Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) are blood diseases and bone marrow abnormalities in which up to 35 percent of cases develop into Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) after diagnosis. MDS is sometimes called a preleukemic condition or “preleukemia.”
Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) can be carried genetically, and added risk factors for MDS include Workplace Benzene exposure. Chemicals and toxins linked to myelodysplastic syndromes include tobacco smoke, heavy metals like lead and mercury, organic solvents, hydrocarbons, welding fumes, diesel exhaust fumes, and pesticides and industrial chemicals, such as benzene.
Around 10,000 to 20,000 new MDS diagnoses occur each year in the United States. Exposure for workers was common in the 1960s and 1970s and later for the following positions and industries:
Joe Lyon is a highly-rated Toxic Tort Attorney and Myelodysplastic Syndromes Lawyer reviewing benzene exposure for plaintiffs nationwide.
The Lyon Firm works with Workplace Ventilation Risks and medical experts to determine the cause of a worker’s disease or cancer.
Occupational Hazards & Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS)
Benzene can be absorbed through the skin or inhalation. Most industrial workers are likely to develop MDS or AML by breathing in benzene diesel exhaust fumes. Anyone working in an area where Benzene is being used is at risk of inhaling disease-causing vapors.
Any worker who has developed a benzene related illness at the workplace can contact a myelodysplastic syndromes lawyer to consider the legal options. The World Health Organization (WHO) divides myelodysplastic syndromes into the following subtypes based on the type of blood cells involved:
- Myelodysplastic syndrome with unilineage dysplasia
- Myelodysplastic syndrome with multilineage dysplasia—two or three blood cell types are abnormal
- Myelodysplastic syndrome with ring sideroblasts—Involves a low number of one or more blood cell types, and the red blood cells in the bone marrow contain a ring of excess iron
- Myelodysplastic syndrome associated with isolated chromosome abnormality—the blood cells have a specific mutation in their DNA.
- Myelodysplastic syndrome with excess blasts—Very immature blood cells (blasts) are found in the blood and bone marrow.
Complications of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) include:
- Aplastic Anemia
- Recurrent infections
- Excessive Bleeding
- Increased risk of cancer—many myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) patients will eventually develop a cancer of the blood cells (AML leukemia) or lymphomas/Hodgkin’s disease.
Myelodysplastic Syndromes Lawyer
For workers at risk of workplace Benzene exposure, like printers, gasoline truck drivers and auto mechanics, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urges workers to protect themselves with personal safety gear, and urges employers and managers to properly protect their employees from toxins.
Should a company fail to warn or protect workers and fail to provide a safe work environment, they may be held liable for severe illnesses and deaths. The Lyon Firm works hard to recover as much compensation as possible in toxic exposure cases to improve a plaintiffs’ quality of life and to assist in paying for medical costs now and in the future.
