AMWAY Files |
The Real Truth About the Advantages of Money and Power By Sherwood C. Ensey |
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Information (CPSC) |
Updated 01-25-2000: Copy of Emergency Room Report from December 15, 1998
PUBLIC NOTICE!
This is a factual story about Amway
and their marketing of a DANGEROUS and HARMFUL product
without proper and adequate warning label'(s) and how one of these
supposedly safe and environmentally friendly Amway product(s) caused
physical harm and damage to the author of this article. This article is
being written because Amway and its legal department, and their representative
in this matter, Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters, have
chosen the path of what is wrong in trying to settle this issue on a friendly,
HONEST and FAIR basis. At this point the general public has a right to know
what has happened and what is happening, after all, it is the safety and
general welfare of the public that is at stake here.
This is not an act of revenge. Rather, it is a true story with a sincere warning to the general public. This is a warning and true story informing the public of an Amway product, Amway Metal Cleaner, which has a very high potential to create physical harm and damage to those that could use this product. This story and warning is being done in and for the public good, and for the protection of the general welfare, and safety of an unsuspecting and trusting public that may be using this product, and/or plan on using this product.
Remember, in the United States of America even the least of those among us is equal in right and privilege, to enjoy the same rights and protections that belong to us as as a whole, and as individuals. So what effects even the least of us as individual Americans, in the end effect's the whole of what happens to us, and what protects us as a society. If ever for an instant or a moment, we should hesitate or forget to remember that as individuals or as a society, then we forsake the overall protection's that are important to securing our life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Should we do this as Americans, then we are literally forsaking and depriving the whole of what we are as a society and as a Nation, and we are throwing away both our heritage and our birthright as citizens of the United States of America. Note: This article is being presented as a public service under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, and is a fully protected expression of the Freedom of Speech.
An Early
Amway Experience - 1993/94
A few years back my wife and I were like many American's looking for the
most convenient way to buy better, safer, and more reliable products at
a price that would work for us. In our search for the better product with
the best price, we found Amway's multilevel marketing program.
Not only did my wife [Virginia] and I find that dream initially in the products that Amway was offering, we also found a potential new source for some extra family income that was badly needed.
Introduced to the Amway program by a close friend that we had known for years, my wife and I liked what we saw and what we used. The pricing on the Amway products was a little higher than what we had anticipated, even at membership prices, but we went ahead and joined the Amway team. My wife and I thought that we could offset the somewhat higher Amway pricing by using the Amway dream of making some extra income and profit. We were seeing and experiencing it with people in the Amway family - so why not us!
Virginia and I especially liked the part we were told about Amway products being safe enough to use at either the home or office, and that Amway products were even safe enough for our children and grandchildren to use. Many years later I would experience for myself firsthand the "untruthfulness" of that safety claim, and find out just how unsafe one of Amway's product and packaging really were. This will be gone into in more detail later in this article.
Like the other Amway folk in the area where we live, Virginia and I attended the Amway propaganda and merchandising events like loyal little Amway family ants, and we attempted to make our venture with Amway a profitable one. We spent countless hours of time, and lots of money trying to build up our business and our product line.
The only problem is, anytime my wife and I mentioned Amway products to anyone we would try and sell the products or program to where we lived and worked, you would have thought that Virginia and I had some sort of a deadly plague or foul body odor. People that we were coming into contact with were constantly telling my wife and I that Amway was nothing but a high priced scam and that they were not interested.
My wife and I found out for ourselves, after many months of concentrated try after try, that about the only people within Amway that make and save the real money, are those that are either in the closed cell "social" click of Amway, or are those individuals that are already well established in the power structure of Amway. We left the Amway family a little more than a year later in total disgust with the money and time we had wasted on the Amway effort. As it turned out, about the only people that profited from our Amway adventure, were those well above us in the Amway program. The only thing that Virginia and I had left to show for our part in the Amway adventure was some overly priced Amway product's, and of course lots of merchandising materials, as well as some expensive audio and video promotional tapes. It is as if my wife and I were merely invited into Amway to be nothing more than just another source of money and income for the hierarchy of the Amway organization.
As it turns out, much of the Amway product is merchandise that my wife and I could have purchased at a similar quality, and at a much cheaper price at someplace like Home Depot, or even Wal-Mart.
Most of us know that winning the lottery is a matter of mostly luck and the overcoming of some very long odds. Winning with the Amway program, for the most part and for the average person, is also a matter of overcoming some very long odds, and having a pocket full of luck with you. My wife and I know all too well about long odds, and we continue to be on the short stick of what the odds and Amway are once again doing to us.
Virginia and I had hoped that our experience with Amway and their pricey products was over, but it was not, and now a whole new and horrible chapter has emerged, and one that came about through using a supposedly safe and environmentally friendly Amway product [Amway Metal Cleaner].
A Nightmare
on Amway Street
This chilling and true Amway
horror story starts in the evening hours of Tuesday, December 15, 1998.
