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Poisoned: How a Crime-Busting Prosecutor Turned His Medical Mystery into a Crusade for Environmental Victims
After years of prosecuting hardcore criminals, rising legal star Alan Bell took a private sector job in South Florida’s newest skyscraper. Suddenly, he suffered such bizarre medical symptoms, doctors suspected he'd been poisoned by the Mafia. Bell's rapidly declining health forced him to flee his glamorous Miami life to a sterile "bubble" unit in the remote Arizona desert.
As his career and marriage dissolved, Bell pursued medical treatments in a race against time, hoping to stay alive and raise his young daughter. He eventually discovered he wasn’t poisoned by a criminal, but by his office building. His search for a cure led him to discover the horrifying truth: his plight was just the tip of the iceberg. Millions of people fall ill and die each year because of toxic chemical exposures—without knowing they're at risk.
Bell chose to fight back. Despite his precarious health, he began collaborating with top scientists dedicated to raising awareness about this issue and finding treatments for victims. Meanwhile, his daughter miraculously found the one doctor who helped him. As Bell's health improved, he teamed up with other lawyers to avenge other victims in court.
This riveting book puts a human face on the hidden truths behind toxic dangers assaulting us in our everyday environments—and offers practical ways to protect ourselves and our children.
As his career and marriage dissolved, Bell pursued medical treatments in a race against time, hoping to stay alive and raise his young daughter. He eventually discovered he wasn’t poisoned by a criminal, but by his office building. His search for a cure led him to discover the horrifying truth: his plight was just the tip of the iceberg. Millions of people fall ill and die each year because of toxic chemical exposures—without knowing they're at risk.
Bell chose to fight back. Despite his precarious health, he began collaborating with top scientists dedicated to raising awareness about this issue and finding treatments for victims. Meanwhile, his daughter miraculously found the one doctor who helped him. As Bell's health improved, he teamed up with other lawyers to avenge other victims in court.
This riveting book puts a human face on the hidden truths behind toxic dangers assaulting us in our everyday environments—and offers practical ways to protect ourselves and our children.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published August 16, 2016
91 people are currently reading
475 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
September 26, 2017
This book was an easy read, fast and engaging and relevant to all of us living on Earth. I liked this book because we ARE being poisoned and we don't know the deep extent of it. I wish everyone could read this book for enlightenment since I believe we are all bathing in a sea of toxic chemicals in our food, clothing, cars, houses, air, soil, water – our complete environment. Attorney Bell was eventually, after many years, diagnosed with MCS - multiple chemical sensitivity.
He began his journey as a rich, lucky, happily married, young father and a successful prosecuting attorney in Miami who moved into a brand new, fancy state-of-the-arts office building. He was getting ready to run for Congress. He had a perfect life, as good as it gets.
However, his sealed new building was off-gassing multiple construction materials. He happily breathed in all these pleasant new chemical smells, and drove around in his new car off-gassing its chemicals and became sicker and sicker. He became so sick that he was unable to practice law. He forgot about Congress. He began many treks to many doctors in many different states without results. His health distress was a mystery to him, and he kept looking for a specific diagnosis and he rejected ideas of a "sick building" and suggestions of environmental toxins.
When he failed to get any standard medical answers, out of desperation, he started eliminating poisons in his food and adopted an organic diet. He eliminated plastics in his clothing, dishes and furniture. He drove only an old car. He became so sick that he had to withdraw from normal life. He got some relief when he finally moved into an isolated desert shack to get away from all the chemicals. Although his beautiful wife was completely supportive for many years, she eventually divorced him.
The more he eliminated chemicals, the more relief he got. After ten years and many tests and scientific hard proofs of physical damage to his brain and gut, he finally accepted that all these accumulated environmental poisons had damaged him and he added the drug gabapentin and cautiously began to slowly and warily participate in society again. He started a charitable foundation to help others. On page 127 he tells about his Environmental Health Foundation.
Eventually his wife remarried and sent their teenaged daughter to live with him. He started working with other attorneys who specialized in environmental torts and he practiced law again using his experience and connections made through his foundation to aid environmental attorneys. (He said that he is permanently damaged and he still has to be cautious around chemicals.)
