Ep. 222 - Poisoned: One Attorney's Battle With Toxin Exposure and How He Survived and Is Now Making a Difference
Episode Description
Dr. Dean Mitchell sits down with Alan Bell, a practicing attorney who spent years in a wheelchair tethered to an oxygen tank after a debilitating toxic chemical exposure left him unrecognized and undiagnosed by hundreds of physicians, including specialists at Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, and the National Jewish Immune Hospital. Bell's story moves from early flu-like symptoms to grand mal seizures, extreme chemical hypersensitivity, and years of near-total isolation in a specially built structure in the desert.
Bell details his time at the Environmental Health Center in Dallas under Dr. William Rea, a self-contained treatment facility that served patients with severe chemical and environmental sensitivities at a time when conditions like mast cell activation syndrome and CIRS were not yet part of mainstream medicine. He describes the psychological and social dimensions of an illness that was broadly dismissed by the medical establishment, and how connection with fellow patients provided a rare sense of being understood.
Now a faculty member at both the University of Miami and Boston University Schools of Medicine, Bell teaches medical students about the environment's impact on human health. He also takes on toxic tort cases nationally, working alongside attorneys from prominent environmental litigation practices. The conversation covers the legal landscape for tenants and workers dealing with mold or chemical exposure, the evidentiary challenges of these cases, and Bell's core advice: pay attention to when and where symptoms improve or worsen, and treat the body itself as the most reliable diagnostic tool available.
Contact Dr. Mitchell:
Email: care@mitchellmedicalgroup.com
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