Most of us have little chores to do around the house on a pretty daily basis. Some of the things that we do are those necessary but little things that keep the family home running. At our house, one of those necessary and little things is the routine maintenance of the water filtration and softener system, that is responsible for providing clean and potable water to our home. Some of the internal moving parts of the water system are solid brass, and because of the tarnishing effects that the naturally acid and iron water has on these brass parts, it is necessary that the closely fitting brass parts be cleaned from time to time with a liquid or paste type metal cleaner.
So the evening hours of Tuesday, December 15, 1998, became clean the brass parts after our water system slowed down and crashed because of a tarnish buildup on these closely fitted solid brass parts. So I went to the cabinet and got out the trusty tube of Amway Metal Cleaner, easily opened and cleared the opening in the tube and squirted a little out and started removing the tarnish on the brass parts.
Some more metal cleaner was needed, a little more than the small amount that was used the first time, so I squeezed [no more than what is normal] a little harder on the tube to get some more out of the tube. Suddenly and without any warning, the bottom seam where the tube of Amway Metal Cleaner is joined together, gave way and separated, spewing the contents of the tube onto the left lens of my eyeglasses and completely covering up the eyeglass lens. At the same time that the contents of the Amway Metal Cleaner tube spewed onto my left eyeglass lens, some of the acidic and abrasive metal cleaning contents of the defective tube spewed up and under my left eyeglass lens into my open left eye, completely covering the left eye with Amway Metal Cleaner. Some of the contents of the defective tube also went onto the sand colored long sleeved t-shirt that I was wearing at the time, permanently and noticeably discoloring the garment wherever the contents of the Amway Metal Cleaner spewed onto the t-shirt.
The extreme pain and burning sensation caused by the highly acidic and abrasive contents of the Amway Metal Cleaner tube, spewing onto the soft tissue of the cornea of my open left eye and covering it, was on me in an instant, but that feeling of pain quickly started paling in comparison to the sudden, chilling, and horrible sensation of fear that was starting to grip me as the vision in my left eye quickly blurred and started fading. Rushing past my wife in a sudden flurry of controlled fear and uncontrollable pain, and without saying a word to Virginia, I rushed into the bathroom, got under the bathtub faucet and immediately started washing out my left eye.
My wife sensing that something was definitely wrong, and seeing the residue of the metal cleaner on the counter, immediately followed me into the bathroom and discovered me in the bathtub in extreme pain attempting to wash [flush] the metal cleaner from out of my left eye. Virginia then removed my head from under the water and asked me what had gotten into my left eye, and I replied Amway Metal Cleaner. She immediately noticed, and informed me that the water had not adequately diluted the metal cleaner or flushed it from my left eye, and that the eye was still covered with a layer of the metal cleaner, and that the eye appeared to be very red underneath the film of metal cleaner.
Fortunately, my wife knew that we had a bottle of eye wash in our medicine cabinet from the time we worked as volunteer Emergency Medical Technicians in the area we live in. Virginia quickly flushed the left eye with the half bottle that remained of the eye wash. There was just enough of the eye wash left in the bottle to partially dilute the metal cleaner in my left eye, but not enough to flush the eye out. We were lucky that the eye wash was there, but in reality how many homes in America would have had large bottles of eye wash handy and would have been prepared for such an emergency? The reality is not many.
My wife then called the Espanola Hospital Emergency Room and told them who she was, and notified them that she was bringing in her husband, and explained what had happened and what treatment she had administered so far. The emergency room then asked my wife to bring in the container of Amway Metal Cleaner, so that they could properly identify and verify the types of different contents that made up the metal cleaner that had gotten into my left eye.
At the hospital we quickly found out that there was no listing of contents on the Amway Metal Cleaner tube, so the hospital staff delayed any more treatment of my left eye until they could call the Poison Control Center and verify the contents of the metal cleaner. Calling the Poison Control Center was not much more of a help, with finding out what the contents of the Amway Metal Cleaner was. All that Poison Control could tell the hospital, from what records and information that they had on the Amway Metal Cleaner, was that the product itself was listed as highly acidic, and that no listing of contents was shown for the Amway Metal Cleaner. We also discovered the fact that there was not any adequate or proper warning label on the Amway Metal Cleaner tube warning of the potential for possible eye injury, which could result from use of the Amway Metal Cleaner.
For roughly the next two hours, I had my left eye forced open in a very uncomfortable position. Then I had to endure the very uncomfortable and depressing torture of the eye wash treatment, as two 1,000 ml bags of saline eye solution were washed through my left eye in hopes of neutralizing whatever unknown chemical(s) or other substance(s) it was that made up the contents of the Amway Metal Cleaner. Lacking any adequate and proper information from the container of metal cleaner, and from the Poison Control Center, about what the contents of the metal cleaner was, this became was the only treatment option open.
At the end of the emergency eye treatment, the emergency room doctor on duty, Dr. Timothy Bajema, told me that the highly acidic contents of the Amway Metal Cleaner that had gotten into my eye had completely burned off the cornea, but that the cornea can rejuvenate and heal itself. Dr. Bajema told me there was a chance that I could lose part of the vision in my left eye, but he was just not sure as the eye was so red and injured he could not tell. The doctor was not sure how the cornea would heal, so he told me to contact my regular eye doctor and see them the next day as soon as was possible. The hospital staff and doctor then put some anti-bacterial ointment in my left eye and patched it closed, and gave me a prescription for some Tylenol-3.