What I did not like about the book was the lack of personal discussion regarding the marriage. To me, the background of the chemical poisoning intertwined with the marriage relationship was a major factor blatantly omitted. I would have liked to read a psychological perspective of how his sickness not also poisoned his body but also poisoned his marital relationship. Maybe he'll write a follow-up companion book?
There are four valuable appendices at the end which are for current further information. Appendix A is "How to Modify Your Lifestyle to Minimize Chemical Injury", Appendix B is "Recommended Reading", Appendix C is "An Online Resource Guide for Nontoxic Living" and Appendix D is "My Foundation's Founding Scientific Advisory Board". This book is dated 2017 and these ending references seem to be right on the cusp of our future knowledge of environmental poisons. I hope to research them to protect my own health.
He began his journey as a rich, lucky, happily married, young father and a successful prosecuting attorney in Miami who moved into a brand new, fancy state-of-the-arts office building. He was getting ready to run for Congress. He had a perfect life, as good as it gets.
However, his sealed new building was off-gassing multiple construction materials. He happily breathed in all these pleasant new chemical smells, and drove around in his new car off-gassing its chemicals and became sicker and sicker. He became so sick that he was unable to practice law. He forgot about Congress. He began many treks to many doctors in many different states without results. His health distress was a mystery to him, and he kept looking for a specific diagnosis and he rejected ideas of a "sick building" and suggestions of environmental toxins.
When he failed to get any standard medical answers, out of desperation, he started eliminating poisons in his food and adopted an organic diet. He eliminated plastics in his clothing, dishes and furniture. He drove only an old car. He became so sick that he had to withdraw from normal life. He got some relief when he finally moved into an isolated desert shack to get away from all the chemicals. Although his beautiful wife was completely supportive for many years, she eventually divorced him.
The more he eliminated chemicals, the more relief he got. After ten years and many tests and scientific hard proofs of physical damage to his brain and gut, he finally accepted that all these accumulated environmental poisons had damaged him and he added the drug gabapentin and cautiously began to slowly and warily participate in society again. He started a charitable foundation to help others. On page 127 he tells about his Environmental Health Foundation.
Eventually his wife remarried and sent their teenaged daughter to live with him. He started working with other attorneys who specialized in environmental torts and he practiced law again using his experience and connections made through his foundation to aid environmental attorneys. (He said that he is permanently damaged and he still has to be cautious around chemicals.)
What I did not like about the book was the lack of personal discussion regarding the marriage. To me, the background of the chemical poisoning intertwined with the marriage relationship was a major factor blatantly omitted. I would have liked to read a psychological perspective of how his sickness not also poisoned his body but also poisoned his marital relationship. Maybe he'll write a follow-up companion book?
There are four valuable appendices at the end which are for current further information. Appendix A is "How to Modify Your Lifestyle to Minimize Chemical Injury", Appendix B is "Recommended Reading", Appendix C is "An Online Resource Guide for Nontoxic Living" and Appendix D is "My Foundation's Founding Scientific Advisory Board". This book is dated 2017 and these ending references seem to be right on the cusp of our future knowledge of environmental poisons. I hope to research them to protect my own health.
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February 15, 2017~review copy
POISONED is an autobiography of Alan Bell, a successful Miami attorney. Bell basically grew up with Miami. When he was young, it was still a safe and cozy sort of town. As his career began to take off in his 30's it was a growing metropolis with high rises reaching for the sun.
His charmed life took a huge turn though when his company moved into the wrong skyscraper. The new carpet, paint and continued construction set off a firestorm in his immune system that sent his body into a such a steep decline that for a long while it looked as if he would not survive.
.
This book is not about a search for what the problem was. POISONED is about the search for a cure to the lesions and damage done to his body.
I found this book to be a quick read, and the people that Bell met were interesting and frequently familiar. Dr. Weir was one of them. The personal side of the story demonstrated that medicine is not all that is necessary for survival. A person needs a support system, a personal cheerleader, and they need to be willing to try one-more-possible cure.
POISONED is an autobiography of Alan Bell, a successful Miami attorney. Bell basically grew up with Miami. When he was young, it was still a safe and cozy sort of town. As his career began to take off in his 30's it was a growing metropolis with high rises reaching for the sun.
His charmed life took a huge turn though when his company moved into the wrong skyscraper. The new carpet, paint and continued construction set off a firestorm in his immune system that sent his body into a such a steep decline that for a long while it looked as if he would not survive.
.
