Bed bug Scars Leads to Million-Dollar Settlement

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A California family is awarded 1.6 million dollars in a victory over an Inglewood apartment complex that failed to adhere to proper procedures in eradicating a several months-long bed bug infestation.

 

The family had two young children, the infant daughter who slept in the crib, and a toddler. Both children were victims of excessive bug bites. The 3-year old was in such a state of discomfort that he scratched himself constantly causing scars that still exist today; 6 years after the bed bug ordeal.

 

What happened next? The family alerted the management of the apartment complex once the bite diagnosis was confirmed as bed bugs. Once alerted, the management team at Kahala Islander Apartments instructed Mrs. Martinez to immediately throw her furniture away. The next step the apartment complex took was to treat the infestation with chemicals. Use of toxic chemicals unfortunately, is often the default method used when treating for bed bugs.

 

With no furniture and no other place to stay, the family was forced to sleep on the chemical-treated floors of the apartment once it was safe to re-enter the home.

 

It did not take long for the insects to return and biting to begin again. Like in most cases, treating a bed bug infestation is challenging and often requires repeated applications or routine maintenance to make sure that the entire population is wiped out.

 

If only the family or the hired pest control company was are aware of EcoRaider. To integrate natural product like EcoRaider, eliminates the need for evacuation of any kind. Leaving your home is a hassle but with young babes to care for, this creates more of a situation.

EcoRaider’s customer service team accurately points out what the EPA regulation allows. For example, it is not necessary to discard salvageable furniture because it can be treated. Laid out in EcoRaider’s step-by-step instruction plan are explicit details on how to go about applying the spray to furniture, i.e. beds, clothing, and linens.

 

Think about the sleeplessness, the anxiety, humiliation, shame that followed in the weeks and months ahead that would permit this small family of four the largest monetary sum in such a case. Now, six years after the ordeal, the court wisely granted this family some piece of mind.

Though this is extraordinary outcome, such human interest stories are important to illuminate because the content is so relatable. Insect and vermin infestations are common problems among millions of Americans households. It is important to know why certain treatments are not always effective.

 

Resistance to certain insecticides is the main cause behind persistent infestations. Rotation of chemicals and substituting insecticides routinely will combat resistance problems. Also, it is important to read and follow the label instructions carefully to verify that the ingredients differ from recent treatments.

 

EcoRaider can be used as a standalone treatment or as part of a rotation program to control resistant bedbug strains while avoiding further resistance programs.

 

It is a botanical based insecticide that attacks receptors that do not exist in vertebrates. It does not contain any synthetic compounds that bedbugs have demonstrated resistance to.

 

Virag, the family’s attorney and who specializes in bedbug litigation through his firm, says he hopes the verdict sends a wake-up call to other management companies when it comes to being proactive—rather than reactive—when responding to bedbug complaints from tenants.

 

Incorporating EcoRaider into the bug treatment rotation will cut the need to follow the foolish advice of discarding household items. Doing this can cause others problems like financial distress and agitate physical discomfort in the home.

 

EcoRaider is also a safe, non-toxic alternative used by pest control companies that allow families access to the home while spraying is taking place and there is no need to relocate.

 

We can only hope the mismanagement shown on part by the owners of Kahala Islander complex, along with thousands of other low-income apartment dwellings will learn from this punishment, and incorporate tested and safer methods for eliminating parasitic insect infestations.

 

Source: People.com California Family Gets $1.6 Million after 3-Year-Old Is Scarred by Bedbug Bites

Battling Resistance and A Review of the Pesticide Webinar

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EcoRaider recently sponsored a comprehensive video that compiled the work of industry expert Dennis Judy in a Webinar entitled, Pesticide Resistance. The aim was to aid pest professionals and teaches them new treatment techniques when servicing customers, in addition to informing independent consumers on the best practices in resistance management.

Resistance is the issue of synthetic pesticides becoming less effective over time in killing or controlling various pests. As species of pests evolve, they become more resistant to existing chemicals and harder to control.

Judy, a longtime industry expert, discussed resistance overall, how it came to occur, best practices for resistance management, and the products that are experiencing issues with bed bug resistance. Mr. Judy has over 30 years in the pest control industry and began his career with Orkin. He is a member of the Georgia Pest Control Association’s Hall of Fame. He now serves as the technical adviser for EcoRaider.

Ever wonder why you see one, two, or twenty bugs still crawling across your bedroom floor after you shelled out a hefty sum of that rainy-day fund to hire a professional exterminator to come and eradicate an awful bug infestation that’s disrupted your home life and caused many sleepless nights? Now, to your dismay, the bugs have returned. Well, Dennis Judy’s webinar explores this phenomenon.

Mr. Judy attributes four main factors why pests become resistant to insecticides. Professionals and homeowners can benefit gravely from applying this knowledge and choose better methods of treatments.

How do insects become resistant to insecticides?

The first is Behavior- insects can sense and stay clear of insecticide dangers.

The second is Metabolic- over time an insect can develop the ability to break down and clear its body of a toxin.

Next he looks at the Target Site- The insecticide can no longer connect at its target site at a molecular level in an insect.

And finally Penetration- The insect’s shell more slowly absorbs the insecticide. This will eventually lead to passing on adaptable genes to offspring and future generations of the insects will no longer be negatively affected by the poison.

The first way to combat resistance is to apply pesticides only when needed. Do not rely on the same trusted chemicals continuously because this method will fail.

The applicator of a treatment should abide by the practice of rotation and explicitly follow the label instructions. Even if the labels are different, that doesn’t necessarily mean they use different chemicals- so attention to detail is important.

Rotate between different classes of pesticides during the year and from year to year. If the resistance is managed effectively, the pesticides will remain useful to operators.

As a consumer, it is not necessary to unpack every morsel of information. You are busy with your lives, jobs, and families. It might be interesting for some to know why extermination methods are not as full-proof as one hopes but it’s usually not in the customer’s interest to know the minutia of method of pest control treatment.

But, when it comes to matters of the wallet it is wise to make an informed decision and choose a pest management company that encompasses the strategies laid out in Judy’s lecture.

Studies show that there are more and more products that fail in the combating resistance – common pesticides are showing more resistance. Ways to approach this issue is to rotate pesticide classes. Look up the active ingredients. Incorporate IPM methods. Incorporate products like EcoRaider that do not fall into the resistance and add program.

EcoRaider is successful because it does not fall into the resistance program.

It is a botanical based insecticide that attacks receptors that do not exist in vertebrates. It does not contain any synthetic compounds that bedbugs have demonstrated resistance to.

Therefore, EcoRaider can be used as a standalone treatment or as part of a rotation program to control resistant bedbug strains while avoiding further resistance programs. And since EcoRaider is not a typical insecticide, the four resistant measures can ultimately be avoided.

EcoRaider is a useful treatment for both the pest management companies and is easily applied by private consumers. EcoRaider works as an ideal solution for the resistance problems because it often integrated into pest control rotation and used as a stand-alone treatment.

For more on details, we invite you to watch Pesticide Resistance