Ten days prior to being taken to the hospital on 2/11 from my job, I was experiencing eye irritation and dizziness that increased as my exposure continued and increased in intensity. I sent a number of documented emails to my boss requesting, an air filter, an ion generator, a humidifier, face mask and goggles, to move to another desk or be allowed to work in the storage warehouse in NJ while the work was going on, to no avail, I was denied on every turn. Numerous other fellow employees made comments and complaints about the dust and the smell from the construction during the 10 days period before my reaction.
I also saw the workers who were doing the sanding coming up from the Basement, 1st and 2nd Floors. They were covered in a white powder and they had the breathing masks still either on their head or around their neck, as they would ask to use our microwave to heat their lunches. I was the one at the front desk in front of three elevator doors and one stairwell. I took pictures of the areas where the work was being done, and the windows were open on that floor. It was obvious what had happened. The wind came in the windows on the lower floors and took the dust up to the 4th floor where the elevator doors opened and closed endlessly during the day, blowing the dust right in my face. This is why I got the worst exposure. When I initially got up and went outside, the first reactions subsided. Going home every night, I have watery eyes, and dizziness that I conveyed to my husband. The other workers, who were in more secluded parts of the building, only noticed a minor reaction to the dust plus they were all petrified of losing their jobs by telling the truth in this horrible economy we find our country.
My boss initially refused to put in a Workers Comp claim because she stated in a documented return email, that I will need evidence before we submit a claim. So I ended up submitting a WC Claim myself after the symptoms were returning and the work continued downstairs.
To test myself for the toxins I was exposed to, it would have cost me at least $10,000 in toxicity tests in my body and environment to prove that I was hit by this construction dust/toxic substance.
The WC doctors that were recommended by the WC office, were unwilling to take me as a patient (Dr. Schacter, MSMC and Dr. Pactman, Beth Isreal) once they found out it was a WC case dealing with toxic dust exposure. A Rep from The Hartford Insurance Co. Told me that the reason these doctors dont take these cases is because The Hartford prides itself in not paying most WC cases. I found this quite disturbing. She suggested that I do not have any testing done unless Im ready to pay for it myself because she didnt expect this to be a WC case.
My family doctor stated that it most likely was an exposure to environmental toxins and that he could do Chelation treatments to draw the substance out of my body and then identify the toxins. These are very expensive and my insurance company would not pay for these tests because they stated it was a job related injury. I was told by other medical practitioners that I would need expensive pulmonary and lung tests, as well as liver tests. Hartford told me that they would send in a team to test the walls, floors, and environment to see if there were in fact these toxins. They never did. OSHA did the same. OSHA just sent a letter to the employer to ask them if it exists, and employer says no it doesnt. So, now it is left up to me to get tests in the thousands of dollars on my own. Why do I feel like the dummy in the middle?
I get exposed and everyone else decides that it either didnt happen, I made it up or that I had some pre existing condition. I can tell you I never experience anything that terrible before or since, during the time I was having the reaction, I thought my eyes flipping back and forth would never stop and that I might be dying. This was no pre-existing condition, as I stated never before and never since have I had something this severe happen. The hospital diagnosed it as Peripheral Vertigo. This could mean toxic exposure, as indicated on CDC, NIOSH, and OSHA official documents.
My husband spoke to the Head of Safety where he is employed at a well known construction company in NJ and the director immediately said Polymers, Gypsum, and dry wall dust can cause this reaction and it can be fatal when the exposure goes on for too long. Both of these substances come from caulking compound, and dry wall sanding. I was unable to get the name of the products that they were using. I was blocked by Newmark and their Sub-Contractors from finding out this information.
My husband was treated like an outsider when he called to speak with me on 2/11 at 1:00 PM. I was unable to speak over the phone because of the reaction I was going through. He was told that something was happening and I was being treated by the EMT NYPD crew. My husband wanted to tell them about the exposure but my supervisor did not allow him, so the EMT had to make a determination of what was happening to me without this vital information, which could be life saving. As the time past after the event the employees who were there, several employees changed the story and said that they offered the phone to my husband, but he refused.
Then came all of the speculations to the causes of my reaction to toxic dust: Coffee, indigestion, pre-existing condition, prior exposure to toxins, asthma, and me making it up. Some people were even denying any work was going on. I have not been able trust most of the people who has been involved in this case, from the Workers Comp Doctors, Insurance Companies, my boss and some WASA employees, the building owner Newmark, the Sub Contractors, and all the lawyers except Michael Newman. We The People created Workers Comp, the Medical system, Human Resource Departments and the courts to help the average person so that they are not taken advantage of. We, the average person pay a large part of all the salaries and yet the amount of smoke and mirrors and working the loop holes of the system by the players who are only there to make money just proves to me that this system is geared toward insurance companies and there is very little justice.
I went to the court and faced 4 mumbling Hartford/Twin City Insurance lawyers. I had to claim No PFM Prima Facie Medical, since without testing, it is difficult to prove without hard expensive evidence and going against a slew of guesses, fabrications, and outright lies. I have made this statement about what happened on 2/11 and during the 10 days leading up to it because it has allowed me to peer into the lives of the people who have been severely disabled by their experiences, now can no longer support themselves and yet are told it was a pre-existing condition or that there is not enough proof. This was clearly a set of conspiracies and lies to prevent me from filing a major lawsuit against them. If the boss allowed me to wear protection or change desks, then in their minds that is an admission of guilt.
I now know how the 9-11 First Responders felt when they were denied benefits because Workers Comp and insurance companies told them there was Non-Conclusive Evidence to prove that the side effects that they were and are having were not caused by the dust and toxins from the buildings falling.in the waiting room at the Workers Comp hearing, person after person was denied benefits, many old and crippled. Workers Comp telling people that cant walk they can work from home on computers. I see Hartford, insurance companies, and the Workers Comp System in New York as one of the most corrupt in the nation. The only good that came out of this was I got a job in New Jersey almost immediately, and I did a very intensive Glutathione-based detoxification for 3 months, which removed all toxins from the body, at my cost. Being a Vegetarian and health adapt for 40 years, and in good physical shape for 57 years, I was able to bounce back.
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