
responsibility for his medical bills, and may well be looking at some
pretty hefty fines and 'pain and suffering' type of liability as well.

On the flip side of things, your cousin is a trained professional
chemist, and should certainly have been aware of possible dangers of
materials he was handling.

The absence of health insurance is troubling, especially if the
company had a contractural obligation to provide it to its employees.

Has your cousin consulted a lawyer?

Wishing him luck...let us know a bit more about the status of his situation.

pafalafa-ga

---

Clarification of Question by dunwoody-ga on 27 Oct 2005 03:40 PDT

Pafalafa and Peterwchan,
Thanks for your comments. I think it would be beneficial for others 
to inform OSHA or other federal agencies. And we will do so.

A little clarification on the question:

What I would like to know is 
1) the type of lawyers to contact and
2) a list of 4-5 lawyers/law firms who are well regarded (from NY or NC state)
   with their contact information.

Thanks

Dear dunwoody-ga;

Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question. The
first step in this process is to obtain a good attorney. The type of
attorney you are looking for is called a Personal Injury Attorney, or
one who specializes in:

Online Lawyer Source
WORK-RELATED INJURIES
http://www.onlinelawyersource.com/workers_compensation/work-related.html

Online Lawyer Source
CLAIMS
http://www.onlinelawyersource.com/workers_compensation/claims.html

Online Lawyer Source
WORKER?S COMPENSATION
http://www.onlinelawyersource.com/workers_compensation/index.html

Typically the first step in finding a lawyer that specializes in a
particular field of law is the state Bar Association. Bar Associations
can make knowledgeable recommendations and lawyer referrals based on
which lawyer or firm is best suited for your purposes, most
conveniently located, and occasionally which one(s) is/are most
compatible with your budget. This is a customary public service that I
highly recommend you take advantage of, because, in the end, you know
better than anyone else the complicated details of the situation.

. . . . . . 

NORTH CAROLINA BAR ASSOCIATION
http://www.ncbar.org/
Lawyer Referral Service: http://www.ncbar.org/public/lrs/index.aspx
Lawyer Referral Service Search: https://www.ncbar.org/public/lrs/search.aspx

(In most cases a $30.00 fee will be charged, which entitles the caller
to a 30-minute consultation with the attorney. Some attorneys do not
charge for brief consultations. Where attorneys are concerned I
consider this a very affordable option for an opportunity to get some
very valuable information.)

NORTH CAROLINA BAR ASSOCIATION
8000 Weston Parkway
Cary, NC 27513 

Tel: (919) 677-0561
Toll Free: 1-800-662-7407
For Referrals by phone: (800) 662-7660 in state; (919) 677-8574 local
Raleigh area and from out of state.

ncba@ncbar.org

. . . . . . 

NEW YORK BAR ASSOCIATION
http://www.nysba.org/
Lawyer Referral Service:
http://www.nysba.org/Template.cfm?Section=Find_a_Lawyer&Template=/CustomSource/LegalInfobyCounty.cfm&cty=lrs

(LRIS attorneys agree to provide an initial consultation of up to
one-half hour for a $25 fee.  Attorneys will give FREE consultations
for personal injury matters, as well as medical malpractice, social
security, unemployment and workers' compensation issues. Now you can?t
beat FREE, can you?)

NEW YORK STATE BAR ASSOCIATION
1 Elk Street
Albany, NY 12207    

Tel: (518) 463-3200   
Fax: (518) 487-5517
lrs@nysba.org

. . . . . . 

Again, I cannot stress the importance of you or your cousin
(personally) contacting these organizations and getting a
knowledgeable referral directly from these Bar Associations. There
will be questions asked that only you can answer and in order for you
to get the best representation possible it is paramount that you
participate directly in the referral process. Believe me, there is
substantially less likelihood in my opinion that you will be
disappointed if you participate in the referral personally than if you
pursued a referral in an online forum.

Be prepared to refer to, fax or mail medical diagnoses at the time of
your initial referral. The attorney may also require contact
information for your cousin?s employer, company headquarters (if
different), supervisor, insurance company (if any), occupational
license information (if any), physician and any pertinent information
regarding medication, official on-the-job injury or exposure reports,
etc. He may also need your cousin?s personal identifier information
(name, date of birth, social security numbers, driver license number,
next-of-kind information, etc) so you should also be prepared to
provide that as well. The initial consultation will likely be a
get-to-know-each-other type telephone meeting and a brief review of
the details concerning possible work related injury and subsequent
treatment. If you cannot provide the intricate technical details of
how or why your cousin might have sustained his injuries be prepared
to put your cousin on the phone so he can answer these technical
questions.
I think you will be pleased with the responses you get from the
attorney you are ultimately referred to. I wish the best for you and
your cousin in your tough road ahead.

I hope you find that my answer exceeds your expectations. If you have
any questions about my research please post a clarification request
prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher



INFORMATION SOURCES

Defined above


SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:

NORTH CAROLINA

NEW YORK

PERSONAL INJURY

ATTORNEY

BAR ASSOCIATION

REFERRAL

Call OSHA and the state.