This book is not about a search for what the problem was. POISONED is about the search for a cure to the lesions and damage done to his body.
I found this book to be a quick read, and the people that Bell met were interesting and frequently familiar. Dr. Weir was one of them. The personal side of the story demonstrated that medicine is not all that is necessary for survival. A person needs a support system, a personal cheerleader, and they need to be willing to try one-more-possible cure.
October 1, 2021
I came across this book by chance at the library. Issues around toxic buildings and illness are subject areas in my career and thought this might be an interesting viewpoint of the issue from the POV of someone who was impacted.
I gave this book one star because it’s actually a memoir and simply his personal opinion on what happened to him - with no independent evidence at all. In the entire book he does not provide a single scientific citation or study to back up his claims. So, in effect he simply wants you to believe that the doctors who said he wasn’t sick due to chemical sensitivity were wrong and couldn’t help him - and keep in mind that the doctors who said it Was chemical sensitivity also (is large part) couldn’t help him but he liked their answer. Even his recommendations for how to avoid chemicals at the end of the book had no citations or references given - and these included a recommended that you take a bunch of supplements - which are not regulated and widely known to contain various contaminants.
I personally agree with his proposed diagnosis, but without any scientific basis for why he believes this is true, why the doctors believe it’s true, or how these impacts actually happened within the body, it’s basically just his opinion. I think this would have been a much more effective and compelling book if he had asked one of the scientists in this field to write a parallel story of their work to prove this syndrome is real and provide an accessible introduction to some of the actual biology behind it. For someone who wants to disbelieve what he saying, he gave them plenty of doors to walk through.
I also found the writing style to be off putting. It really read like a sales pitch - he pulled out every emotional plea to get you to come to his side, again with no actual evidence to support his claims (e.g., I wanted to be a great dad - and made sure you knew he was; my wife left me because she didn’t believe - if he gave her no actual evidence I can see why; I had a moment with God on a chair lift so this must all be true; I wanted to take my daughter to Disney and I could because I found a doctor who said what I wanted and tried a different treatment).
I truly think that his foundation and this entire issue could’ve been much better served by engaging someone from the scientific community who could’ve edited this be a much stronger and solid presentation of an important issue.
I gave this book one star because it’s actually a memoir and simply his personal opinion on what happened to him - with no independent evidence at all. In the entire book he does not provide a single scientific citation or study to back up his claims. So, in effect he simply wants you to believe that the doctors who said he wasn’t sick due to chemical sensitivity were wrong and couldn’t help him - and keep in mind that the doctors who said it Was chemical sensitivity also (is large part) couldn’t help him but he liked their answer. Even his recommendations for how to avoid chemicals at the end of the book had no citations or references given - and these included a recommended that you take a bunch of supplements - which are not regulated and widely known to contain various contaminants.
I personally agree with his proposed diagnosis, but without any scientific basis for why he believes this is true, why the doctors believe it’s true, or how these impacts actually happened within the body, it’s basically just his opinion. I think this would have been a much more effective and compelling book if he had asked one of the scientists in this field to write a parallel story of their work to prove this syndrome is real and provide an accessible introduction to some of the actual biology behind it. For someone who wants to disbelieve what he saying, he gave them plenty of doors to walk through.
I also found the writing style to be off putting. It really read like a sales pitch - he pulled out every emotional plea to get you to come to his side, again with no actual evidence to support his claims (e.g., I wanted to be a great dad - and made sure you knew he was; my wife left me because she didn’t believe - if he gave her no actual evidence I can see why; I had a moment with God on a chair lift so this must all be true; I wanted to take my daughter to Disney and I could because I found a doctor who said what I wanted and tried a different treatment).
I truly think that his foundation and this entire issue could’ve been much better served by engaging someone from the scientific community who could’ve edited this be a much stronger and solid presentation of an important issue.
February 6, 2017
This is a fast-moving account of what happened to a hard-working attorney, who seemed to have a charmed life, when the environmental conditions of the brand new building he worked in made him sick. Very sick. Chronically sick. Irreversibly sick. Living in a bubble home in the desert in Arizona sick. Alan Bell went to over 100 doctors trying to find out what was wrong with him. He also tried all sorts of alternative medical treatments, and even went to downright quacks, desperate for a cure. Both his funds and his determination to get well had no limits.
