A killer within/PHOTOS

[Guest guest]

A killer within

Dan uk died from mold, doctors say. His family says he got it

from working at the health district

PHOTO BY BILL HUGHES

Today, uk says her lawsuit against the health district

honors Dan's memory.

http://www.lvcitylife.com/articles/2008/04/17/news/local_news/iq_2095

4359.p

and Dan uk enjoy happier times, circa 2000.

As the toxic mold began to eat its way through Dan's body, fresh

sores like these on his arm and torso would appear daily.

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by JASON WHITED

WITH NO FANGS, no claws, no terrifying roar, mold is the most alien,

contradictory " beast " of prey. It can't give chase, yet the spongy,

often shapeless fungus hunts everywhere. Outwardly, it shows no

hunger, yet its appetite is wide-ranging, occasionally sophisticated

and always voracious. And although no public health official would

ever sound the alarm on roaming, feral mold colonies, eyewitnesses

to its attacks say some strains can ravage human flesh like a school

of hungry piranha.

Nearly as old and as elemental as the Earth itself, mold has learned

to survive for years in cramped, dark spaces without a meal.

Eventually, either water or air (its chief environmental chauffeurs)

will be along. Then, it's a quick ride back to the land of the

living. And time to feed.

Hardly a finicky eater, mold feasts on civilized man's endless, if

sporadic, smorgasbord of cellulose building materials and his

weakness for immediate, reliable water sources -- major food

supplies for many strains of fungus.

Of the thousands of mold species, two types, Aspergillus and

Stachybotrys, have learned the lessons of evolution better than

most, emerging as highly calibrated killing machines. Weaponized,

these two molds have been used to devastating effect in biological

attacks waged by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and the former

Soviet Union. With Stachybotrys' tendency to spew out toxins (which

usually kill its host) in an effort to guard its prey from other

parasites and Aspergillus' ability to hang on and infect a human

body as robustly as almost no other fungi on the planet, these two

toxic molds, while useful in a number of industrial and military

processes, routinely prove deadly.

Often clinging to the darkness just inside walls or behind ceiling

tiles, this duo also lurks silently, almost invisibly, near sewage

pipes and air vents. Then, with the first blast of conditioned air

or the drip of a leaky roof, the hunt is on. And what looked like

just a scattering of dust along an attic crawlspace or in a hidden

corner can shape shift in days into a juicy, jiggling hunk of

unknowable darkness. As water triggers rapid growth, the host colony

eats its fill of whatever lies beneath its newly teeming biomass.

Within hours of reanimation, its reproductive factories launch

millions of spores into the air, or send them off to ply the canals

of trickling water leakage. Whether these spores land on drywall or

human flesh matters not. Each landing zone is a banquet, and a

potential home base for the newborn spores which quickly and

covertly coalesce into colonies of their own.

And so it was five years ago as local health inspector Dan uk

sat at his desk at the Southern Nevada Health District, at first not

knowing that death was cascading down on him from on high.

Ironically, as he spent most days working to improve the safety of

schools and other public buildings, the ceiling above and the air

around him teemed with the microscopic forces invading his body.

Surely, say doctors, as the spores drifted through the air and down

into Dan's lungs, he felt nothing, at first. Until the mold began to

eat him alive.

A LIFE INTERRUPTED

Almost a year has passed since Dan died July 17, at the age of 57,

succumbing to the colonies of Aspergillus and Stachybotrys gnawing

through his organs and soft tissues. Memories of the man and his

infected, pain-ridden body still writhe in the hearts and minds of

his grieving widow, , and his shattered children. But so does a

boiling anger, a rage, they say, about a death that should have been

prevented by his employers at the Southern Nevada Health District.

That fury has resulted in suing the health district in

district court, a case that'll soon head back before a judge after a

two-month delay.

The lawsuit, filed here in December, came five months to the day

after Dan's death. alleges that health officials for years

covered up a persistent mold infestation at the district's Shadow

Lane headquarters, where Dan worked the last few years of his life,

and intimidated district employees who wanted to blow the whistle.