The following morning my wife called the Eye Clinic at the Veterans Administration [VA] Hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and told them what had happened to me. Virginia was then told by the staff nurse on duty to bring me in right away so that I could be seen by no later than early afternoon.
The eye doctor(s) at the VA confirmed that all of the cornea [the clear covering of the eye] on my left eye had been burnt off by the acidic and abrasive nature of the metal cleaner, but the eye was showing signs of making a recovery. The doctors were concerned about one spot on the eye that appeared more scarred than the rest and told me that they would not be sure about any permanent scarring on the left eye until it had healed a little bit longer and they could see better into it. The redness of the eye the day after the incident, was preventing any clear examination of the eye, and it was clear that the eye would need at least another two weeks of intense rest and recovery. The doctor also told me to leave the eye patch on a few more days and then to remove it, and to use the prescription antibiotic ointment on my eye for the next two weeks until the eye clinic could see me again.
So for two weeks about all that I could do was relax. No reading as it might strain the eye. The computer was so bright I would immediately get a headache, so I could not use the computer to write and do research as I normally do during the winter months. Watching TV was out as I could not focus my left eye or concentrate on anything for a long period of time. My balance and depth perception were dramatically effected, and I would often times take a step and find myself putting my left foot down in the wrong place and falling because of the off balance effect that the injured eye was creating.
Two weeks passed and the eye doctors at the VA hospital gave me a pretty good bill of health on my left eye. The eye doctor explained that the cornea had healed back pretty much to normal, and that he could see no real noticeable scarring. Overall, the eye doctor stated that I had been pretty lucky not to have had my eye injured any more than it was.
The one thing that the eye doctor did notice, was that the left eye was no longer tearing or producing moisture as it normally should because of the incident on December 15, 1998, so the eye doctor prescribed some eye ointment and artificial tears for me to use during the following year. At the end of the year the eye doctor told me to have my regular medical clinic re-prescribe the eye medication for me as I would need to have it refilled, that this dryness damage was permanent.
The eye doctor, Alex Herrera, then explained that I would need another eye exam for new eyeglasses, as the cornea had healed back differently, and effected the vision in my left eye. The doctor then told me that the earliest appointment that the VA Eye Clinic could set me would be on or about April 22, 1999.
This difference in my vision bothered me severely until I got my new glasses in May. Going five months without a new eyeglass prescription was very difficult for someone that depends on their glasses.
The new glasses helped the situation with my vision some. Since all that I could get from the VA Hospital Eye Clinic, was a single vision prescription this time around, and not the no line bifocal that I have been used to, the difficulty with my vision has not entirely gone away.
Amway was soon notified of the situation and what had happened, and about my concerns. Within a number of days I was contacted by a Bert Hultink at Amway's Risk Management Office, and was told by him that Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters handled their claims as an intermediary, and that he would have someone from their Albuquerque, New Mexico office contact me, and that I should direct any questions that I had to Larry Precious, who was head of Risk Management for Amway.
As it turns out, Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters are not an impartial intermediary in this matter. Crawford's only goal and job is to protect their clients interest, and Amway is one of Crawford's clients.
The pain and throbbing were horrible for a number of days after the initial incident, and since I do not take narcotics or pain killers for many medical and personal reasons, there was not much relief from the constant pain that the injury to the left eye was causing me. Getting any reasonable and needed sleep became a battle over dealing with the constant and annoying pain. Falling asleep usually only came after I was so exhausted from staying awake and dealing with the pain, I would collapse into the sleep that I badly needed. This routine went on for day after day, for at least the next six to nine weeks. All of this is well documented in a daily journal that is still being kept.
Sometime later I was contacted by a Ann Kirby, who represented Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters in Albuquerque, and we set up a date for after the holidays to meet and discuss the incident of December 15th.
On December 28, 1998 I met with a product liability attorney, Patrick Casey, who came highly recommended as one of the best in New Mexico that would handle product liability cases. During the meeting I explained the financial situation that my wife and I were in and the atmosphere seemed to chill immediately. The meeting ended with me being told by the attorney, Pat Casey, about how wealthy and powerful Amway was, and about how much actual on hand cash that was going to be needed to win over Amway's legal department and tactics. The attorney explained that we more than likely had a case that could be won, but the research and witnesses needed to win the case were going to be expensive, and that those are expenses that have to be paid with cash up front. The attorney then told me it would probably be better for me to work it out with Amway myself.
Just another episode in the confidence that my wife and I continue to place in attorneys. Seems money buys you everything these days, even the right to fair and equal justice! My wife and I have not gone back to the attorney since our initial visit with him - what good would it do.
It appears that in the United States these days, that the new American way is for those without the money, the power, and the privilege it buys, to go without the rightful justice they deserve, and that this gives some unwritten right and privilege to those with the money to screw over those without the money. This is definitely not the United States of America that my family, a family that arrived in America in 1636, helped to build and create some 140 years later in 1776.
