Your Lawyers in Occupational Illness

The Illinois Occupational Disease Act was created by statute in order to provide a remedy to workers who suffer a disease or death as a result of occupational exposures.   The Illinois best occupational disease lawyers are those who regularly handle disease claims pursuant to Illinois disease laws.  The elements of a cause of action - a claim or case — under the Illinois Occupational Disease Act requires the Illinois disease attorney to prove the disease arose out of and in the course of employment, or a disease was aggravated and rendered disabling as a result of workplace exposures.   The best Illinois occupational disease attorneys must be able to prove there is a causal relationship between the disease and the working conditions.   

Illinois disease law, as embodied in cases or claims pursuant to the Illinois Occupational Disease Statute, makes it clear that causation is not a difficult burden to prove.  Under the  Illinois Occupational Disease Act, causation described by one Illinois  Occupational Disease Court said “causation must be reasonably apparent to a rational mind upon consideration of all of the circumstances.” Illinois occupational disease attorneys should be able to assist you in getting a causation opinion from your medical expert that satisfies the Illinois Occupational Disease Statute.   The standard does not require direct absolute proof — a medical statement from your doctor that states the condition might have of could have been caused by the disease is sufficient under occupational disease laws of Illinois.   The standard does not require that the disease condition be the sole cause, or majority cause, or the principal cause — if the occupational activity was a contributing cause, it is sufficient even if other causes may have also contributed.

 The main point to recognize under the Illinois Occupational Disease Act is there must be a connection between the condition or it’s origin to work which connects it to occupational activity as a risk arising out of, or increased by, or peculiar to occupational activity.  Implicit in the Illinois disease analysis is the confusion about causation that the Illinois Occupational Disease condition not be an ordinary disease of life which the general public exposed to outside the course of employment.   If the disease follows an incident of occupational activity or exposure event during the course of employment, that may be sufficient.   Plus, Illinois Occupational Disease laws allow recovery for an aggravation of a condition.   You should consult an Illinois Occupational Disease attorney about more specific requirements of causation of the Illinois Occupational Disease statute.

The Illinois occupational disease claim attorneys must prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, basic elements of Illinois disease law, in order to meet the requirements of the Illinois Occupational Disease Act.   The Illinois Occupational Disease Statute requires the claim arise out of employment; arise in the course of employment; and, the claim must not be an ordinary disease of life the general public is exposed to, unless it follows an incident or aggravation of an occupational disease.

The best Illinois occupational disease lawyers understand the exposure requirement to the occupational disease occupational activity at work.   It is important for the Illinois occupational disease claimant to document the condition of exposure and the duration of exposure.   These facts should be provided to your medical expert.  If you have a condition of asthma, but you were exposed to a chemical at work that could be an aggravation.  You should secure a label or take a picture of a can or container which indicates the chemical compounds of your exposure. A material data service sheet may be available on the subject exposure.  If you were exposed to dusty conditions at work, you should obtain your job classification history which shows you worked in the vicinity of dust conditions.

Know your Illinois occupational disease law.  Ron D. Coffel is an Illinois occupational disease lawyer with nearly 35 years of experience in handling occupational disease claims under the Illinois occupational disease act.