Legal Memorandum: Verdicts and Settlements for Chemical Inhalation Injuries

Issue: What are recent jury verdicts and settlements involving chemical inhalation injuries resulting in liver and/or lung damage, in Bronx, New York?

An online search through jury verdicts and settlements in an on-line database and a traditional search of published materials for cases involving similar injuries for similar plaintiffs yielded five verdicts and settlements reports, only one of which was venued in New York.  Of the five reports, there was one report of a defense verdict, and the settlements and plaintiffs’ verdicts ranged from $51,800 to $1,227,500, with an average of $473,325.  These cases are discussed below.

Information in the Personal Injury Valuation Handbooks generally supports those results.  The Handbooks indicate that the median verdict for 1999 in cases involving adult males who suffered inhalation-induced lung injuries was $55,800, with a range of verdicts from $1 to $4,398,000, and an average of $372,244.  Twenty-one percent of the inhalation-induced lung injuries verdicts were in premises liability cases.  In 1999 the median verdict in cases involving liver damage to an adult male was $69,665, with a range from $3690 to $7,855,000 and an average of $474,117.

The basic injury value for inhalation-induced lung damage to an adult male is $210,875 and the basic injury value for liver damage is $123,125.  Together, the basic injury value is $334,000.  This figure should be adjusted by various factors, including +2% for a venue in Bronx, New York.

Awards and Settlements

A male employee of an insulation and asbestos removal company suffered choking, tearing, shortness of breath, and lung damage, after allegedly inhaling sulfuric acid fumes at the defendant utility company building.  […]