On January 11, 1999, at approximately 1230 hours, Ann Kirby with Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters in Albuquerque, came to the house and took a statement on what happened, and also examined and took pictures of the tube of Amway Metal Cleaner that caused all of the problems. The defective tube that I had in my possession, and which Ann Kirby examined, compared equally to the faxed picture that Amway had sent to Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters, with the exception that the faxed Amway picture lacked the defect in the seam. I examined the faxed picture of the tube of Amway Metal Cleaner, and noted that the faxed picture of the product also lacked proper and adequate warnings, and like my tube did not list the contents in it.
Ann Kirby related to my wife and I during the hour that she was here, that this was the first Amway case that she had investigated in all of the cases she had worked for Crawford. Ann expressed shock over what she considered to be a clear risk by Amway, due to their failure to list any contents or warning on the tube, but stated that was only her personal opinion. Sometimes it appeared that Ann was on our side, while at others it was clear who was writing and signing her paycheck. A funny thing did happen with Ann Kirby, and that is she no longer works for the Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters office in Albuquerque, and that is about all the Crawford office staff would let me know.
The case involving the December 15, 1998 incident is currently with another representative at the Albuquerque office of Crawford, by the name of Karen, and she is currently the third one in the Albuquerque office to become involved with this case. This has caused a lot of confusion and problems in trying to settle this matter, or to keep a clear line of communication going, but I expect that is exactly what Amway and their representative, Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters had in mind and intended, when they started this campaign of making things hard and unfair for me.
The vision difficulties [depth perception, blurring, flickering, etc] and it's many side effects that I was experiencing, and which I logged on a journal, caused me numerous little problems on an almost daily basis, but these were little difficulties compared to the one that happened on Friday, February 5, 1999 at approximately 1100 hours.
Heading outside and down the flight of steps that leads down from our front porch to the walk, I put my left foot out to step down on the next step, and without warning realized that my left eye had just played a trick on me, and there was no step under my left foot. Suddenly and without warning I fell to the left and down, and as I rolled to the bottom of the flight of wooden stairs, my left shoulder, back and neck area struck a 4"x4" wood beam.
Having no money to travel to the VA Hospital Emergency Room, 125 miles to the South in Albuquerque, and also owing a bill to the local hospital that Amway has still not paid, left me with the only solution. Just tough out the problems and the pain, and hope that it goes away. My left shoulder, neck and back area got better for a short while, but worsened severely by the end of July, early August 1999. Since that time I continue to have periods of time where I have a tingling and numbing sensation from the left side of my neck, through the left shoulder and down to the ends of my left finger tips. Most of the time the pain and this sensation are continual, just like it feels now as I type this article.
Writing has become a labor of pain, and is no longer the labor of love that it has been to me for so many years, and when you are an author, and you love to write and do research, then your whole world is changed. I continue to struggle through the pain to write. With no money to do what needs to be done to get me well medically, I continue to struggle through the long days and the short sleepless nights in continual pain. Thank you Amway for all that you have done to make me realize what the term, to make your life a living hell, means!
The Offers
On January 11, 1999, the day that the Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters
representative, Ann Kirby, came to our house, I gave her in a verbal statement,
what the very simple, honest, and fair terms for settlement would be.
The terms on January 11, 1999, were:
#1. Proper and adequate, content and warning labeling, informing
those that use Amway Metal Cleaner exactly what the contents are,
and exactly what the potential risks and hazards are in association with
the exposure to the currently unknown [to the public], highly acidic and
abrasive contents. The public has a right to know of the potential harm
that can come to them from the use of this product, and the public has a
right to know what the contents of Amway Metal Cleaner is when
it comes to getting emergency care when their eyes or other sensitive body
parts have been exposed to those contents. I used what happened to me with
Amway Metal Cleaner as my case in point and as an example.
The warning labeling is to include an enhanced warning for children. The warning section on eye protection is to include the word goggles as the type of eye protection needed. I again used the example of my wearing eyeglasses and still having the contents of the Amway Metal Cleaner get into my eyes.
#2. The Poison Control Center is to be adequately and properly informed of exactly what the specifics are in regards to the contents of Amway Metal Cleaner, so that emergency rooms and the staff in them across the Nation, and elsewhere where Amway products are sold and used, will have the information they need to properly, as well as adequately treat patients that have been harmed by Amway Metal Cleaner. I explained to Ann Kirby of Crawford that I could not get adequate or proper treatment because the staff at the emergency room had no idea what they were dealing with, so I was provided with just a minimum of care. Why blame the doctors, after all what doctor or other medical staff in his or her's right mind, would want to assume the liability and risk for a possible treatment that was not correct? Not knowing all of the facts correctly, about what has chemically injured a person stops medical personnel cold in their tracks from providing the aggressive and rapid treatment needed, because the wrong treatment can cause more harm. As a former licensed and certified Emergency Medical Technician in New Mexico, I would never take that risk, and I know of no one else in the business of emergency medicine in our area that would take that risk either. Knowing the exact substances that make up the contents of chemical mixtures is critical in knowing what you are dealing with and how to treat it.
#3. The emergency room bill and medical expenses paid for. It's only fair and honest that the United States Government [the VA Hospital] should get back financially what they have expended, and continue to spend on the care related to the medical problems this incident has caused. I am a partially service connected disabled Vietnam Era veteran, and some of the service related health problems that I suffer from, have only been aggravated by the incident of December 15, 1998.
