March 31, 2007 by SUM.

I had my initial examination at the UW dental clinic on Monday 7th February, 2005. Before the examination I had to watch an introduction video. I was in a group of six; three men and 3 women.

In the waiting room I noticed a few things that reminded me of George who I had met in 1997. The youngest woman in our group J. spoke pretty loud on her cell phone. She mentioned that she had been admitted to the school in Ellensburg. I had visited Ellensburg with George in 1997. Additionally, on the table was a magazine that had the article ‘Goodbye Hollywood.’ While I had visited with George Vancouver, BC, George had asked me whether I wanted to watch a movie that was shot in Vancouver on the street. Since I wasn’t interested I only declined his suggestion. And here in the waiting room I met a girl that talked so loudly on her phone so that I had to overhear her saying Ellensburg. Additionally, on a table was a magazine with a reference to movies. After all what I experienced here for over 10 years now, I know that this and many other strange occurrences were not just coincidental.

At the initial examination two women looked at my teeth. Dr. W. told me that they would not consider me for admission into the student program. Whereupon I stated that this had not been the reason why I had come to the UW dental clinic. I told her that an attorney had advised me to consult with the UW dental clinic, so that my teeth could be examined to test and/or confirm that Crest Night Effects had caused the damage. Therefore Dr. W. gave me a referral to the dental clinic.

After I had received the referral for the dental clinic I was directed to the second floor to schedule an appointment with an oral dentist who would evaluate the damage to my frontal teeth. I actually was given an appointment on the day that one of my sisters had been born, February 22nd. My sister died in 1991. I didn’t know on which specific day she had died until last year. I found out that she died on the day that George had told me his birthday was. Due to this circumstance and many others there is no doubt in my mind anymore that many events in my life have been staged; they are not just by mere chance.

So, in my next post I’ll describe more unusual encounters that are connected to this case.

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March 28, 2007 by SUM.

After my sister returned to Germany, I felt like concentrating on the task to pursuit justice. Thus I decided to give attorney L. a call. I called him on Friday, 10th December.

On the phone he told me that I must have proof that Crest Night Effects caused the damage. I mentioned that another attorney had written me that I may have a viable case, but his workload does not allow taking on mine. And attorney L. answer to that was, “They use this wording because he thinks that you don’t have a case. They are dishonest.” And he added that he is working in this field for 34 years. At this moment I was stunned. I just felt very uneasy hearing that. It certainly didn’t increase my confidence in the legal system.

Attorney L. had a very forceful and dominant voice and he projected an intimidating personality. He asked me which dentist had seen my teeth. And when he heard that I had consulted with a dentist in Vancouver, BC, he said to me, “The laws in Canada are different, and it would be expensive to have a dentist giving testimony here.” Therefore he wanted me to have someone from the UW dental clinic look at my teeth and confirm that Crest Night Effects caused the damage. He added that I should see someone in the “restorative department.” But he didn’t give me a specific name from a person whom I should contact.

While we talked on the phone he asked me to hold so that he could check on the Internet whether adverse reactions had been reported about this product. I heard him mumbling that the number 18 is discontinued and that they use now peroxides. And he suggested that I’d call him again after I had consulted with a professor at the UW clinic. He too mentioned that I have three years to find an attorney.

After this phone call my hope in the justice system were certainly not up, but I knew that I had to continue what I think is right. Therefore I called the UW dental department to get an appointment at the clinic. Since I didn’t know whom I actually should consult with I made an appointment with the dental department that performs the initial examinations. I hoped that they would refer me to the right department and person after I had talked to them. My appointment with the UW clinic was set for February 7th, 2005.

So, in my next posts I’ll describe the different encounters at the UW dental clinic and what followed thereafter.

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March 27, 2007 by SUM.

Being all by myself with no help or support from qualified people and feeling stonewalled and roadblocks thrown in my way I took the advise from the reception clerk at the King County courthouse library and contacted the King County Bar Association.

Instead calling their office I wrote the President a certified letter on Wednesday, 17th September asking for his advise. When I sent off the letter, the postal clerk asked me whether I wanted to be notified when they received my letter. Since there was no doubt in my mind that he would answer, I declined the additional costs. I just replied, “He’ll write me.”

