Concerning the woman whose medical records contain the following
findings, would the reasonably minded person conclude that she has
a psychosomatic illness or a physical one?
2 - Tachycardia.
3 - Hypopotassemia.
4 - Rales and crackles.
5 - Gruntled breathing.
6 - Erythematous uvula.
7 - Grossly enlarged turbinates.
8 - Erythema of the oropharynx.
9 - Edema of the true vocal cords.
10 - Adenopathy in the left postauricular region.
11 - Productive response in Spiriva challenge testing.
12 - A circumscribed nodule in the left occipital region.
13 - Thickened coating over the dorsum of the tongue.
14 - A firm 1x1 cm nodule in the right postauricular region.
15+ A couple additional findings consistent with Rhinitis.
Unless you are an avowed liar, the answer to that question is beyond
obvious. Therefore, what right do corporate-funded attorneys and an
independent medical examiner have in asserting that the woman found
to have these objectively observed ills is mentally ill? What gives them
the right to claim that she has no objective medical findings that would
validate her symptoms? Her symptoms have included:
[2] shortness of breath.
[3] burning nasal passages.
[4] a metallic taste in the mouth.
[5] an adrenal-like stream throughout her solar plexus.
[6] headaches accompanied by the bruised feeling at the
cheekbones and temples.
[7] ice-like numbness pervading her upper-respiratory
tract (on specific occasion.)
Moreover, diagnoses given to her have included:
(1) Allergic and Irritant Asthma (Reactive Airways).
(2) Glossitis (inflammation of the tongue).
(3) Rhinitis and Turbinate Hypertrophy.
(4) Chemical and Irritant Sensitivities.
(5) Reactive Hyperplasia.
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Introduction
The corporation involved in the following account is one whose 2005
financial report marked its stockholder equity value at $11.2 billion.
Net tangible assets were marked at $4.2 billion.
December 2006 one-line addition/update:
Until mid-2006, the corporation involved was legally known as the
Cendant Corporation, of Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ. In addition,
the geographic region involved in the following account is Elizabeth-
ton, Tennessee. Cendant Corporation once operated business there.
The apex of the following account concerns a year when the corpora-
tion's CEO received $17 million in salary and bonus income. During
that same year, $1.02 million was placed into the CEO's pension fund.
An additional $4.54 million of stockholder money was used to pay
the premiums on his $100 million life insurance policy.
The place of work involved in the following account is a former coal tar
pitch research center. The corporation no longer uses it. It was found
to have minute sized monfilament fibers pervading the employees' work
areas. And needless to say, the smaller the molecular agent, the greater
is its potential to infiltrate and afflict the complex human anatomy. After
all, this was the case with a number of WTC cleanup crew members
exposed to the Manhattan site's pulverized concrete dust. It resulted in
Small Airways Disease.
This account highlights a former employee of that corporation. She
was in the process of loosing the sum total of everything during the
same year when the corporation's CEO was amassing a multimillion
dollar income. Throughout the account, she is simply referred to as
"the woman." That is to say, her name will not be used. In addition,
other persons who worked in the former research center reported
symptoms similar to hers.
The corporation was advertised as the world's largest real estate brok-
erage franchiser, the world's largest vacation ownership organization,
and the world's largest "provider of outsourced corporate employee
relocation services," as well as one of the largest hotel franchisers in
the world and one of the world's largest car rental operators. Opera-
tions included the telemarketing of its services.
Not Even a Get Well Card
During her six months with the corporation, the woman highlighted in
this account generated approximately $500,000 in sales revenue. In
fact, her sales of hotel room reservations averaged $2,777 per four
hour shift. In return for her services, she was rewarded with a chron-
ic disability. To this day, the corporation has offered her no apology,
while thecorporation's insurer has offered her no compensation. She
was not even sent a Get Well card. Instead, the defense attorneys and
independent medical examiner involved in her workman's comp case
sought to have her tagged with a psychiatric label which can conveni-
ently serve as an excuse for the severe illness which developed during
her time of work at the former coal tar pitch research center.
That is to say, she had to file a voluntary dismissal
The woman won her Social Security disability case a year ago. But, in
December 2005, she had to fire the legal counsel involved in her work-
man's comp case. Technically speaking, she filed a voluntary dismissal.
Her attorneys refused to enter into evidence recent medical findings that
resulted from an October rhinolaryngoscopy. And in the refusing there-
of was mention of the cost of entering the new evidence.
