The Cochran Firm Legal Blog

Recently the Children’s National Medical Center and Virginia Tech together did a research study of the lead levels in D.C. tap water between 2001 and 2004. They concluded that many D.C. children could be at risk for:

• Developmental delays
• Behavioral problems
• Permanent intelligence loss
  

Now a single father, one John Parkhurst, has filed a lawsuit seeking class-action status for the children in D.C. It claims that the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) knew that lead levels were too high, that they withheld language that could have warned people about this problem in public education campaigns, and that they encouraged D.C. residents to drink tap water.

WASA officials have replied that to link lead in drinking water to developmental and behavioral problems would require “scientific and case-specific substantiation”, not just an assertion. They are in continuing communication with the scientific community and health experts on this matter.

Parkhurst’s Twin Boys

Parkhurst’s lawsuit claims that he prepared baby formula and food for his twin boys using tap water, starting when he adopted them from Vietnam at the age of eight months until they were two, in 2002. The boys are now eight years old. When they had an annual medical checkup in 2002, Pankhurst learned that they had dangerous blood lead levels. One child’s lead levels were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Physicians advised him to add more root vegetables to their diet.

By the time the boys were in school, Pankhurst reportedly noticed that one had high anxiety levels and both had severe attention problems. Medical evaluations identified behavioral and learning problems.

The Parkhurst suit wants WASA to pay for his medication and therapy costs for the twins, and for the costs of all other D.C. children who drank the high-lead water before the age of six. It is not yet a class-action suit, as a judge must certify to proceed in that way.

Lead Poisoning Symptoms

Lead ingested above a certain level can certainly be poisonous. It can damage the brain and nervous system, the kidneys and the heart. It can also cause very noticeable symptoms such as nausea, insomnia, chest pain, headaches and even seizures. There is no known use for it in human physiology. It forms deposits in the bones and is very slow to leave the body once it is there.

If you have a child who has sustained a brain injury because of another’s negligence, please call or email our personal injury attorneys today for a free case evaluation.