Fig. 1 Loxosceles reclusa AKA Brown Recluse spider. Symetrical graphic design of 17 Brown Recluse spiders prepared by Terry Lynch
I was shocked to recently hear that the victim of a brown recluse spider bite was told by three different lawyers that this was an "act of God!" It was probably for this reason that Dale Losher of Perkin, Illinois who was bitten by a brown recluse spider during the early morning hours on May 6, 2002 did not file a claim against owners of the apartment complex where he was living at the time the spider bite took place.
Mr. Losher contacted me after learning about the Spider Fest web site which I produce to educate and inform people about spiders and encourage people to submit photographs of spiders. After Mr. Losher, a former EMT (Emergency Medical Technicial), was bitten by the brown recluse on the upper protion of his left thigh, he was hospitalized for eight days during which time he had surgery and skin grafts which left him badly scared and resulted in medical and other bills totally some $100,000.00! He subsequently discovered that their was an infestation of brown recluse spiders at the apartment complex where he had been living. He was able to have fifteen of the spiders collected using glue traps set inside his apartment. When these "spiderplex" specimens were submitted to the Illinois Department of Healt, a positive identification was made determining that they were all brown recluse spiders.
The bite of the quarter size brown recluse spider, as Mr. Losher found out the hard way, can be very toxic. After bitten he developed a reddish swollen area around the point of the bite as the spider's venom began to destroy tissue and spread. This widened over time resulting in a large, darkly discolored area which was very painful and required surgery and skin grafts.
Although I know the cost of medicine has gone way up, I was astonished to learn that this singular spider bight has ended up costing Mr. Losher over one-hundred thousand dollars! Fortunately he was able to manage a move to a different apartment complex where their are no brown recluse spiders. But when he tried to inform residence of his former apartment complex of the spider infestation he was given an angry response by management who obviously considered him now more of a nusance than the brown recluse spiders which would be expensive to eradicate.
First Aid for Brown Recluse Bite
An effective commercial antivenin is not available. The surgical removal of tissue was once standard procedure, but now this is thought to slow down wound healing. Some physicians administer high doses of cortisone-type hormones to combat hemolysis and other systemic complications. Treatment with oral dapsone (an antibiotic used mainly for leprosy) has been suggested to reduce the degree of tissue damage. However, an effective therapy has not yet been found in controlled studies.
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Indeed, I was shocked to learn that three different attornies had told Mr. Losher that the spider bite was an "Act of God" such that he should not file a claim. Although I'm not a lawyer, I am a naturalist and I don't consider the bite of a brown recluse an "Act of God," not when the spiders are infesting an apartment complex that is being rented out to unsuspecting and uninformed tenants.
Certainly when accidents and tragedies occur in nature one may claim that these were "Acts of God." When one is swimming in the ocean and attached by a shark, that is an "Act of God." When one is wading in the surf at the beach and is stung by the poisonous tinticles of a jelly fish, that is an "Act of God." And if one is working in their garden at home and is bitten by a snake or spider, that is an "Act of God!"
These are also events which might be avoided by using a little common sense; i.e., don't swim in shark infested or jelly fish infested waters and use gloves while working in your garden. However, how does one avoid being bitten by a brown recluse spider residing in an apartment they have rented? Common sense can not come into play because these spiders are so secreative that one does not know they are present and part of the rental agreement until after they are bitten! And likely as not when one signs a rental agreement it says in fine print too small for anyone to read without a magnifying glass that YOU, the tenant, are responsible for pest control and/or any hurt or harm which comes to you while living in the apartment.
It is a sad state of affairs, indeed, when lease agreements try to get out of being responsible for pest infestations and the hurt or harm which comes from a pest infestation, such as being bitten by a brown recluse spider. There needs to be TENANTS RIGHTS legislation in every city and state which protect the consumer and holds the owners of the apartment complex liable for spider bites, as a spider bite is NOT an act of God; a spider bite in a rented apartment which has an infestation of brown recluse spiders is the result of negligence and/or disregard for human health, welfare and safety, because what is usually the case is that apartment complexes do not pay for professional pest control operators to treat their facillities and/or inspect and maintain them on a regular bases.
Cities and states need to adopt codes and ordinances, TENANTS RIGHTS legislation, which protects people who rent apartments such that it is the responsibility and the liablilty of apartment complexes to provide safe living quarters for men, women and children; that they are liable for any hurt or harm which comes from a spider bite or from other insect infestations such as fleas which can transmit disease. Owners of apartment complexes should NOT be premitted to use rental agreements which release them from liability with regard to such damages as may be caused by a brown recluse spider bite when there is an infestation of such spiders in an apartment complex.
Mr. Losher was so kind as to show me photographs of his injury and give me permission to reprint and post his story on the Internet. I was shocked to see how bad the scaring is and how large the initial tissue damage to his leg was prior to surgery. He was obviously bitten by a large brown recluse spider and got a pretty hefty dose of venom. This spider in all probability had been living in the apartment for some time, prehaps feasting upon cockroaches inside the walls. This would also be indicated by the fact that fifteen additional brown recluse spiders were later found. You don't get that many brown recluse spiders unless their is a breeding population of males and females sustained by an infestation of other insects such as German Cockroaches.