The attorneys furthermore refrained from emphasizing the woman's pri-
or medical findings. In fact, they accepted as uncontroverted truth the
averments (assertions/allegations) of the defense counsel. Such aver-
ments would have resulted in the woman loosing her case, and those
averments contradict her medical records. Therefore, the woman had
to dismiss her attorneys and start anew.
HER OBJECTIVE MEDICAL FINDINGS
The defense counsel in her workman's compensation case asserted that
she had no objective medical findings to support her symptoms. In fact,
a mental health person diagnosed her as having agoraphobia, along with
panic anxiety. Yet, she has over a dozen objective medical findings at-
tached to her medical records. Such findings indicate the presence of a
physical illness, and not a psychiatric one.
Furthermore, three board certified physicians diagnosed her outside of
emergency room settings. And those diagnoses are much different than
the one given by the "mental health person."
One of the diagnosing physicians is an allergist & immunologist, while
another one is a cytopathologist (a cytopathologist diagnoses illness at
the cellular level.) And the third diagnosing physician is an Ear, Nose,
& Throat specialist who is also a fellow of the American College of
Surgeons. The diagnoses given to the woman came predominately
from the fine-needle biopsy, the fiberoptic rhinolaryngoscopy, and
ER room records. In examinations and testing performed outside of
emergency room settings, the woman was found to have:
(1) Grossly enlarged turbinates
(2) Erythematous uvula.
(3) Edema of the true vocal cords.
(4) Adenopathy in the left postauricular region.
(5) Thickened coating over the dorsum of the tongue.
(6) A firm 1x1 cm nodule in the right postauricular region.
(7) A circumscribed nodule in the left occipital region.
Plus, attending ER physicians recorded the following findings:
(1) Wheezing.
(2) Tachycardia.
(3) Hypopotassemia.
(4) Gruntled breathing.
(5) Rales and crackles.
(6) Erythema of the oropharynx.
(7+) A couple additional findings consistent with Rhinitis.
Her diagnoses were:
(1) Allergic and Irritant Asthma (Reactive Airways).
(2) Glossitis (inflammation of the tongue).
(3) Rhinitis and Turbinate Hypertrophy.
(4) Chemical and Irritant Sensitivities.
(5) Reactive Hyperplasia.
Upon certain environmental exposures, her symptoms reproduce them-
selves in a predictably reoccurring pattern. Nothing about her symp-
toms is random. In fact, due to the predictability of her condition, she
quit keeping a diary of her ills as far back as June 2003. Furthermore,
she has been in need of filtered masks and air cleaners, as well as ready
access to oxygen. In addition, prescription medications posted in her
medical records are consistent with one who has severe asthma. Her
medications have included Albuterol, Ipratropium Bromide, Xopenex,
Levalbuterol Hydrochloride, and Salmeterol, as well as intravenous
steroids.
Keep in mind that she was exposed to obscenely inordinate amounts
of dust at her place of work (as is described in her exposure history
account.) Well, she tested severely positive for dust mites (in RAST
testing, I believe), while having tested negative for every other type of
high weight molecular agent (such as ragweed.) In as much, a person
can become sensitized to dust mite proteins as much as he/she can be-
come sensitized to formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, phthalic anhydride,
etc. In fact, barn workers have been documented as having become
sensitized to storage mites.
HER EXPOSURE HISTORY
(transposed from her diary)
April 10th 2002 Health: Perfect
Mental Health: "Optimistic, inspired, forward looking".
She moved from Tuscaloosa, AL to Johnson City, TN. Jogged and
walked everyday. Could go up and down the entire complex; a span
of about four miles. Went to the library, to Bristol Stores and malls.
Explored the local university and the book stores. She generally did
what one does when one moves to a new city.
May 2002 Health: Perfect
She was hired by the previously mentioned corporation, and put into
a two week training program. Near the end of the two weeks, she de-
veloped what appeared to be the flu. This included a sore throat and
fever, along with body aches and headaches. She did not complete
the training at that time.
After her health improved, her training restarted. Shortly afterward,
she was hired as a temporary and part time employee. During the
last few days of training, one of her fellow trainees had an asthma
attack. She noticed some stuffiness in the corridors, along with a
strange chemical odor. But, she did not pay attention to this at the
time.
Late June/July 2002 Health: Perfect (for the final time)
Her group was assigned to work downstairs, at the main call center.
During her first day there, she noticed a stuffy stale smell. The chemi-
cal odor downstairs was more far intense than the smell on the floor
where she was trained. She also noticed an inordinate amount of dust
everywhere. Plus, on the cubicle walls were tiny and transparent fibers
the width of a human hair. They were embedded into the cubicle walls'
fabric. In fact, the cubicle partitions had a visible layer of brown dust
on them. Upon a slight tap, a cubicle wall would spew out dust.
