Hidden Harm: Personal Injury And The Discovery Of Harm

Not all personal injuries occur suddenly; some take a while to become apparent. If you have recently discovered that you have suffered harm from another party, you have the right to seek monetary compensation. You might be eligible to receive payment for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering and more. To learn more about this special type of personal injury, read on.

The Statute of Limitations

Every state in the union has some form of rules about time limits to file suits. The time can vary from about a year to as high as 6 years, depending on exactly what state the personal injury occurred in. It's important to note that the venue, or the correct place for filing suit, is the location where the harm occurred, not the state of residence of the defendant (who you are suing) or the plaintiff (you).

In most cases, if you don't take action against the wrongdoer by the time the statute allows, you have no course of action. Any lawsuit filed will be dismissed for lack of venue. No matter how wonderful or valuable a case you may have, if you wait too long to take action your case will never even be heard by a judge. There is a powerful exception to the statute of limitations, however.

Discovery of Harm

This exception reasons that there is no way for to seek compensation if you did not know that you were being harmed. How could you not know? Often these cases involve some sort of toxic exposure where the effect has accumulated over a long period of time. Consider, for example, lead exposure from drinking water or exposure to other toxic substances. Casual and occasional exposure may not have caused any harm, but the continuous exposure to a toxic substance could cause harm, given enough time.

It might takes years to know that you have been harmed, which could mean that it would be too late to file a case against the company or other party that caused the exposure. For example, asbestos causes a particular type of lung cancer, but it may take years of exposure for the effects to become apparent. This type of exposure might happen in the workplace, at home or almost anywhere that holds the opportunity for you to be exposed for a long period of time. For example, what if you suffered from the effects of a pesticide sprayed on the grass at a golf course where you played every weekend for years and years? You may have a course action against that golf course and/or the manufacture of the chemical.

Time to Take Action

One of the worst mistakes a victim of this type of harm can make is to just assume that it's too late to file for compensation. You must take action as soon as you know that you have been harmed, however. The statute of limitations clock begins to tick the second you are informed by your doctor of the exposure and you must still take action as soon as possible.

If you think you have been harmed by long term exposure, speak to a personal injury attorney right away. Contact a firm, like The Law Offices of Andrew Farmer PLLC, for more help.

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