Edited repost of the Value of Testing (was Shoemakers Testimony to the NTP)

[Guest guest]

Hi Carl,

Excuse my long answer. We know each other but too many here aren't

aware of the major issues preventing us from progressing medically.

It has to do with the Office of Management and Budget in D.C. They

decided that human life was worth just so many dollars (BTW, seniors

over seventy are available at a discount of 37% of the value of

younger folk) and that worth must be weighed against the cost of

fixing whatever happens to be killing people. Of course, since the

mayhem is under-reported, that makes the fiscal analysis much easier

when it comes to putting off such things as taking arsenic out of

your drinking water.

What does this really mean? When doctors hear you are sick in one

locale but not in others, the reaction has to be " Oh, no. I have

to make statements here that will appear in court, the insurer won't

reimburse for the tests, I'll get sued by the insurer or the patient

for the costs. If this winds up in workers comp court, I am NOT

ALLOWED TO BILL ANYONE AT ALL for the next seven years until the WC

case gets thrown out of court after I have spent 1,000 man hours

testifying at no charge and have my practice audited if the patient

does win. " (a game called revenge of the insurers).

Its about liability issues. Health only matters insofar as it can be

paid for. Yes, patients only want to get better but all anyone else

can think about is blame and payment. They aren't right but neither

are they wrong since they don't have the tools to make these

determinations. Dr. Landrigan (Mt. Sinai, NYC) surveyed the

field and concluded that docs had only six hours of training in

toxicology throughout their entire educations! And since we know

that toxicology likely accounts for the vast majority of ailments

these days, directly or indirectly, our doctors aren't qualified any

longer to assess and treat. So everyone pretends. We scramble to

find out what to do and they figure out how to word it in their

notes and get it paid for it. Even the act of referring you to

other specialists often requires more data than they possess in HMOs.

I actually supervised the school program in which I was poisoned. I

had written and verbal agreements with all parties that NO

PESTICIDES were to be used without advance notice to me. My school

had an excellent IAQ policy. When the school's landlords decided

to satisfy their need for instant gratification and make the pest

control company happy (it is MUCH more profitable to spray than do

IPM - you can hit twice as many clients in a day) they ended our

agreement without notice to me. I was ill immediately. Within a

couple of months of their new policy, I was carrying oxygen to work

and completely puzzled as to why I could hardly walk anymore much

less recall my bosses names.

I met toxicologists that year (1999) since I was expected to testify

about malathion use in NYC during the WNV crisis at a congressional

hearing. One of them talked to me about my failing health and we

decided that my symptoms were likely those of pesticide poisoning.

We tested the school and found Demon and Demand (Cypermethrin and

Lamda-cyhalothrin with trimethylbenzene) where it had been claimed

that no such chemicals had been used.

With proof of neurotoxic exposures, my doctor agreed to refer me to

a neurologist for my memory and other neuro problems. An MRI showed

cortical atrophy and neuropsych testing with Ray Singer showed a 24

point loss in IQ. Now incompetent to run a school or be a clinician

(I was now a speech therapist with aphasia!), yet another exposure

(residential) in September of 2000 left me so weak that I couldn't

get out of bed. That one was also a 'secret'. My downstairs

neighbors had left with all their cats and new tenants used foggers

and went off to Europe while I got a trip to the ER. No clues other

than an odor and classic symptoms so I tested that location too. My

clothing and other fabric samples showed large amounts of

dichlorvos. The toxicologist told me I couldn't keep any of my

possessions due to the contamination and it was all discarded.

I have yet to find safe housing; My law suit against my workplace

where I was brain damaged is stalled and I have since lodged a bar

complaint against my lead attorney for complete of my case over the

past two years. I am awaiting news of our next steps by a recently

assigned attorney via the same firm. Even with extremely good

documentation of everything that happened, your case is only good if

your attorney actually conducts discovery, files motions to compel

etc. where needed. I now have cause to wonder if I will live to see

any justice at all.

All because I wanted advance notice of pesticide applications. I

hadn't even insisted it not be done - just required warning. I

would have left my job rather than be exposed in this manner.

Until exposures become simple and economical to assess, there will

be no honesty on the part of landlords and employers to safeguard

people's health. The issue is one of " I didn't do anything and you

can't prove it anyway. " Accountability is all that matters in this

world and we lack the tools to require it.

We must have full disclosure on product labels so consumers can

realize that popcorn making them wheeze has diacetyl in it. We must

have landlords and employers keeping records of what is done on

premises and offering advance notice of all chemical applications,

complete with MSDS sheets. We need inspections by trained personnel

in each company and residential property to go over buildings

regularly to ensure minimum maintanence standards are met. As head

of a special education daycare in NYC, I was required to get

certified by the fire department to run fire, attend

classes/memorize regs by the Bureau of Day Care, State Ed department

and Department of Health, obtain licensure in my own field, maintain

it with continuing education - I had a huge number of

responsibilities and met each one. But no one had to answer one

single question of mine honestly - are you/did you spray any

pesticides here?

" No, and you can't prove we did. "

Except I did although I was told by the EPA that they were unable to

involve themselves in the injury of people by registered pesticides

if applied by a licensed applicator. It may not matter in the end

for me. However, we have to make environmental testing routine so

the next group of young people at the peak of their careers and

lives aren't lost for lack of information that the law says no one

needs to acquire. It is about toxicology now, so doctors

(especially pediatricians), are armed with the knowledge that they

need to learn this information, have legal rights/obligations to

assess patients for harm and attribute cause-effect relationships

with provided data.

More importantly, it can save your life. I have used such testing

data to leave places with harmful levels of contamination from

several pesticides, petroleum hydrocarbons from faulty heating

equipment and methylene chloride from stored chemicals in the lower

floor of an apartment house, While renters don't get the opportunity

to test before renting, buyers should certainly assess homes before

making that huge investment. Toxicology is also a pro-active

science. Currently, many leases contain clauses that the owner has

no knowledge of asbestos or chlordane being present in the

premises. Why not?

Barb Rubin