No cure came, however, but he did get back part of his old life by taking a drug called Neurontin. At that time, he started to assist other attorneys in cases involving environmental poisoning, and started a foundation for environmental health. His marriage crumbled to bits, but he ended up with sole custody of his daughter, and it was her existence that kept him alive and determined to get out of the nightmare he woke up to one day.
P.S. The appendices at the end of the book include the top 10 chemicals to avoid, as well as 21 lifestyle tips that will hopefully keep others from being "irreversibly injured by toxins" in their environments.
(Note: I received a free ARC of this book from Amazon Vine.)
No cure came, however, but he did get back part of his old life by taking a drug called Neurontin. At that time, he started to assist other attorneys in cases involving environmental poisoning, and started a foundation for environmental health. His marriage crumbled to bits, but he ended up with sole custody of his daughter, and it was her existence that kept him alive and determined to get out of the nightmare he woke up to one day.
P.S. The appendices at the end of the book include the top 10 chemicals to avoid, as well as 21 lifestyle tips that will hopefully keep others from being "irreversibly injured by toxins" in their environments.
(Note: I received a free ARC of this book from Amazon Vine.)
December 6, 2024
Riveting and highly-informative. Super eye opening about the toxins that regularly pollute our bodies and constitute our environment. And horrifying in ways, too. Alan has a real hero’s journey and I appreciated his lists of health recommendations at the end.
June 30, 2020
I have been interested in the environment ever since the Exxon Valdez Oil Spil in Alaska back in (I think) 1989. I also used to work in a sick building and was forced to leave after barely 3 years of working there. That was in the early 1990s - not too long after the Exxon Valdez disaster - so the concern about Environmental damages was still on my mind.
This book was a wonderful book. All about how Allen Bell became very ill due to sick building syndrome, but as a lawyer he found it very hard to accept such a diagnosis with no physical evidence of such an illness.
As one review mentions, yes Allen is perhaps a little boastful about his legal career, but in the end, he lost all of that when he became ill and was forced to live in a Bubble house in Arizona for many years.
I loved all the legal cases that Allan mentions, those that he worked on and others that he heard about in passing. I loved the movies, A Civil Action and Erin Brockovich, both of which dealt with true Environmental legal cases.
As for me, I now have autoimmune disease, possibly due to the early symptoms I developed during those 3 years I worked in that sick building!! (And that was 30 years ago at least!!!)
I can detect the smell of cigarette smoke, perfumes, cologne and some chemicals fairly easily. I cannot smell mold, but I dont think I am sensitive to mold - yet.
So yes I loved this book, because I have some of the same symptoms as the author. But I also got out early and did not make myself stay just because there was no "proof".
This book was a wonderful book. All about how Allen Bell became very ill due to sick building syndrome, but as a lawyer he found it very hard to accept such a diagnosis with no physical evidence of such an illness.
As one review mentions, yes Allen is perhaps a little boastful about his legal career, but in the end, he lost all of that when he became ill and was forced to live in a Bubble house in Arizona for many years.
I loved all the legal cases that Allan mentions, those that he worked on and others that he heard about in passing. I loved the movies, A Civil Action and Erin Brockovich, both of which dealt with true Environmental legal cases.
As for me, I now have autoimmune disease, possibly due to the early symptoms I developed during those 3 years I worked in that sick building!! (And that was 30 years ago at least!!!)
I can detect the smell of cigarette smoke, perfumes, cologne and some chemicals fairly easily. I cannot smell mold, but I dont think I am sensitive to mold - yet.
So yes I loved this book, because I have some of the same symptoms as the author. But I also got out early and did not make myself stay just because there was no "proof".
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 15, 2017
Eh.
He had good information for anyone who has environmental illness. But so much of the book is about how super awesome master of the world lawyer he was until the illness laid him low. It felt very braggy and self-promoting.
He had good information for anyone who has environmental illness. But so much of the book is about how super awesome master of the world lawyer he was until the illness laid him low. It felt very braggy and self-promoting.
April 16, 2019
I found this non-fiction book fascinating. It's all about toxic black mold and what it can do to you. How it can make you sensitive to chemicals. The first person account of what happened to him and to the others he met is both scary and also very interesting. I read through the book very quickly. The thing that makes it the most frightening is that it's true. If you have had encounters with black mold or knows someone who has you should read this book. It's a real eye opener!