On the same day I noticed the November 2004 magazine from the Smithsonian Institute in the gym. It had as a cover story “George Washington…tricks, lies, and slander.” Seeing this cover article reminded me that I had experienced the weirdest things here that I consider tricks, lies, and slander. When I was at the postal office to mail the letter to the King County Bar Association, I noticed two guys who wrapped a parcel that had the words ‘Keep refrigerated’ on it. And one of the guys looked from behind just like a man I had met in 1997. He was easily recognizable because he was bald and quite tall. Since strange things had happened when I had met this person, I felt that it might not be just a coincidence that a look-alike showed up at the postal office nor the magazine with an article about George Washington displayed at the gym. By the way, the person’s name I had met in 1997 was George.

The next day I received a call from a person who stated that he is a trial lawyer and that he had gotten my phone number from the King County Bar Association. His name was S. and he lived in Bellevue. He asked me about my case, and while I told him a little bit about it, he suddenly discontinued the call and told me that he had to take another call, but he would call me back.

After a while my phone rang again, but this time an office clerk C. from the King County Bar Association contacted me. She told me that she had given attorney S. who had just contacted me my phone number. After talking to her very briefly, attorney S. called me back from his cell phone in his car, and he told me that I should contact another lawyer. He gave me the same name, attorney L., which I had received from office clerk M. He also said that attorney L. is knowledgeable about dental claims.

That evening at 8:45 PM I received a call from a woman who asked for Mrs. Long. I mention this here because I had seen a pick-up truck with the name Long many times at a neighbor’s house, and I had often received a call whereas the person asked for Mrs. Long. That evening I decided to dial the automatic re-dial service to find out who had called me, and the phone number given to me was from Little Rock, Arkansas. There was no doubt in my mind that this had been a planned phone call.

In the coming weeks I was busy with different errands and having one of my sisters as a visitor. Therefore I didn’t contact attorney L. until the beginning of December. I’ll write about this encounter and the events that followed thereafter in article VI and VII.

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March 26, 2007 by SUM.

After I had received the forms from attorney K. to authorize him to ask the dentist in Vancouver and Redmond as well as the Lake Washington Technical College questions in my behalf, I walked by his office to drop off the paperwork personally. That was on Tuesday, 5th October. He stated that his assistant would contact the dentists and the LWTC and it would take a while to get the results from them.

While I visited him, I thought that he might be interested to see the damage done to my teeth. The damage isn’t so easy to see because of my dentition. I asked him whether he wanted to see for himself the damaged teeth and he agreed. After he had taken a closer look, he said “It does not look natural…It’s not what you expected.”

I certainly didn’t expect that this product would damage my teeth. As I mentioned before, I have used tooth-whitening strips before and I never had any problems. But the product that I had bought at Costco was totally different. It was a white cement-like paste and it acted like an abrasive on my teeth.

Now, I was patiently waiting for a letter from attorney K. telling me how he would help me in this case. I received his letter on November 16th. Included were also duplicates of my LWTC file.

He wrote that he feels compelled to decline any further representation in this matter because he thought that I have not a particularly strong chance of proving that Crest Night Effects actually caused the damage. And he suggested that the damage to my teeth had already existed before, but due to the tooth whitening, which had lightened my teeth, the damage had been brought to my attention. Therefore this would not be sufficient for a successful legal case.

When I read this, I thought that he denied me that I actually spoke the truth (I knew that my teeth have not had this damage before I applied Crest Night Effects). Additionally, he never cared to take a look at the product, which I claim had caused the damage. Though I’m not familiar with legal jargon, he used some unusual wording for an attorney. He wrote that I am complaining. But as I said before, I’m not familiar in legal matters. I know that he spelled the name of the product incorrectly throughout the document; the letter ‘s’ was missing.

He also suggested that I might want to consult with another attorney. And that is actually what I decided to do then. So, my next posts will describe the encounters with another attorney and dental clinics here in Seattle.

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March 24, 2007 by SUM.

Before I continue describing the events that took place while contacting lawyers and dentists to support me in my product liability case, I like to mention an event at the 24Hour Fitness Club in Bellevue. I not only consider this encounter strange but also part of a staged manipulation with the intent to deceive and defraud. This encounter happened before I met with lawyer K.

On Monday 6th September I went to the Fitness club of which I had been a member for a few years. I visited this club on a regular basis and on specific days, which was known to many who knew me.

