This statement explains why it is so very difficult to impossible to locate a doctor if you are chemically injured or disabled. The truth is there are very few qualified and caring doctors willing to treat the chemically injured or disabled patient. One reason doctors are not enthusiastic about this injury is that due to the struggles of the chemical industry to avoid appropriate responsibility, chemical injury while gaining credibility is still a controversial diagnosis. Another reason is the litigation doctors are forced to participate in if they agree with this diagnosis. Again chemical companies that are defendants in toxic tort law suits are often very abusive to doctors who speak out on behalf of the chemically injured.
Doctors are at times required to be available to testify in court for weeks on end.
This can cause havoc in their offices where their staff must either be temporarily laid off or paid during these periods when patients can not be seen. Doctors who treat chemically injured patients frequently have their private lives and professional skills questioned repeatedly in depositions and in court. These doctors are often forced to be our advocates as well as our physicians. Another reason doctors may want to avoid the chemically injured is due to the multisystem complaints and damages making these cases complicated and time consuming. Chemically injured patients are difficult to treat as there is so little acknowledgment of the injury there has been little research to determine effective treatment.