New York City’s failure to comply with federal regulations on lead paint standards, which has plunged the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) into scandal, has now placed the city’s Health Department under scrutiny as well. According to a report in The New York Times, the Department of Investigation is pursuing an inquiry into how information about blood lead levels in children gathered by the Health Department from citywide tests was or wasn’t communicated to NYCHA.
The inquiry has already yielded a settlement with federal prosecutors over lead poisoning issues in the Projects. The agency has promised to spend at least $1 billion to improve conditions, which officials say, have left more than 800 children living in the Projects with unacceptable blood lead levels. Unlike NYCHA, which has been plagued by mismanagement, the city’s Health Department has enjoyed a solid reputation, which has been further bolstered by the manner in which it handled various public health crises from Ebola to Legionnaires’ Disease.
Lack of Compliance
In January 2017, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced new regulations for public housing and required inspections based on the recently lowered threshold of lead levels in children’s blood. This change reduced the acceptable blood lead levels from 10 micrograms per deciliter of blood to 5 micrograms. All housing authorities had been given until July 2017 to comply. However, for the second half of 2017, NYCHA failed to comply with the new federal rule and that is because the Health Department did not tell NYCHA when children in public housing had tested positive for lead under the new rules.
NYCHA had no way of independently knowing that information, according to those familiar with the inquiry. Officials from NYCHA and the Health Department admitted that they did not begin complying until January 2018. At that time health officials started to test the public housing apartments for lead and identify the hazards. About 40,000 people live in public housing in New York City, also known as “the Projects.” Between 2012, and 2016, about 800 children under 6 were found to have tested positive for lead. What’s worse, an investigation found that NYCHA had falsified paperwork regarding completing lead inspections in units that had not been inspected.
Children Seriously Affected
The Root reports that minorities, particularly Latinos and African Americans, who comprise a majority of the residents in the Projects have been the worst affected by the lead poisoning scandal. One mother tells The Root that her daughter who is in elementary school forgot how to write her letters and even struggled to tie her shoes after suffering from lead poisoning.
Children under the age of 6 are believed to be the most vulnerable to lead poisoning. Lead exposure has the potential to severely stunt a child’s physical and intellectual development. Higher than normal lead levels can also cause other health issues such as nerve damage, muscle and joint pain and hormone and immune system issues. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than half a million children in the United States are believed to have lead poisoning.
If your child has lead poisoning because your landlord was in violation of lead paint standards or because your building was poorly maintained etc., you may be able to recover compensation on behalf of your child. You may be able to seek compensation for damages including medical expenses, cost of diagnostic tests, permanent injuries, disabilities, past and future pain and suffering, etc. An experienced New York City lead poisoning lawyer will be able to help you file the lawsuit and compile evidence that is required to hold the agency accountable for its negligence.
Filing a Lead Poisoning Lawsuit
If your child has been affected by lead poisoning, the experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you. Our firm recovered $1,162,500 for a child who suffered lead poisoning from paint in her apartment. The child’s injuries were subtle and difficult to recognize. We recovered $162,500 above the $1 million dollar total insurance policy in this case. Despite the judge’s efforts to settle the case for $950,000, we fought hard and recovered $162,500 more than the insurance full policy of one million dollars.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury and medical malpractice cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
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Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/27/nyregion/inquiry-on-public-housing-lead-failures-extends-to-health-department.html