July 21, 2017
Environmental contaminants
This book introduces the reader to the danger of environmental contaminants. While it may be hard to believe, and I have a real problem with alternative medicine, the fact is I discovered 64 years ago that I react to a chemical that is in cleaning products and dry cleaning fluid .
This book introduces the reader to the danger of environmental contaminants. While it may be hard to believe, and I have a real problem with alternative medicine, the fact is I discovered 64 years ago that I react to a chemical that is in cleaning products and dry cleaning fluid .
August 7, 2023
I had absolutely no idea what this was really about, despite the super long subtitle, but it ended up being really interesting. While I generally feel that touting anti-medical establishment sentiments at all is an extremely dangerous line to toe, Bell balances his experience and emotions pretty well, considering what he went through.
Yes, it's important to be your own advocate when discussing serious medical conditions with healthcare workers, and yes, it's super frustrating to have your symptoms and illness reduced to "anxiety" when you know full well that's not what's going on. AND, it's also true that if doctors and other diagnosticians don't know what's going on with you, they start with treatment based on the primary symptom and go from there. This is basic deduction, and in most cases this course of treatment is helpful eventually. Bell is not inherently anti-medicine though, there were just a few parts where his frustration was aimed at the medical institution and it made me a little uneasy.
A popular review of this book expresses the lack of citations, but I'm not convinced this is a huge problem here. Alan Bell is a lawyer, and he understandably cites cases throughout this book wherein an institution is found responsible (or not) for the chronic environmental poisoning of multiple people. As a toxic torts attorney, aside from getting people the help they deserved after such poisonings, one of his goals was to increase awareness of the lack of study and legislation that lead to regulation of chemicals in America. He states several times throughout the book that accompanying scientific research is lacking in environmental toxicity because pharmaceutical companies can't make money off of it (a well-known problem in the scientific community). So, there's likely a lack of great citeable literature out there in the first place. And this is a memoir after all. However, this was published in 2017 so I really hope there's more research now.
There are a few statistics where I'd have liked to see citations though, for example, when he writes that "worldwide, 70% of all deaths can be attributed to environmental factors" (or something equally alarming). This stat was unbelievably high and the claim conspicuously vague. Does this include things like malaria from mosquitoes, food insecurity from climate change, etc. Or, is this stat supposed to be just effects of environmental poisoning? If the former, including the stat at all is extremely misleading given the nature of this entire book (the latter).
Another "hmmm" moment for me was basically any time he wrote that his 7-year-old daughter was essentially acting like a 30-year-old woman — urging him to see new doctors, approaching strangers for contact information, and commenting on environmental segregation, etc. I love kids and they're brilliant in their own ways, but no 7-year-old kid that I've ever known is that self-sacrificial or well versed in modern race relations lol. So, I suspect some of the family drama was embellished a little.
My advice? It's worth a read, but take it with a pinch of salt. The important takeaways are that our environments have an effect on our bodies and health, and there's a huge lack in awareness and research in this area.
Yes, it's important to be your own advocate when discussing serious medical conditions with healthcare workers, and yes, it's super frustrating to have your symptoms and illness reduced to "anxiety" when you know full well that's not what's going on. AND, it's also true that if doctors and other diagnosticians don't know what's going on with you, they start with treatment based on the primary symptom and go from there. This is basic deduction, and in most cases this course of treatment is helpful eventually. Bell is not inherently anti-medicine though, there were just a few parts where his frustration was aimed at the medical institution and it made me a little uneasy.
A popular review of this book expresses the lack of citations, but I'm not convinced this is a huge problem here. Alan Bell is a lawyer, and he understandably cites cases throughout this book wherein an institution is found responsible (or not) for the chronic environmental poisoning of multiple people. As a toxic torts attorney, aside from getting people the help they deserved after such poisonings, one of his goals was to increase awareness of the lack of study and legislation that lead to regulation of chemicals in America. He states several times throughout the book that accompanying scientific research is lacking in environmental toxicity because pharmaceutical companies can't make money off of it (a well-known problem in the scientific community). So, there's likely a lack of great citeable literature out there in the first place. And this is a memoir after all. However, this was published in 2017 so I really hope there's more research now.
