Bug Spray Left Woman With Health Problems, Suit Says Exterminator Made Her ‘A Prisoner In My Own Home’

Susan Wall says medical problems that left her “a prisoner in my own home” started the day she spotted a single bug in her kitchen three years ago.

Wall, a 40-year-old North Spokane resident, hired an exterminator to get rid of a carpet beetle and any more bugs hiding in her walls.

Because of the company’s actions, Wall said she’s a victim of pesticide poisoning. Sprague Pest Control killed the beetle but left her with massive health problems and turned her life into an allergic reaction minefield, Wall contends in civil lawsuit filed recently.

She claims the company failed to consider the toxic effects of chemicals it sprayed.

“I seldom go outside, and when I do, I have to wear a face mask,” Wall said, discussing her health problems in an interview after the lawsuit was filed.

“I can’t be around perfume or smoke; I don’t even use toothpaste.”

Tim Higgins, a Spokane attorney representing Sprague Pest Control, declined to comment.

“I have no knowledge of the circumstances other than what’s stated in the complaint. For now, it’s nothing but bold allegations,” Higgins said.

Wall said the company either sprayed too much pesticide or mixed the chemicals improperly when it sprayed her kitchen.

Her subsequent health problems include a weakened liver, blood abnormalities, a compromised immune system and extreme allergic reaction to nearly any petroleum-based product, said her attorney, Marcie Meade.

Wall also had to remove a gas-heat system from her home because of the spraying, she said, because it started to worsen her nausea, headaches and discomfort.

Such sensitivity to a wide range of products has been studied intensely in recent years by medical researchers. The most common label is “multiple chemical sensitivity.” Others have called it “total allergy sensitivity.”

Dr. Gordon Baker, a Seattle allergist who has treated Wall, said pesticides are “among the most serious” causes for such reactions in humans.

Baker noted that Wall suffered a severe brain injury more than 10 years ago in a car wreck.

“I have seen her since (the sprayings) and I can say she definitely has changed for the worse after coming into contact with the pesticides,” Baker said.

Wall said she feels trapped in her home, because moving to another house would leave her vulnerable to a whole new set of contaminants.

She said she’s already spent thousands on her home, removing all rugs and carpets, plus sanding down all wooden floors and replacing the walls where the chemicals were sprayed.

Meade, her attorney, has become a specialist in cases involving industrial toxins and their effect on humans.

She represented one of several Kaiser Aluminum workers who originally won a $14 million settlement from the company in 1994 after a jury decided they had been exposed to highly toxic solvents on the job.

Meade’s client, Merlan Carlson, received the highest award from that suit, $2.7 million. A federal court later reduced the awards, and appeals of that ruling will last several more years.

“These industrial toxin cases are knock-down, drawn-out affairs. You have to work really hard just to get them to a jury,” Meade said.

Meade said Sprague Pest Control’s negligence was failing to look at non-chemical responses to the bug problem when it was first contacted by Wall.

“Here was a woman who was obviously neurologically impaired. They could have taken any number of other steps - like sealing wall cracks - rather than spraying,” Meade said.

Wall said Sprague Pest Control sent a representative to her home and decided to use a product called Dursban. Dursban is an insecticide that attacks bugs’ nervous and respiratory systems.

Wall received no warning that the chemical posed any threat to her or the cat she owned, she said.

Two weeks after the first spraying, Wall’s cat showed signs of inactivity and lack of appetite. Wall herself felt immediate signs of nausea and tiredness “a minute after I walked into the kitchen,” she said.

She called the firm and expressed concern, asking the company to send her a safety data sheet on Dursban. They did not, Wall said, but instead sent another representative to her home.

Wall said she wanted the company to remove the after-effects of the first spraying. Instead, the company applied a second chemical spray that the agent said “was lighter than the first,” Wall said.

Wall’s condition continued worsening. She had to move out of her home for three months, living with friends. She was not working at the time, as a result of her brain injury.

Her cat never recovered, and Wall had to have it put down. She’s seeking damages for the death of the animal as well.

About a year ago, Wall spotted a kitten on a Spokane street and decided she was ready to bring another pet into her house.

“I’d had cats for years before. And within weeks of bringing the kitten into my home, I found that I’m now allergic to cats,” Wall said.

, DataTimes