Health inspector says toxic mold made him sick

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Health inspector says toxic mold made him sick

Scripps News - Washington,DC

By ED KOCH and MARY MANNING

http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/20553

A public health inspector who says he was sickened by mold in his

office is still waiting for his disability benefits _ a year after

an arbitrator ruled in his favor.

Dan uk says his various and debilitating maladies are worsening,

and he is frustrated that his employer _ a public health agency, no

less _ would balk at acknowledging its culpability in his sickness.

Southern Nevada Health District officials, however, say office mold

did not get the inspector sick, which is why the insurance company

that provides the agency's health benefits, Sierra Nevada

Administrators, denied uk's claim in 2005.

The 57-year-old uk appealed to a state hearing master and in

early 2006 won. A state workers' compensation hearing master ordered

the district and its insurer to pay his medical bills that at the

time were $30,000 but now are about $50,000, and to pay him two-

thirds of his salary. uk earned about $56,000 a year.

Also last year, the Public Employees Retirement System of Nevada

determined uk to be totally and permanently disabled.

The Health District and its insurance administrators are appealing,

yet no hearing has been scheduled.

So uk is still waiting for his disability benefits _ and says

toxic mold syndrome is killing him in the meantime.

" I did my job by protecting the public's health, but the Health

District did not protect mine, " said uk, who was raised in

Minnesota and is an Air Force veteran. " Now they are just hoping I

will go away or die. They are using delay tactics. "

Attorney Dan Schwartz, who represents the Health District and

Sierra, said it is not uncommon _ nor is it a delay tactic _ to take

a workers' compensation case to the second appeal level, noting that

65 percent to 85 percent of all hearing master decisions are

appealed. Schwartz said his clients are appealing because they say

uk's claim is not a job-related injury.

The Health District says the mold in its aging Shadow Lane building

was not as bad as uk made it out to be _ it was found in only a

couple of ceiling tiles _ and it presented no danger to employees or

visitors. Health District spokeswoman Sizemore said that

since mold was found in the building in 1998, six environmental

studies have been conducted. The last one, in January, found the

mold was gone.

After learning of the mold above his desk in late 2003, uk made

several requests for transfers to a mold-free office.

Finally, in October 2005, uk was transferred to the East Las

Vegas office and two weeks later went on permanent medical leave

from his job, which included inspecting restaurants, motels and

hotels.

uk says his symptoms today include a blotchy rash, shortness of

breath, memory loss, cysts, difficulty walking and concentrating ,

and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

In a March 28, 2006, letter in support of uk's initial hearing,

his lung specialist, Dr. Naresh Singh, wrote: " It appears that his

illness is a natural conclusion to his exposure to the toxic mold

found present at his workplace. "

" is my most severe case, " Singh said in an interview. " Some

of his symptoms I do not fully understand myself. His prognosis is

not good. He has been away from the (Health District's) environment

for some time now and continues to deteriorate. "

Scientific opinions vary about the dangers of mold.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in

Atlanta, there is no proven link between mold exposure and illness.

Toxicologist Bruce Macler of the Environmental Protection Agency in

San Francisco said although molds can cause health problems in

sensitive people, " the notion of mortality is far-fetched. "

uk says office mold has afflicted co-workers.

Eight co-workers whose desks were within 50 feet of his have died

since the early 1990s of various forms of cancer and other ailments,

and five others became so ill they have quit or retired.

Experts say without proper analysis of factors such as age, genetics

and lifestyle, the deaths cannot be scientifically linked to any one

source, including mold.

Still, the Health District's human resources department acknowledged

in a September 2005 interoffice memo that " Dan is the third current

active employee with this specific diagnosis. "

(Contact Ed Koch at koch(at)lasvegassun.com. Contact Manning at

manning(at)lasvegassun.com.)