Doctors: Post-Katrina environment damages heart

March 29, 2006

06:00 PM CST on Tuesday, March 28, 2006

By JANET ST. JAMES / WFAA-TV

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After spending months as a property insurance claims adjuster in the

New Orleans hurricane zone, Tim Bell began coughing and wheezing.

His time in the region ravaged by Hurricane Katrina was punctuated

by often-horrific sights and smells: Slugde. Mold. Dead animals.

Now, after extensive testing, Bell said doctors have diagnosed him

with congestive heart failure.

According to medical records, doctors believe his condition resulted

from exposure to a microorganism, raw sewage or perhaps mold from

the post-Katrina Louisiana environment.

Bell filed a workers compensation claim through his company and St.

Travelers Insurance.

" They denied the claim, saying there's no way you can actually prove

that that's actually where you picked it up, " Bell said.

The irony isn't lost on Bell, who recommended insurance settlements

worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to devastated property

owners.

As a claims adjuster, he knows what's at stake. " It's hard to

believe that I'm the only one who became ill out in the field, " he

said.

For now, Bell is continuing to file claims, hoping that—like the

property owners he helped—he'll eventually be reimbursed for what he

lost: his health.

News 8 contacted the Centers for Disease Control and the New Orleans

Health Department to learn if there have been other health claims

like Bell's, but we were unable to identify any that had been

reported or confirmed by authorities.

St. Travelers Insurance declined comment on this workers

compensation case citing patient confidentiality.

E-mail jstjames@...

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