The fact that this apartment complex was infested with brown recluse spiders indicates to me that it was NOT an "Act of God" that Mr. Losher was bitten. This was inevitable and the result of negligence and/or disregard for the health, welfare and safety of humans, that the apartment complex owners permitted an infestation of spiders and other insects to occur because they did not contract with a qualified and knowledgable pest control operator to insure the health, welfare and safety of their tenants prior to Mr. Losher being bitten by the brown recluse spider.
As I said, I'm not a lawyer, but if I were and I were bitten by a brown recluse while living in an apartement complex that was infested with these spiders and had not contracted with a pest control operator to rid of said infestation, I would drag the owners into court and sued them for hurt, harm, suffering and as much as I might be able to get in damages, given this resulted in life long scaring and perhaps even psychological trama! Plus owners of apartment complexes which do not provide a safe and secure living environment free of such pests as brown recluse spiders need to be held accountable when their negligence for the sake of greed and profit results in injury to tenants.
I would like to commend Mr. Losher for coming forward and telling his story to others to help educate and inform people about brown recluse spiders and the toxic nature of their bites. When the Discovery Channel learned about Mr. Losher's spider bite they sent a camera crew out and reenacted the whole event. Yet still most cities/states do not have codes and ordinances designed to protect tenants of rental property when the property owners neglect to provide regular inspection and treatment by qualified, knowledgable pest control operators so as to provide safe, secure living quarters for people and hold the apartment owners responsible when safe and secure living facilities are not provided. With global warming, urbanization and the transient nature of human populations, spiders are moving indoors and more and more people are going to probably encounter the brown recluse in the future, just as did Mr Losher. Gradually the range of the brown recluse will probably be extended bringing it into contact with an ever increasing number of people in the future. This will mean more brown recluse spider bites and perhaps even deaths when children or pets are bitten. Yet this can be prevented simply by passing laws to make apartment owners responsible for pest control and certainly liable for hurt, harm and damages should they not provide living quarters free of brown recluse spiders and the insects upon which they thrive!
I am sorry, but when you rent an apartment and wake up one morning and are bitten by a brown recluse spider, one of many from an infested apartment complex, this is not an "Act of God," but an act of negligence and/or utter disregard for the health, welfare and safety of people! Spider infestations do not just occur over night; they occur over a long period of time when an apartment owner does not properly privide regular and effective pest control such that a host population of insects builds up and these privide food to maintain a populations of brown recluse spiders. It is this long period of time and failure to provide effective pest control which is the reason that in a case such as Mr. Losher's his spider bite was NOT an "Act of God!"
I would like to urge that the next person living in an apartment complex anywhere in the United States who is bitten by a brown recluse spider and suffers hurt, harm and damages, please do not let lawyers or those who own and/or operate the apartment complex convience you that this was an "Act of God!" Rather, hire a good lawyer, one who is progressive in their thinking, energetic and determined to set a percedent, and take the property owners to court and collect for the hurt, harm and damages their negligence has caused you and/or your family should it be one of your children who is bitten by a brown recluse spider. Certainly make those responsible for your injury pay your medical bills, loss of income, moving expenses and for life long disfigurement and/or scaring that the brown recluse spider bite causes!
I urge people in every city/state to go before their city councils and petition that they adopt a TENANT RIGHTS ordance similar to the one below:
Property owners who rent to tenants must provide for the health, welfare and safety of tenants by providing living quarters free of pests and/or vermon, including rats, mice, other rodents, venomous snakes, venomous and disease trasmitting insects, spiders and/or arthropods, and/or other pests or vermon; all liability for hurt, harm or injury to tenants that is a result of pest and/or vermon infestations when a professional pest control operator has not been previously under contract by property owners to inspect rental property and maintain it free of pests and/or vermon, such as bite by a brown recluse spider, shall be with the property owners, not with the tenants or renters.
Adoption of such ordance by cities will compell property owners who rent to maintain their property such that it is free of insect and spider infestations because to do otherwise would open them to law suits. A TENANTS RIGHT ordance of this type is needed because too often apartment owners and others who rent property fail to maintain the property in a clean condition that provides for the health, welfare and safety of tenants. Property owners who rent need to be held responsible and liable for the consequences of not maintaining their property in a clean condition that contributes to the health, safety and welfare of tenants. Only when this is done will the rights of tenants be secured and protected from abuse and exploitation by property owners who are often more concerned about making money than they are about the health, safety and welfare of the people who are their tenants.
Perhaps if tenants of rental property who are bitten by brown recluse spiders recognize that this is NOT an "Act of God" but an act of negligence and/or utter disregard for the health, welfare and saftey of people upon the part of the rental property owners, then those who rent property will not allow it to become breeding grounds for insects and brown recuse spiders. Also this will likely save others from such hurt, harm, suffering and damages, as cleanliness is next to Godliness, and when apartment owners are held responsible for brown recluse spider bites, then down the road it is even going to prevent grave injury or save the life of a child.
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