#4. $225.00 to replace my eyeglass lenses. These were new lenses that had recently been purchased. The left lens of the glasses was almost totally ruined by the abrasive and highly acidic contents of the Amway Metal Cleaner. This was the cost to replace the lenses alone.
#5. An after tax settlement of $30,000.00 for all of the aggravation and problems. I related to Ann Kirby of Crawford that this was more than a fair offer to settle, as people had received far more for injuries that were a lot less and not eye related.
Those were the terms to settle that I offered to Amway, through Ann Kirby on January 11, 1999, and these are the terms that stood up until the end of October 1999. Treatment and actions by Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters and it's representatives for almost the last twelve months, and I am sure negative treatment and actions that were at the instruction of Amway, has left me with no other alternative except to change the terms of the offer, and as they say in poker, to up the ante and the stakes. I will try and explain, as best as I can, as to what has happened to bring about this change in my offer.
On February 5, 1999 I had the vision problem in my left eye that caused me to fall and strike my left shoulder area, and injuring it to a still unknown extent.
Within 60 days of the visit by Ann Kirby from Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters, and a short time after I had the eye problem and fall which further injured me, I had a phone call from what sounded like an older lady [she would not ID self when asked] at Crawford informing me that she had taken over the case and Ann Kirby was gone. I asked about Ann and was quickly put off by the lady at the other end of the phone. This unidentified lady then told me that I had no case at all, and Amway was not going to pay for anything, and then started verbally treating [abusing] me as if I were some sort of a low life trying to pull off a scam on poor innocent Amway. Needless to say I was horrified by this ladies lack of concern for what had happened to me, both in December and again in February when I fell and hurt myself because of problems associated with the eye injury in December.
The conversation with the unidentified lady from Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters pretty much made me feel worthless, and left me in a feeling of low esteem and depression for the next weeks as they passed by with no word from Amway. I kept on telling my wife that Amway could not really be like this and we should wait, as they would do the right thing in the long run.
I was totally wrong in that area.
There have been two more conversations with Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters via their representative Karen.
The first conversation that Karen at Crawford and I had was pretty much a futile one. Karen confirmed what I was asking for again and skipping over the important parts told me that Amway was not willing to meet any part of my offer for settlement as I had no case. I then informed Karen of the case that I did have, and the fact that the defective tube of Amway Metal Cleaner was still in my possession and would remain so.
Then a short time before this article was started on October 22, 1999, I received yet another phone call from Karen at Crawfor & Company Insurance Adjusters. This time Karen stated that there was some good news for me. Amway was willing to settle the issue with the following offer: Amway would settle the issue with me for a total of $2,500.00, and that was it. No payment of my medical expenses at the emergency room, and the $2,500.00 settlement is money that the VA could easily claim for their part in providing me with medical care for my left eye.
Neither did Karen of Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters, mention the most important part of the offer that was made by me to Amway, and that is the issue of the provisions that protect the people by properly and adequately labeling the tube's of Amway Metal Cleaner. This is parts 1 & 2 of the above offer, and they are the most important parts of the offer, and as such, are non-negotiable and are to be a binding part of any settlement with Amway.
My wife, family, and close friends can not believe what continues to happen to me at the hands of Amway and Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters, and I personally can not either. The above offer was a fair one, and one that would protect the people, and the monetary compensation that was being asked for was literally nothing considering the awards juries hand out in lawsuit's these days. But the actions of Amway continue to paint a picture of deception, lies, and greed at the expense of those that Amway wrongfully harms.
For Amway it appears that their brand of doing it the American way means putting it to those that can not afford to adequately defend themselves. If you don't know it Rich and Jay, being a "Bully" and using the money and power that Amway gives you to make yourself better than those you have harmed, is not the real and true American way. The real and true American way, is taking responsibility for the harm you create to others.
For Amway it appears that their brand of doing it the American way means putting dangerous product(s) on the market at the expense and safety of the consumer public. The real and true American way is producing safe and environmentally friendly products when you state that you are. Safe and environmentally friendly does not severely burn, harm, and almost permanently blind the eyes of people, or any other animal. If you are going to produce such products like that, which Amway Metal Cleaner falls into the category of, then at least warn the consuming public of the potential risks and dangers associated with the contents of the product, and for all things that are sane and right, inform the consuming public of the exact contents that make up Amway Metal Cleaner. That is doing it right, and that is doing it the American way.
Since Amway and it's representative in this matter, Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters, seem to like ignoring the issues that are the most important, and because they seem to like making victims feel more like criminals, and because they belittle and hurt the innocent, the offer is changing. So that Amway can better begin to understand the issue, and because Amway and it's representative in this matter, Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters, feel compelled to place themselves above the moral good, safety, and concerns of the people, the rules of engagement pertaining to settlement have changed.