There are a few statistics where I'd have liked to see citations though, for example, when he writes that "worldwide, 70% of all deaths can be attributed to environmental factors" (or something equally alarming). This stat was unbelievably high and the claim conspicuously vague. Does this include things like malaria from mosquitoes, food insecurity from climate change, etc. Or, is this stat supposed to be just effects of environmental poisoning? If the former, including the stat at all is extremely misleading given the nature of this entire book (the latter).
Another "hmmm" moment for me was basically any time he wrote that his 7-year-old daughter was essentially acting like a 30-year-old woman — urging him to see new doctors, approaching strangers for contact information, and commenting on environmental segregation, etc. I love kids and they're brilliant in their own ways, but no 7-year-old kid that I've ever known is that self-sacrificial or well versed in modern race relations lol. So, I suspect some of the family drama was embellished a little.
My advice? It's worth a read, but take it with a pinch of salt. The important takeaways are that our environments have an effect on our bodies and health, and there's a huge lack in awareness and research in this area.
June 18, 2019
Alan Bell's memoir covers his legal background and his debilitating illness caused by an unknown chemical exposure he experienced while working in a new office building. It also offers a wake-up call for all of us about the threat caused by chemicals in our everyday environment.
Alan poses the theory that many of today's chronic illnesses are a direct result of chemical exposure. He uses his own experience with his illness and his work as a lawyer representing others harmed by chemical exposure to make his case. Alan references a quote from another source that states that chemical exposure is "the primary cause of chronic diseases like asthma, autism, birth defects, cancers, developmental disabilities, diabetes, endometriosis, infertility, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and others." Proving this connection is a whole other story.
The fact is that our immune systems are under attack from a constant barrage of chemicals. The food we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink, all have the potential to be harmful to our health. Poisonous chemicals are all around us. Whether or not you become ill depends on many factors such as the length of exposure, the degree of exposure, and your genes. Your workplace, your home, your back yard, your bed, can all be sources of harmful chemical exposure.
Read the full review here https://everythingnonfiction.com/revi...
Alan poses the theory that many of today's chronic illnesses are a direct result of chemical exposure. He uses his own experience with his illness and his work as a lawyer representing others harmed by chemical exposure to make his case. Alan references a quote from another source that states that chemical exposure is "the primary cause of chronic diseases like asthma, autism, birth defects, cancers, developmental disabilities, diabetes, endometriosis, infertility, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and others." Proving this connection is a whole other story.
The fact is that our immune systems are under attack from a constant barrage of chemicals. The food we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink, all have the potential to be harmful to our health. Poisonous chemicals are all around us. Whether or not you become ill depends on many factors such as the length of exposure, the degree of exposure, and your genes. Your workplace, your home, your back yard, your bed, can all be sources of harmful chemical exposure.
Read the full review here https://everythingnonfiction.com/revi...
October 11, 2025
This book was a treasure to read. The author is an absolute mensch. He’s also brilliant and resilient! I would love to read another nonfiction book by him with stories of cases that he has been involved in prosecuting related to environmental justice, just as he shared with us towards the end of his memoir, but new cases that he did not include in the memoir. I will make sure to follow him on Amazon as an author. I was very touched by his relationship with his daughter, as well as his relationship with his family that he grew up in. I would also be interested in him putting together a book of all his knowledge and resources and recommendations for a healthy life. I would love to be able to reference it and recommend it to friends and family. In conclusion, an inspiring memoir, beautifully written, by a powerhouse of a man no matter what his health.
December 24, 2022
The info in this book is so important in this day and age. Plus, here is an actual success story to share for all who are in need of a lift; or anyone who knows someone needs to hear it or or anyone who wants to learn about of how someone overcame the odds.
The author, Alan Bell, prior to suddenly getting terribly ill from an environmental injury, used to prosecute organized crime (mafia and Columbian Cartel Drug rings). After life altering battles, believe it or not, he recovered and has been triumphant! He has since been a national activist against environmental illnesses and tort attorney who finds for justice for victims. It's really inspiring and helps to there are still heroes (human) with moral compasses out there, doing the correct thing for the silenced and humanity at large.
The author, Alan Bell, prior to suddenly getting terribly ill from an environmental injury, used to prosecute organized crime (mafia and Columbian Cartel Drug rings). After life altering battles, believe it or not, he recovered and has been triumphant! He has since been a national activist against environmental illnesses and tort attorney who finds for justice for victims. It's really inspiring and helps to there are still heroes (human) with moral compasses out there, doing the correct thing for the silenced and humanity at large.
