Most interesting that Mark only quoted the part that suited him.

<snip>

Quoting properly:

Published January 26, 2006

By LAURA McVICKER

H&N Staff Writer

The family of a deceased Klamath Falls woman has filed a wrongful death
lawsuit against Cell Tech International, alleging she died after the company
supplied her dietary supplements with toxic levels of microcystins.

But Cell Tech's attorney Erick Haynie said Wednesday that there has been no
evidence provided by doctors that Melissa Blake died due to repeated
exposure to the naturally occurring toxin.

Blake, who worked as a receptionist for Cell Tech in Klamath Falls, was 34
when she died April 18, 2003, from severe liver and kidney failure. She left
behind a young son. In the civil suit, filed in Multnomah County Circuit
Court, the family is asking for $500,000 in economic damages for medical and
funeral and burial costs and $1.5 million in damages for the emotional loss
of Blake as a daughter and mother.

The suit was filed for the estate of Melissa Kay Blake through her mother,
Susan Blake of Klamath Falls. Susan Blake told the Herald and News that her
attorney advised her not to comment on the case.

A trial date is scheduled for April, but may be postponed until fall at the
request of both sides, Haynie said.

Blake developed liver and kidney failure in February 2003, and despite
medical treatment, her condition worsened, court records state.

Doctors at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland performed an
autopsy of Blake several days after her death. According to complaint filed
with the suit, the results indicated that "observable liver and kidney
damage to Ms. Blake were suggestive of exposure to toxins which occur with
blue green algae called microcystins." Microcystins are a group of amino
acids and liver toxins found in natural bodies of water.

OSHU lab experts also tested algae products found in Blake's home, and
results of those tests indicated that they had high amounts of microcystins
in them. The products were supplied to Blake by Cell Tech, the complaint
alleged.

But Haynie said that testing of microcystins in Blake's liver during the
autopsy did not show exposure. Further, Haynie said that Cell Tech carefully
tests its products to ensure that no high levels of the toxins exist.

"There is no evidence of anyone being harmed of the company's product, let
alone dying," he said.

According to the complaint, Cell Tech's product contains "dangerously high
levels of contaminants" and the corporation did not "adequately warn of the
dangers associated with continued ingestion or consumption of the product."

The complaint also alleges that Cell Tech did not warn consumers of the
dangers of microcystins in the dietary supplement, and says that Blake
consumed numerous dietary supplement products, "as intended and encouraged
by Cell Tech."

Cell Tech harvests blue-green algae from Upper Klamath Lake for use as food
supplements. In 2004, the company had an average of 31,195 distributors and
net sales of $14.8 million. At its peak in the 1990s, Cell Tech employed
about 600 people in Klamath Falls.

In 1996, Cell Tech officials faced a toxic scare after microcystins was
found in Upper Klamath Lake. Though Cell Tech then tested its harvest to
ensure consumers that their product was toxin-free, their sales plummeted
from $200 million to $14.8 in 2004.