The new offer
to settle this matter, as of November 1, 1999 is as follows:
#1. Proper and adequate, content and warning labeling will be
used, informing those that use Amway Metal Cleaner exactly what
the contents are, and exactly what the potential risks and hazards are in
association with the exposure to the currently unknown [to the public],
highly acidic and abrasive contents. The
public has the right to know the potential harm that can come to them from
the use of this product, and the public has a right to know what the contents
of Amway Metal Cleaner is when it comes to getting emergency care when their
eyes or other sensitive body parts have been exposed to those highly acidic,
abrasive, contents are unlisted to the public, as well as to the Poison
Control Center. I use what happened to me with Amway Metal Cleaner
as my case in point, and as a perfect example of what can happen with dangerous
and improperly labeled products.
The warning labeling will include an enhanced warning for children. The warning section on eye protection will include a phrase or word designating protective goggles as the type of eye protection needed. I again use the example of my wearing eyeglasses, and still having the contents of the Amway Metal Cleaner get into my eyes.
#2. The Poison Control Center will immediately be adequately, and properly informed of exactly what the specifics are in regards to the contents of Amway Metal Cleaner, so that all emergency rooms and the staff in them across the Nation, and elsewhere where Amway products are sold and used, will have the information they need to properly, as well as adequately treat patients that have been harmed by Amway Metal Cleaner. I explained to Ann Kirby of Crawford that I could not get adequate or proper treatment because the staff at the emergency room had no idea what they were dealing with, so I was provided with just a minimum of care. Why blame the doctors, after all what doctor or other medical staff in his or her's right mind, would want to assume the liability and risk for a possible treatment that was not correct? Not knowing all of the facts correctly, about what has chemically injured a person stops medical personnel cold in their tracks from providing the aggressive and rapid treatment needed, because the wrong treatment can cause more harm. As a former licensed and certified Emergency Medical Technician in New Mexico, I would never take that risk, and I know of no one else in the business of emergency medicine in our area that would take that risk either. Knowing the exact substances that make up the contents of chemical mixtures is critical in knowing what you are dealing with and how to treat it.
#3. The emergency room bill and all government medical expenses in relationship to the medical emergency of December 15, 1998, will be paid for immediately by Amway. All future medical expenses, traditional and non-traditional, in relationship to the incident of December 15, 1999, and the directly related incident of February 5, 1999, shall be paid for by Amway until such a time the injured party shall have healed to the satisfaction of the injured party and his wife. It's only fair and honest that the United States Government [the VA Hospital] should get back financially what they have expended, and continue to spend on the care related to the medical problems this incident has caused. I am a partially service connected disabled Vietnam Era veteran, and some of the service related health problems that I suffer from, have only been aggravated by the incident of December 15, 1998.
#4. $225.00 to replace my eyeglass lenses. These were new lenses that had recently been purchased. The left lens of the glasses was almost totally ruined by the abrasive and highly acidic contents of the Amway Metal Cleaner. This was the cost to replace the lenses alone.
#5. An after tax settlement of $90,000.00 for all of the aggravation, and all of the mental abuse, and physical problems that I have been put through by Amway, not to mention the harsh, cruel, and uncalled abuse by the lady at Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters that would not ID herself. This amount has been increased to reflect the insulting and vile manner with which Amway has treated the matter, and this amount still reflects an amount that is more than a fair and just offer to settle, considering all that has happened over the past months since December 15, 1998. People have received far more for injuries that were a lot less, and were not even eye related.
#6. A public letter of apology to me from the head of Amway. A public letter of apology to the public from the head of Amway for being deceptive to the public and not telling them the whole truth about the contents of Amway Metal Cleaner, and the potential that this product has to cause physical harm.
If Amway and it's abusive representative in this matter, Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters do not clearly understand the issues, then let the following section better acquaint them with the heart of the issues.
The Issue's
This is not a primary question
or issue of how much damage was done to my eye by the Amway Metal Cleaner.
The primary issue is about the FACT and REALITY, that the metal cleaner
did cause harm and damage.
#1. The issue is that this supposedly safe and environmentally friendly Amway product DID IN FACT cause harm and damage, and that there is no warning or hazardous labeling of any sort on the Amway Metal Cleaner [Fig. 1&2][Fig. 3] indicating that the contents in the tube could be hazardous and dangerous to use. The issue is about their being no warning on the packaging of any sort, indicating the contents in this product could be dangerous to use. The issue is about their being no warning labeling on the packaging of Amway Metal Cleaner indicating what the contents are that make up the metal cleaner, as is supposed to be required of products that have the potential to harm the public [people].
#2. The issue is that although there is a child warning label on the Amway Metal Cleaner packaging [Fig. 3], it is not adequate or large enough in size considering the potential for harm and damage that can happen to a child's eyes from exposure to Amway Metal Cleaner. The rationale is this; if the Amway Metal Cleaner can harm an adult, which it did, then it can most definitely harm a child.
#3. The issue is about their being no protective eyewear [goggles] warning on the tube of Amway Metal Cleaner. Wearing regular eyeglasses does not afford adequate enough protection to the eyes when using Amway Metal Cleaner.
#4. The issue is about the fact that when the Poison Control Center was called by emergency room staff at the hospital, on the evening of December 15, 1998, the Poison Control Center informed the emergency staff that they had no listing of what the contents were that made up the Amway Metal Cleaner. The only information that the Poison Control Center could provide the emergency room staff with about the Amway Metal Cleaner, is that Amway had listed the product in question with them as highly acidic. Let's see, basic college chemistry and anatomy tells us that highly acidic substances are dangerous to the eyes.