At the club is an area that is designated for working out for 30 minutes on a few selected machines. While I worked out there a couple in their forties showed up who I had never seen before at this place. They actually looked pretty shabby and somehow not belonging here. The guy was extremely fat and had a huge spongy belly. The woman had dark curly hair with some gray streaks. Her looks were boyish and she was much smaller than her accomplice. Their garments looked old and worn out and both wore sandals. The fat guy’s belly was robed with a belt that had the words “mutual travel” on it. They looked like they really didn’t belong here.

However, they not only stood out because of their looks and clothes but also of how they proceeded with their workout. I noticed that the guy pulled only 55 pounds down and that was due to his own thundering body weight ridiculous. But as I mentioned before, these people were part of a planned act. I decided to say something to him when he pulled down the 55 pounds across from me. Thus I said, “You can do more than that.” And he replied, “Oh, I don’t want to hurt myself.” Whereas I just thought ‘baloney.’ These people showed up to make a show and to display unspoken signs. I even approached the woman. And she told me that she likes to go to the playground and hang on the monkey bars. Thereafter I asked her whether she had kids. And she replied “3 from 15 to 11.”

I believe that these people showed up to suggest something with unspoken signs. In fact, this method is used incessantly here. People just don’t say a thing, they only display non-verbal signs.

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March 21, 2007 by SUM.

As soon I noticed that this product had damaged my teeth I informed the companies that I thought are responsible and should be held accountable for the damage (Proctor & Gamble and/or Costco), and I reported this incident to the FDA MedWatch program, too. Additionally, I contacted several lawyers in Seattle who deal with product liability cases. But there are only a few of them around. In my letters I described what had happened to me and I attached the info from the dentist in Vancouver. The responses I received were as follows:

I. On 5th August I received a letter from attorney B. He responded that I may have a viable claim, but given their current caseload, they are unable to take on this matter.

II. On 19th August I received an email from the lawyer firm P. The office assistant wrote that their office is not interested because of the high cost involved in product liability cases and my case may cost more to prove than a jury might award as compensation. Thus she advised me to consult with a lawyer who handles dental malpractice cases because he may have other cases of the same type. And she gave me his name (attorney L.) and phone number.

III. In between I spoke on the phone to an attorney C. who had not replied to my letter. When I hadn’t heard anything back from him, I gave his office a call. They told me that they had not received my letter. I spoke with a person who told me after asking a few questions what the dentist had suggested that he needed to talk to his managing partner and that he’ll call me back. He called me back after 5PM and told me that they had decided not to take my case. He asked me whether I knew the statue of limitations. After I said that I didn’t know them, he said that they are 3 years and that I have plenty of time to find a lawyer, and he wished me “good luck”. I have heard this expression quite often here, after nobody wanted to help me.

IV. Early Monday morning, 23rd August, I received a call from attorney K. who suggested that I’ll talk to him after certain events took place: he suggested to talk to him on 8th September after the Labor Day weekend and his return from his vacation in Canada, BC, and after I had received an estimate for the costs of the repair.

V. Additionally, I received from attorney F. the response not being able to represent me. That was on 27th August. They also mentioned that “the statutes of limitations in Washington provide that no product liability claim shall be commenced more than 3 years from the date of the incident or 3 years from the date the claimant discovered or in the exercise of due diligence have discovered the harm and its cause.”

While I was searching for an attorney who would support me, I felt pretty lousy. I just had my teeth damaged and now they were quite sensitive and hurting, too. Here I like to mention that the pain is gone, but the teeth are still in damaged condition.

While all this went on I tried to get a bit more knowledgeable about legal stuff. On Tuesday 17th August I decided to go to the King County court house to visit their library and see whether I could find an attorney who handled a product liability case that is similar in nature that what I experienced. But not knowing the system and having no help from anyone who is willing to help you is quite an undertaking. The library clerk gave me the phone number for the lawyer referral service and a number that I could call in case I want to complain about a lawyer.

Now, you must know that I experienced the most unusual events here in the Bellevue/Redmond/Seattle area, which I will talk about at another time. But I would like to mention here though I don’t know the legal system, it appears to me that I was purposefully put off or not helped at all.

On the day I went to the King County library, I spoke to a woman from the prosecutor’s office. She told me that before I can talk to a prosecutor the police has to contact the prosecutor and I need a case number from the police. Additionally she said that the police hat to investigate what I’m saying because they don’t know whether they can believe me.