November 1, 2022
Stories like this are hard for me because I never know where I land on them. There is a lot that goes into making what the author says credible, but there are also a few instances where it feels like there's something off about the story. Some things sound a little wild, like a television making this guy sick because of EM frequencies. At the same time, if you've been around science much at all, or if you've ever tried to teach kids science, you know that the world of science is absolutely insane. Our world is a crazy world.
This is an interesting story to digest and add to research into the topic, but it's only a start. There's a lot more legwork to do to really look into the topic.
This is an interesting story to digest and add to research into the topic, but it's only a start. There's a lot more legwork to do to really look into the topic.
January 4, 2022
Really informative, good read. My only issue with it was the emphasis that environmental contaminants can effect anyone. While this is true, it downplays the likelihood of such events and the injustice done to communities of color and poverty that tend to work, live and socialize near environmental contaminants due to systemic racism. This is very briefly mentioned in the book, but the overarching theme is that "this could happen to you". Aside from that, an excellent story and warning.
July 3, 2022
A must read for everyone!
A very informative read.. And it can happen to all of us, yes really. It's like people who smoke don't think that lung cancer applies to them.. It will happen to someone else, not to them.
Everyone needs to be more conscious of their selections in our everyday living. This isn't like an election THIS IS YOUR LIFE AND YOUR FAMILY, YOUR FRIENDS AND THEIR'S!! What you select everyday all day long does make a difference in your life
A very informative read.. And it can happen to all of us, yes really. It's like people who smoke don't think that lung cancer applies to them.. It will happen to someone else, not to them.
Everyone needs to be more conscious of their selections in our everyday living. This isn't like an election THIS IS YOUR LIFE AND YOUR FAMILY, YOUR FRIENDS AND THEIR'S!! What you select everyday all day long does make a difference in your life
November 13, 2020
This book made me much more aware of the damage toxic chemicals can have on some people. I am NOT one who seems to be very sensitive to chemical exposure. I was very careful in my 40 years of working in a Chemical Lab at a Nuclear Power Plant.
September 7, 2017
Fascinating account of Mr. Bell's quest for his health and then the legal quest to help the chemically injured.
March 27, 2018
Three stars... two for the writing, one for the subject and truth to it. Tough read at the end, but still.. the message is important.
April 2, 2018
Thought it was a fictional thriller. Wrong! It was a factual thriller. I loved it, bc it woke me up, big time. God Bless Alan Bell. Read this book as fast as you can!!!
May 7, 2019
A very interesting book on a very scary subject. Fascinating to read all his symptoms and the journey he went on. A very relevant topic, especially in the world we live in today !
November 11, 2019
There are many who get sick from Toxic new buildings! Or old buildings! Very informative!
November 10, 2020
We all know about the silent killer, yet we do nothing about it.
June 13, 2021
This was a compelling story. His personal journey was fascinating & horrific. If you like memoirs & other true "medical mysteries", you won't be disappointed!
July 20, 2022
Audiobook
October 2, 2019
Alan has done a fantastic job of catching the readers attention by tapping into ones one psyche. He has also identified and brought to light a very real issue in the environment today. This issue will not easily go away without the awareness and assistance of all of us for a greater future.
Want to read
May 23, 2017Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
April 24, 2017
Great read that is timely with the major illness we see coming into our hospital today.Allen Bell is living example of dangers in our work place and homes.
Allen's life must have been a living daily hell with so many limitations.
I would suggest this book to my friends. G .
Allen's life must have been a living daily hell with so many limitations.
I would suggest this book to my friends. G .
April 24, 2017
An outstanding book about a very real illness that is often overlooked by the medical community! Alan Bell writes, not as a writer, not as a medical expert, but rather as a real-life survivor. His story can be anyone's. It is a cautionary warning of a serious medical problem that lurks undetected anywhere and everywhere. It is a warning to all and a much needed ray of hope for those suffering from Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS). It should be mandatory reading in high school and college science classes, especially since this illness can strike anyone, at any time, without warning. No one is immune from the dangers that lurk in "sick buildings" in the perfumes we wear, in the very air we breathe. Thank you Alan Bell for sharing your story and in turn, sharing the stories of so many silent sufferers.
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