#5. The issue is about their being no date stamping on the packaging to track the safety concerns that may arise surrounding the manufacturing, contents, and packaging of Amway Metal Cleaner. See Correction Below
Please Note Correction & Update: On November 6, 1999, while setting the Amway Metal Cleaner tube up for some more pictures, part of the dried contents near where the seam split open, fell off revealing the following code numbers on the seam of the Amway Metal Cleaner tube; 3085NU9 [Fig. 4]
#6. The issue is that what caused the harm and damage to come to my eye in the first place, is that the seam on the tube [Fig 1 & 2, A][Fig. 5]of Amway Metal Cleaner suddenly and without warning split apart. This in turn allowed the abrasive and highly acidic contents of the tube to spew onto the left side of my face, completely covering my left eye with the highly painful, burning, and still unknown contents of that defective tube.
#7. The issue is that Amway has still not paid my emergency room bill at Espanola Hospital, and they have also not offered to pay the Veterans Administration Hospital what they owe the United States Government, for the follow up care and prescriptions that the VA has provided, and continue's to provide me with in relationship to the harm and damage that the Amway Metal Cleaner caused me. Amway at no time has offered to send me to a doctor, or to pay for anything related to the harm and damage that was caused to me, including the loss of my expensive eyeglass lenses. At this point and considering the ordeal that Amway and Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters have, and continue to put me through, I would now only go to a doctor or doctor's of my own choosing. If I could financially afford to have those doctors now I would do it, but doctors that are private and cost money is nothing other than a luxury to my wife and I. As it is, the emergency room bill has now been written off by the hospital as a bad and uncollectable debt, and is so recorded on the credit record of both my wife and I at this time.
#8. The issue is that Amway will not take fair and honest responsibility for the physical harm and damage done to me on December 15, 1998, and the subsequent related problems that their Amway Metal Cleaner caused to me when the tube ruptured and spewed metal cleaner into my left eye.
#9. The issue is that as long as Amway will not address the issue of putting proper and adequate contents labeling, or hazardous warnings on its tube's of Amway Metal Cleaner, then the public remains in constant danger from this product, and what appears to be some very unfair and dishonest practices by Amway and those within it.
#10. The issue is that I am an author, a financially poor one, but I still write and do research, and I was doing research on a fact based novel when the December 15, 1998 incident with the Amway Metal Cleaner happened. The nature of the eye injury kept me away from the computer and typing for the better part of that winter and well into 1999, and prevented me from progressing on the research or the book itself.
Now that I can type and do research once again, pricing on some of the research has gone up from FREE to costing sums of money that I just don't have. When I could have gotten this material for FREE I had an eye injury caused by Amway that prevented me from doing so, and now that I can get the material, I am going to have to go through extra steps and the privilege of paying for the information now. Some of the material that was available then, is not available now, and in many instances finding it again is proving to be more difficult than it was one year ago.
In Conclusion
When we buy and use product's as
a consuming public, we put certain amounts of confidence and trust in certain
products for one reason or another.
Many people's preferences include products that are safe and environmentally friendly, and these consumers come to rely on the manufactures, and those that market them. As our environmentally concerned society grows, manufacturing and marketing products that appeal to that growing market becomes very important for having a business that succeeds. Amway is no different, and the empire that has grown up around Amway has based it's practices and advertising on the principle of safe and environmentally friendly products. With so many consumers becoming more and more concerned about safe and environmentally friendly products these days, it pays to structure your products to meet the needs of those consumers.
When my wife and I were with Amway in 1993/94 we heard a lot about how safe Amway products were, and up until the mishap with the Amway Metal Cleaner, we believed in and used Amway products. We trusted Amway and it's claim of safe and environmentally friendly products.
So how a product is treated and labeled by it's manufacturer, and the manner in which it is marketed and advertised, becomes a very important issue to what is, and is not a safe and environmentally friendly product. This is where proper and adequate labeling of products becomes consumer critical.
This is much like rating movies. The only difference here is that a product that is under rated in it's overall safety and environmental friendliness, could be more than what it appears. The product could be harmful, and in a worst case scenario deadly. This is why it is so very important that products are labeled adequately and properly. When products are not labeled in a correct manner, then the public is at continual risk from those product's.
Amway Metal Cleaner is an example of a product that is improperly, as well as inadequately labeled.
Amway can not say that this product is not harmful, because it is and the medical emergency incident that I had with my left eye, caused by Amway Metal Cleaner on December 15, 1998, confirms and verifies that the contents of Amway Metal Cleaner can and will cause physical harm.
I count myself as winning the lottery of sight when it comes to Amway Metal Cleaner not permanently blinding me, and doing any more damage than what it has currently done.
I also thank my wife for having the Emergency Medical skills necessary to find and use the eye wash solution in a situation where time meant everything to saving my eyesight. Most people would not have had the courage to wade into a situation like that, knowing it was their spouse, and keep the cool and level head that she did. Virginia was there when it was needed most, under control, and with the proper skills and tools necessary to save my eyesight. When time, skill, and the proper emergency tool, in this case eye wash, were put together, the system of saving one's health worked.
