Read what happened to David Bell, who at 32 years of years of age accepted the letter of job offer from the former Monsanto scientist, Pam Marrone which in turn turned out to be the biggest mistake he had ever made. David wanted to help the world in the new and evolving field of biological control of plant diseases and insect control. He never realized his health would never be the same. His daughter, being very young when David went to work for Agraquest has asked, "What was Daddy like before he got sick?"
On August 10, 1998 David Bell began employment as an Assistant Researcher-Formulations/Research Technician. at the Research and Development biotechnology company of Agraquest, Inc. The company’s location was on the corner of "J" Street and Kennedy Place; 1105 Kennedy Place, Suite 4 in a residential neighborhood, in the City of Davis in California. He worked in “Formulation Chemistry with lateral responsibilities in Fermentation/Microbiology and Entomology" and also assisted other Agraquest scientists with their projects and/or experiments. His position was full-time, temporary, for an estimated term of 6 months to one year. David understood his position at Agraquest was unlikely to become long term and permanent with benefits, but he wanted to gain some experience in the field he had chosen before completing his Bachelor of Science Degree with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry.
•Verification of David Bell's title and his some of his duties can be viewed in the LETTER OF JOB OFFER and the April 27, 1999 LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION David received from his supervisor, Laura Cunningham-Hilbig).
The Kennedy Place location where David began working as an intern for Agraquest is the same location where he became very ill. The 700 square foot laboratory where David began working at Agraquest was shared with other Agraquest scientists who were also working on their projects and/or experiments. There were approximately 25 employees at Agraquest at this 1105 Kennedy Place location.
The published article: “Green' solutions to pests have firm seeing green” written by Cory Golden, staff writer for the Davis Enterprise clearly describes just how small the Agraquest Lab was where David worked (shared by other scientists working on various projects and experiments) at the Kennedy Place location:
•"Then: Using $500,000, much of it from friends and family or pulled from their own wallets, Pam Marrone, two other executives and three scientists started a biopesticide company, AgraQuest Inc. With used furniture and equipment, they opened a 700- square-foot lab; on J Street in Davis in 1995, attempting to discover, develop and market environmentally friendly products that worked as well, cost as much and had the shelf life of chemicals."
•"Now: Marrone, AgraQuest's president and chief executive officer, leads a company with about 50 employees: 28 at a 13,000-square-foot lab at 1530 Drew Ave. in South Davis, 16 at a manufacturing plant in Tlaxcala, Mexico, the rest support staff in the field.”.
David’s "project" at Agraquest was working with the company product LaginexTM, the living organism Lagenidium Giganteum, a water mold to be used in mosquito pest management programs. David was to find a viable stabilizing agent to extend it’s shelf life. David also assisted other scientists with their projects; in particular Agraquest’s; Serenade Technical a Bacillus subtilis bacteria) and Sonata (a Bacillus pumilis bacteria) [ documented in Agraquest scientist, Denise Manker's Response to MOTION TO COMPEL DISCOVERY ] .
•These microorganisms are the ONLY fungus and bacteria that Agraquest ADMITS that David was exposed to, however he was also exposed to many MANY more.
While Agraquest was still located at the Kennedy Place location, David was instructed to pick up a DRUM (with the wording, "Germany AQ 153" on it) from an offsite "testing" farm. Upon returning to the Agraquest lab he asked what he should do with the liquid that remained in the DRUM. He was instructed to "dump it" (liquid) in the outside “drain" and clean it out so it could be used for future fermentation broth. Soon thereafter David started getting sick. Months later, after David had left Agraquest he was told by the receptionists that around the same time he got sick that 11 other employees called in sick. The receptionist was told to "shut" and "lock" the lab door. He was horrified because as he said, "If I had known when I went back to work [after his emergency sinus surgery] I would have called the Health Department, epidemiologists...."
David was to receive his Performance Appraisal from his supervisor, Laura Hilbig, which was dated December 31, 1998 but this was not given until 2 months and 2 day later, on March 2, 1999 due to David's workplace illness leading to what would become the first of four major sinus surgeries. read→ HERE
What happened?