The agent resource books were laden with dust, also. Picking one of
them up would result in dust spewing out from the pages. The carpet-
ing was dirty, also. Pesticides were sprayed indoors, even with call
center employees on duty. Some of the ceiling titles had the marks of
water damage attached to them, and within time, her fellow employees
would point out blackened mold to the woman.
July/August 2002
Health: Alternating between well and ill
She began to get a dry cough. Things then worsened, and it became
very difficult for her to talk on the phone. Yet, she was expected to
take a new phone call every three minutes. She soon felt a degree of
tension in her lungs and bronchi, due to the dust and the continual talk-
ing. She resorted to throat lozenges, Tylenol, and Robutussin.
While the HVAC system was being fixed, her crew was often told to
sit upstairs. The chemical odor was still present upstairs, and in addi-
tion to that, free-standing fans were run at the far end of the call cen-
ter. She preferred to sit at that end, being that the other end was an
entranceway crowded with smokers and cigarette butts. Every time
the door opened, smoke would waft into the room.
During the hot summer months, whenever the air conditioning was not
functional, this same door would be left open. Because of the obvious
air quality issues there, she requested to sit upstairs. Her supervisor
agreed. However, another supervisor spoke of having almost passed
out when training new employees upstairs.
While working downstairs, the former employee had trouble breath-
ing. It initially started off as a “choking” episode each time the free
standing fans were turned on. The fans were laden with dust, and
they were turned on frequently. The blowing air would agitate the
dust in the room and propel it directly into the employees' breathing
space. Many fellow employees began to complain about choking.
August 2002 Health: Quite Ill
When upstairs, the sensation of burning eyes was very much prevalent,
as was the dry cough and the choking. Dust was on the cubicle walls
upstairs, also. The woman developed sinus congestion, a runny nose,
headaches, and a continual low grade fever. She would arrive home
from work exceptionally fatigued. Many of her fellow employees who
were stationed upstairs had the same symptoms.
On one occasion, as she was going upstairs to clock in, her heart be-
gan to palpitate furiously. The staircase had not been cleaned, or if it
had been, the cleanliness had not lasted long. Furthermore, the heavy
chemical odor was present. In addition, there was a strong musty and
greasy smell.
Her hands began to sweat, her knees started to shake, and a tightness
in her chest was making it hard for her to take in a breath. She was al-
so dizzy. She went to her work area and clocked in. She then realized
that if she didn't get fresh air soon, she would pass out. She went out-
side and then walked to a nearby gas station, getting a package of Ben-
adryl and something to drink.
September 4th, 2002. First ER Visit.
Health: Declining
She was now starting to feel fairly bad on an everyday basis. She no-
ticed that she felt better at home. It was only when she was at work
when her symptoms were induced. This included the dry cough, the
burning eyes, the choking, and the palpitations that would begin soon
into the shift. In addition, her nasal passages, throat, and lungs felt as
if they were filled with grittiness.
This was the time when she first went to an ER. She was prescribed
Claritin and Biaxin, having been diagnosed as having Allergic Rhinitis.
The doctor noted on her records that she had a fever, rhinorrehea, and
erythema of the oropharynx, along with post nasal drip. He also noted
abnormal constitutional signs.
She continued to treat herself with Benadryl, as it was getting progress-
ively difficult for her to work. After twenty minutes into a work shift,
she would start coughing. She could now hardly speak on the phone
and the Benadryl made her sleepy. Her throat hurt and her voice now
squeaked, breaking-up frequently. The heart palpitations continued.
A co-worker told her that he had begun to have these same types of
symptoms soon after he had started working there. He also said that
it seemed to be getting worse for him in 2002. Another employee told
her that he had frequent heart palpitations when at work, in addition to
the dry cough.
September 8th 2002 Second ER Visit
She began work at 8 p.m and worked until 2 am. Throughout this time
she felt a tightness forming in her chest area. She was taking Children's
Benadryl and thought that this anti-histamine would be sufficient. Due
to these exposures, she had a lot of congestion, along with dry cough-
ing. She completed the shift with much difficulty.
After work, as she was driving out of the parking lot when she began to
choke. She tried to cough but no phlegm emerged. She pulled over at
a gas station and called Emergency Medical Services. The EMS crew
gave her an albuterol breathing treatment in the vehicle. She was then
taken to a hospital. The treating physician prescribed Volmax and an
inhaler. In fact, he stated in her medical records that she was allergic to
the work environment. He noted the following: "Constitutional signs:
abnormal; Tachycardia."
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