I wanted to introduce you to a woman that I spoke to who lives in Florida and says that she has had a problem with hot tub lung disease. I do not know her but she seemed credible. I told her I would share this discussion with you.

Though I've discussed hot tub lung disease before, I have never spoken with a person who had experience with it. That was until I received a phone call from this very genuine sounding 52 year old Floridian.

I told her that I wouldn't offer her name to protect her privacy. We spent maybe ½ hour on the phone chatting.

This person reports to suffering no symptoms at all. This was detected through a chest x-ray. A very small speck on her lung appeared.

The spec was biopsied and from that they were able to rule out lung cancer. That was very good news indeed. However, the spec was cultured and from the culture they were able to find out that she had the bacteria associated with hot tub lung disease.

You should know that the biopsy was not an easy procedure. She indicated that this can be painful and not a procedure that should be taken lightly.

The caller asked her doctors where this bacteria came from. She reports that her pulmonary doctor failed to inquire whether she had a hot tub. She was mad at this doctor for not asking this question.

Here is the problem that hot tub lung sufferers seem to find themselves in. Often they do not feel well and use the hot tub to feel better. In reality, they believe the hot tub is what made them ill in the first place, and the hot tub may be the last place in which they should seek comfort. So not having this information early on may be dangerous for a patient - it may make matters worse.

The caller reports that the bacteria is found all over Florida and Hawaii as well other states. She also learned that gardeners may be susceptible to becoming ill, perhaps from the soil exposure.

Interestingly, chlorine appears not to kill this disease -she reports. What is necessary is an absolutely perfect, pristine maintenance of a hot tub.

The caller's advice: you need to be your own medical advocate. You need to do your own research and you need to understand your illness.

She cautions people who use hot tubs to be very careful. She says that she feels that even super shocking a hot tub may not address the problem. According to this woman, this is a problem that is going to have to be dealt with by the hot tub industry.

As I stated, this nice lady called to share her story with me. In turn, I wanted to share it with you. I can neither vouch for her recitation of the facts or the medicine. But I can report that she was believable.

In the final analysis: let the buyer beware.

The information provided in this column is written by Stuart Lieberman,a practicing environmental attorney, and is for general information purposes only. It is not legal advice and should not be used in place of legal advice.

Stuart Lieberman, Esq., and IRED.Com, Inc., will not accept any responsibilty for any reliance on the information in this column or any damages whatsoever resulting from reading this column.