I also visited the Seattle library on that day to check out whether they have articles about tooth whitening complaints or court cases thereof.

After I had talked to attorney K. early morning on 23rd August, I went by the LWTC to pick up the x-rays that had been made from my teeth in February. The clerk told me that the file didn’t state any damage to my frontal teeth. B., the student at the LWTC, had thoroughly examined my teeth and written up a detailed report. Additionally, an attending dentist had checked my teeth, too, and verified the condition of my teeth. I received the x-rays and only a standard copy that other dentists receive. They didn’t give me a copy of the report that B. had written up. Therefore I just asked the clerk whether the detailed report files would be released if the court orders so. And she confirmed that.

On September 2nd I consulted with a dentist who had done some work on my teeth while I still had dental insurance. I only visited his office to get an estimate for the repair costs. Dr. M. said that he couldn’t testify that Crest Night Effects caused the damage to my teeth because he had not seen my teeth for some time. I understood that and it actually had never crossed my mind that he should testify. I replied that I knew that he couldn’t testify about the condition of my teeth because he hasn’t seen me for the past few years and that I just consulted him today to receive an estimate for the repair of my teeth.

I knew that I had documented prove that my frontal teeth had been just fine while they were thoroughly examined at the LWTC in February/March 2004. And that was 4 months before I used Crest Night Effects on my teeth. I mentioned to Dr. M. that the student A. at the LWTC and the dentist in Vancouver could give their testimonials. And I gave him a copy of the written statement from the dentist in Vancouver and my current x-rays.

After I had received Dr. M.’s written estimate and the Labor Day weekend had passed by I contacted by phone attorney K., and he asked me to sign paperwork so that I authorize him to ask the dentist questions in my behalf and get the detailed report from LWTC released. That was at the end of September 2004.

Here I would like to end my description of the different events that took place while searching for a lawyer who takes on a product liability case. I’ll write about the experiences with attorney K. in my next post, Crest Night Effects, Part IV.

Additionally, at a later time in my pursuit of justice I contacted the dental malpractice lawyer recommended by office assistant M. and other dental offices. I’ll write about these quite unusual events in Part V, VI, and VII.

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March 13, 2007 by SUM.

When I arrived on 20th July 2004 at the dental practice from Dr. R. in Vancouver, BC, I noticed in the waiting room two guys who almost looked like panhandlers. One person had one of his leg amputated and the other wore a T-shirt with the Yin Yang symbol on it. I had to wait for a while in his waiting room. After Dr. R. had called me in his office, he mentioned these two men and insinuated that I looked a bit distressed.

The minute he looked at my teeth he said, “That is interesting.” He acknowledged the new damage and took pictures of it. His assistant M. made a mold of my teeth. When the dentist dismissed me, he told me that he’d send me a letter describing the result of his examination. When I asked to pay for his service on that day, he told me that he wouldn’t charge me anything for this visit.

I was eagerly awaiting his letter, and when I hadn’t received it by 27th July, I called his practice and spoke with one of the receptionists. She told me that they are having computer problems, but he’ll send the letter today. I received a package from him on 30th July. But the content of it was puzzling.

I received a mold from someone else’s dentures. Additionally, the letter he had written up seemed somehow odd. I called him and told him that he had sent me a mold that couldn’t be from my dentures. And he asked me to send it back to him.

As soon I had received the letter and a picture of my damaged teeth I contacted lawyers in Seattle to get them involved in my case.

While this was going on I met a friend from Germany in August on Vancouver Island whom I showed my damaged teeth, and she thought, too, that they looked pretty awful now. On August 12th I drove up to Whistler to meet people from the Mountaineer group. On my way up there I wanted to drop of the mold, which wasn’t from my dentures, and pick-up the model that belonged to my teeth. But on that day I arrived pretty late in Vancouver and decided not to stop by Dr. R. dental practice. As of this day I still have the incorrect mold which you can see right here.

But all this shouldn’t be the reason why I didn’t succeed in getting a lawyer here in Seattle to support me in my claim. And when you follow this story in Part III, IV, V, VI, and VII you can judge for yourself.

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March 8, 2007 by SUM.

