A new class action lawsuit investigation is looking into a possible link between railroad work and bladder cancer.

Linking Railroad Work and Bladder Cancer

Bladder cancer is a potential occupational illness for railroad workers due to the types of materials involved in that line of work.

Some of the materials used in railroad work can put workers at a heightened risk for bladder cancer. Railroaders are often brought into contact with welding fumes, chemical solvents like creosote, and other sources of carcinogens.

Benzene, a carcinogen that has been banned as an ingredient in products made for home use, is still present in many materials used in railroad work.

Some of the more dangerous forms of benzene can be present in the exhaust of locomotive diesel engines.

Benzene was linked to lung cancer years ago. More recently, it’s been implicated in many more kinds of cancer.

Research now suggests that benzene exposure could be the cause of a link between railroad work and bladder cancer.

Bladder cancer may evade diagnosis until after it has had a chance to advance. If not caught and treated early, it can spread to the rest of the body.

As with other cancers, chemotherapy and radiation therapy may be useful treatments for bladder cancer. But if those treatments fail, it may be necessary to surgically remove the bladder and some of the surrounding tissue as well.

Getting Compensated Through a FELA Lawsuit

Fortunately, the law provides a special way that railroad workers can get compensated for diseases and injuries incurred on the job – even diseases like bladder cancer.

The Federal Employers’ Liability Act is a law passed over a hundred years ago so that railroad workers can get compensated for injuries sustained on the job. FELA makes the railroad itself for creating a safe work environment for its workers.

FELA does for railroaders what state workers’ compensation laws do for workers in most other industries. Workers eligible for FELA compensation can get covered for lost wages, lost future wages, medical expenses.

They can also get partial or permanent disability compensation. In case of work-related death, survivors can bring a FELA wrongful death claim.

FELA also offers at least one advantage over workers’ comp in that it allows claimants to also collect compensation for pain and suffering.

While FELA liability typically extends to injuries, it can also cover illnesses that are related to railroad work. It also sets a worker-friendly standard of liability: if a worker’s injury is attributable to negligence or carelessness of any officer, even if just in part, the worker can still get compensation.

The flip side is that a worker must prove the railroad was negligent, at least in part. That’s different from most workers’ compensation schemes, which provide for compensation automatically, without regard to fault on the employer’s part.

That’s where having the help of a knowledgeable railroad attorney can be invaluable. In addition to the legal complexity, linking railroad work and bladder cancer can involve complicated medical technicalities like family history or exposure to carcinogens outside the job.