On January 15, 1999, 5 months and 5 days after David started working for Agraquest he was experiencing flu-like symptoms with cough, congestion, fever and a loss of his appetite at work. The following day David was also experiencing bloody pus draining from his nose.
On January 18, David sought emergency medical care at Immediate Care Medical Clinic and was given the broad spectrum antibiotic, Zithromax from Dr. Dorothy Peterson.
On January 21 David saw Dr. McKennan at Sacramento ENT who x-rayed David’s sinuses and ordered Vicodin for pain. See: [ PAGE 1 , PAGE 2 , PAGE 3 ] for additional symptoms:
•DAVID BELL: the left side of his face was numb, his teeth on the left side were numb, he was experiencing excruciating headaches, he was light headed and dizzy, he was experiencing visual problems, he was having eye pain, he had severe nasal obstruction and congestion, he had difficulty breathing through his nose, he was bleeding from his nose, he had excruciating sinus pain and pressure, he was having trouble with his sense of smell, he could only breath though his mouth, he had blood in his sputum, he was having gastrointestinal problems and not surprisingly he couldn’t sleep.
•(David had never experienced anything like this before and he had only experienced normal colds, flu and has had seasonal allergies since childhood).
Dr McKennan referred David to Dr. Nancy Appelblatt, also with Sacrament ENT and on January 25 1999, 10 days after David’s onset of symptoms and only 4 days after first seeing Dr. McKennan, Dr Nancy Appelblatt of Sacramento ENT scheduled sinus surgery for David and the surgery was performed on February 3, 1999 at HealthSouth Surgery Center in Sacramento.
•The charges for the 2/3/1999 sinus surgery resulting from infection due to a workplace exposure at Agraquest totaled $19,858.00.
•The bill for HealthSouth Surgery Center ALONE was $7,560.00 submitted to Blue Cross
•A separate bill for Sacramento ENT (the clinic) was $11,208.00 and was first submitted to Blue Cross in 1999.
•In 2001 Sacramento ENT submitted duplicate billings to Medicare ($8,478.00) and ($2,730.00) for the entire amount of $11,208.00. [ view HERE ]
•Additional charges for David’s February 3, 1999 sinus surgery were:
•General Anesthesia Services for $715.00 submitted to Blue Cross
•Outpatient Pathology for $375.00 submitted to Blue Cross
David's medical bills did not end after the February 3, 1999 sinus surgery. Leading up to the surgery there were charges for Drs visits, medical tests and prescriptions. Including medical cost prior to the February 1999 sinus surgery (and prior) there were 3 more "major sinus surgeries" performed in surgery centers as well as countless in-office sinus procedure in offices of several Ear, Nose and Throat Specialists. There have also been NUMEROUS medical tests, prescriptions for repeated infections; antibiotics, anti-fungals, pain medication etc. that he has been prescribed through the years. See: four page flowchart listing the prescriptions prescribed for David Bell as of 2005 .
With constant, ongoing infections not only affecting David's sinuses but spreading, David reached the point where he couldn't produce the required amount of B-cells to have an intake immune system. Upon seeing an immunologist for the first time in his life he was told he would have to have IV Immunoglobulin Infusions (for possibly life).
David was hooked up to an IV pump for hours at the Sutter General Infusion Center (like someone who receives chemotherapy) and required to have 3 years of IV Immunoglobulin Infusions, every 28 days.
•The range in costs for each infusion was between $7,000 and $15,000. To this day David's immune system does not function properly. (David had NEVER had an immune problem until after he got sick from working at Agraquest).
By the the end of 2005 David's medical bills had reached well over $333,000.00 which included 3 of the four major sinus surgeries (to date) as well as countless other medical tests and procedures David has had to endure. (David’s medical costs have continued to rise well past the $333,000.00 in the following years, past 2005).
David continues to have constant sinus infections and Physicians have told him, “I don’t know what this is”, and “I’ve never seen anything like this before”.
Before working at Agraquest David was in very good health. The Agraquest workplace exposure in 1999 not only caused sinus trouble for David, but his lungs, heart, liver, spleen and G.I. tract have also been effected.
Was Agraquest a safe place to work? Definitely not.