After I had my tooth fixed I thought that it would be a good idea to whiten my teeth, too. Therefore I bought the tooth whitening product Crest Night Effects at the Costco store in Kirkland. As soon I had bought the product at the end of June 2004 I used it. I applied it over a period of 2 weeks until I noticed that I had an adverse reaction to this specific product. But when I contacted people (dentist and lawyers) to support my claim so that I could hold Proctor & Gamble accountable I experienced very unusual events. But let’s start to tell the story from the beginning.

Every other day I applied one application from the 28 applications in the package on my teeth; mostly on my lower frontal teeth because they are almost all natural. I had used gel kind versions of tooth whitening before, and I had never had any problems with the gel. So, when I applied this product, I never imagined that this product could damage my teeth.

But when I woke up on Wednesday, 14th July 2004, I felt very sharp cutting edges on my lower teeth when my tongue touched them. Therefore I examined my teeth closer in the mirror as soon as I got up. And when I looked at my teeth I thought I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. My teeth had sharp edges, flat planes on the frontal surface, and some parts of my teeth were almost cut in half at some spots. I felt like crying. I didn’t know that this would be the beginning of an ordeal that I would not want someone else to go through nor did I want to repeat this myself.

On that day I asked a woman at the 24 Fitness club what to do when considering to complain about a product. She told me to call King 5 and ask for a consumer representative. When I came back home, I called King 5, but the consumer representative didn’t’ seem interested. But she asked for my phone number. And on the same day I wrote a TV and newspaper person, an attorney, and made an appointment with the dentist in Vancouver who had last time seen my teeth at the beginning of June 2004. He would be able to attest that my teeth had been fine the last time he had seen me. He gave me an appointment for July 20th. I also called the phone number on the package from Proctor & Gamble and reported the damage. The Proctor & Gamble person asked for my age and told me that she’ll refund me the purchase price. On that evening I went to my neighbor and told her what had happened. She advised me not to accept the cheque and to talk to a lawyer. And that is what I did. I didn’t cash in the cheque and I tried to get a lawyer in the Seattle area to take on a product liability case, which proved with time to be impossible.

The next day I called two of my sisters and a person I knew here in Washington State to tell them what had happened to me. I needed someone who comforted me. But the only response I got was that one of my sisters told me that I shouldn’t try everything and she laughed when I described how my teeth looked now. Additionally she said “Du bist aber auch ein Pechvogel,” which means something like ‘you are an unlucky fellow.’ At that moment I felt abandoned, and the following months and years proved that my feeling didn’t prove me wrong. When I talked to my mother a few days later, she also questioned why I wanted to try new things like teeth whitening.

For ease of reading I’ll describe my experiences with different dentists and lawyers pertaining to this case in others posts marked Crest Night Effects Part II and so on.

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March 8, 2007 by SUM.

I would like to mention, too, that I discussed the events at LWTC with different people and asked them for their opinion. And they were divided.

One person thought that I should accept the cheque. The reasoning was that LWTC made an error without acknowledging it openly and therefore giving me the money back that I had paid for the actual dental service. Another person told me to write back in a polite tone and state that I wasn’t satisfied with their answer and I should get additionally legal advise.

Since my major concern had been to point out that the professional conduct from some clinic staff members had been improper, I thought it would be sufficient to write to the proper authorities. Thus the cheque was returned with a polite letter explaining my position. I never received an answer to this letter.

But in the coming weeks, months, and years I had some very strange experiences here in the Bellevue/Kirkland/Redmond/Seattle area that I don’t consider coincidental anymore.

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March 4, 2007 by SUM.

After having a hole drilled in my molar and being service denied at LWTC I decided to have my tooth repaired with a dentist in Vancouver, Canada.

I had heard that the Canadian health care service is more affordable. And since my cousin was living in Vancouver at that time I asked him for a dentist’s recommendation. Afterwards I’m not so sure whether I saved some money consulting with a dentist in Canada. It cost me $1,342 for a root canal and gold cap. Additionally, I had to pay for driving several times forth and back to Canada not counting the time it took me to get there.

The only comfort I can derive from this experience is being able to visit my cousin several times while I had my dental appointments. Given the fact that his stay in Vancouver was limited–he works for the German Consulate, and the employees rotate posts every four years and move to a new assignment somewhere else in the world–I didn’t mind driving up there. Each time I consulted with the dentist, I visited my cousin and he was a good host.

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