Often even our families and closest friends fail to recognize our suffering and injuries and thereby compound the pain. PACE volunteers know the shock and consequent depression and anger felt when pesticides have wrecked our lives and we discover there is no social service agency to help. Families can become homeless and disabled over night. Marriages often end in divorce. Chemically disabled children can no longer attend school.
Few doctors can even diagnose pesticide effects.
There is no effective treatment for pesticide injuries. Families become more and more isolated. If Social Security does approve the chemical disabilities of the pesticide survivor, but most often it does not, Medicare and Medicaid do not provide necessary support or care. Finding any form of medical care for pesticide injuries is nearly impossible, always frustrating, physically depleting and demanding. People disabled by chemical poisoning who have become chemically sensitized suffer additional injury and illness from toxic exposures encountered in their doctors office, medical clinic or hospital.