These are very critical elements not only in the saving of a life, but is also just as essential in the saving of one's eyesight, and I was lucky enough to have that all going for me at one time. I have my eye sight only because of the quick and skillful thinking of someone that was trained to do that, and how many homes in America have someone in it with those skills?
Amway Metal Cleaner is a product that Amway has had on the market for many years now, and it is hard for me to believe in all that time, there has not been another chemical burn incident with Amway Metal Cleaner. It is also a product that when it was formulated, was probably also known by those that formulated it, to have the potential for creating harm. It is a metal cleaner and just how safe can you make a really effective metal cleaner?
Other brands of metal cleaners on the market, such as Brasso, display what the contents are, as well as warnings, precautions, and hazards that the product may pose. These same manufactures also package their metal cleaning compounds in containers that will not easily rupture or whose seams will come apart. Amway does neither of these with its highly acidic and abrasive metal cleaner, Amway Metal Cleaner.
For those that have been injured by Amway Metal Cleaner, or any other Amway product, I urge you to contact the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, and immediately report the violation to them.
I would say that Amway has treated this situation and me, in less than a compassionate and fair manner. Amway and Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters have apparently focused their argument against my proposed offer, entirely on the fact that I was not totally blinded by the metal cleaner, and that is all that counts.
Amway and Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters have totally avoided the public safety, contents labeling, and warning label matter of the issue. Amway and Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters continue to refuse to pay my emergency room bill and other medical expenses. Amway and Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters refuse to acknowledge the failure of the seam on the product packaging that holds the contents of the Amway Metal Cleaner, and that it was this seam failure that caused the highly acidic and abrasive contents to spew into my left eye and burning it so badly, that the cornea of the left eye was completely burnt off.
Put yourself in the same situation of having a chemical formulation like that spewed into your eyes, and now imagine that you were not as lucky as me to have all of the critical elements around to help save your eye sight. Would you consider that product that just spewed into your face and possibly permanently blinding you as safe and environmentally friendly? I was lucky. Who is going to be the next one that is not going to be so lucky?
When I first notified Amway and talked with them soon after the December 15, 1998 incident, I thought that I was dealing with an organization that cared, and was honest. As it turns out I was wrong.
Twelve months of a 36 month legal time clock is about to pass by, so some new ground rules need to be set up. For each 90 day period that passes, and an earnest and real effort is not made to resolve the complete and current offer by Amway, that is presented here, then #5 of the current offer will be increased by increasing the current amount shown by 3 times, and so on for each and every 90 day period that Amway fails to negotiate this matter in good faith. A negotiation in good faith will be considered active and ongoing settlement negotiation talks with Amway to it's conclusion, in which Amway will initiate talk's directly with, or meet with Sherwood C. Ensey at least 6 times each 90 day period. Attempts at negotiating the current offer at far less than the amount currently shown will be considered totally bad faith bargaining on the part of Amway, and the amount will immediately be increased 3 times without respect for the each 90 day period rule.
The original offer, and the extremely painful injury inflicted on me by the highly acidic and abrasive contents that spewed into my left eye from the defective tube of Amway Metal Cleaner, was no laughing matter, but apparently Amway saw it like that when they had Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters make that $2,500.00 offer to me recently, and totally leave out the safety, contents, and protection warning issue. Making that insulting and degrading offer was like leaving a waiter or waitress in a good restaurant a penny for a tip. I would suspect that Rich and Jay treat their dogs with more respect than what Amway continues to treat me with.
The advantage of power and money by Amway is this. Amway has the money and with it they can buy the power, and with that power they can create and break the rules, and reshape them as they see fit. Amway can literally buy a legal wall with which to hide behind. The advantages of power and money is that businesses like Amway can literally get away with harming the public, and because of what and who they are in the political structure, the little people stand little chance against them. The advantages of money and power, is that it gives you the ability to be a "Bully" over those with less than you.
Well Mr. "Bully" Amway, here I stand in your path, and all that I have in my hand is the truth.
The next move is Amway's.
The real truth about money and power is that it only purchases a fragile mirror image of what is right, and most of the time is easily and quickly broken by what is the truth.
I expected honor, integrity, and respect from Amway when I was injured by their metal cleaner. What this old Vietnam vet has gotten so far from Amway, is the exact opposite of those three important principles. We hear Rich, Jay, and the rest of their "radical right" friends speak about the principles of honor, integrity, and respect being associated with their particular brand of morals, but what I continue to see from the abusive treatment that I am getting from Amway, is that Amway and the rest of the supposedly moral "right," is nothing more than a bunch of greedy wolves in sheeps clothing, and they could care less about what honor, integrity, and respect really mean. It appears that Amway is just another of the businesses, group's, and organization's of the "right" who profess to be one thing, but in practice and reality are quite another.
My grand-dad and dad always said the proof was in the pudding, and in life I have come to learn that the proof of what something is, is in what makes it up and how it acts. Amway's negative actions have and continue to speak volumes about what Amway really is.