While she's suing the district to recoup the hundreds of thousands

of dollars she says she spent to keep her husband alive, as well as

to recover a workers' compensation claim which the district still

won't honor, says Dan's former life stands in stark contrast

to district officials who she maintains have lied about the dangers

of mold both to her family and to the untold thousands of local

parents and children who flock to the health district each year for

medical care. Although the numbers of infections and deaths similar

to Dan's are so small that neither federal nor state officials track

the numbers, that doesn't diminish the hell she says her late

husband endured.

" This was a guy who couldn't tell a lie to save his soul. Very

responsible, but also very real. But they [southern Nevada Health

District] don't care, and people are still getting infected. The

truth has to be revealed, " says .

Southern Nevada Health District officials wouldn't comment on the

uks' ongoing lawsuit against them, but they deny allegations

that they're hiding evidence about a supposed toxic mold infestation

at their headquarters and that they callously " let " Dan die. In

fact, mold was identified at the district's headquarters starting in

1998, but the district says its testing showed employees were not at

risk. Still, the presence of mold required extensive cleanup at the

district's offices.

Asked for his official response, health district attorney

Angulo says he doesn't like to " try his cases in the media. "

Legal sources close to the case say this is one lawsuit that could

make as many headlines as the current health scare at the Endoscopy

Center of Southern Nevada, which, ironically, is just down the

street from the district's allegedly contaminated offices. That's

cold comfort to , who hopes that, since she can't have Dan

back, she can at least honor his memory with a little justice.

FAMILY MAN

For nearly 12 years, Dan, the affable family guy and conscientious

employee, worked as a health inspector at the district's

offices, not far from his home. remembers him as a hot-blooded

romantic, doting stepfather and all-around good guy who savored

life. Her husband of 17 years was, and still is, the love of her

life. " We met a roller skating rink. We went to an adult night at a

roller skating rink back in the Midwest where they did couples

skating. From the start, we had a strong attraction, " she says.

After about a year of courting, the couple married. Dan, and

her two children from a previous marriage, and Chrissy, set up

house together. says Dan did all he could to ensure the new

family gelled.

" He adopted my children as soon as we got married. He treated them

as his own. Anything they needed, Dan was there, " says . While

she and Dan finished up their respective degrees, opportunities in

Las Vegas began to open up for them both. She had a love for

clinical psychology; he had a passion for public health issues, and

Vegas seemed the perfect place to reinvent a stable family

environment. Dan found work here, signing on with what is now called

the Health District of Southern Nevada in 1988. 's psychology

practice began to take root. By all accounts, life was great. Dan

was the dynamo helping to churn out all that joy at home. " Dan loved

to laugh and have fun. He had this dry sense of humor; he had

something humorous to say about almost everything. But he also had a

serious side, and he is -- sorry, he was -- one of these people

who's very responsible in work, in his home life and in his play, "

she says, pausing a handful of times to regain her composure and

catch her breath.

It was a perfect scene, at least until district officials

transferred Dan to their Vegas headquarters in February 2003. Until

the dementia and the constant pain began. Until Dan's flesh began to

ooze so much pus and infection that puddles of fluid soaked his

sleeping frame each morning, ruining his bedclothes from the night

before.

Until screams and cries of pain supplanted laughter and family time

in the last two years of a life cut short.

INSTANT SYMPTOMS

Understandably, the uk family's raw emotions still make it

painful for them to discuss some facts of the case. But official

court records, interviews with legal sources and public and private

documents depict Dan as a man forced to toil in oppressive,

potentially deadly conditions under supervisors whom 's lawyers

describe as " malicious. " After his transfer, Dan was assigned to

review plans for schools and other public buildings, ensuring they

met all applicable health code requirements. It was rewarding work,

but there were early signs that his new assignment meant trouble.

Within a matter of weeks, it was clear to Dan -- even clearer to

and the kids -- that something was very wrong with him.

" He just lost his focus, very quickly. He seemed to have more

confusion, couldn't pay attention and had trouble with cognitive

thinking, " says .

As a clinical psychologist, she recommended that Dan try Wellbutrin,

which can improve mental focus. The pills didn't do much. His

condition worsened.

" I knew he had just gone on to a new position; I thought, maybe, the

new job was interfering. But the Wellbutrin seemed to help only in a

minor fashion. "

During the next year, Dan continued to struggle with confusion and

lost mental focus, as well as chronic exhaustion. His use of sick

time skyrocketed. He consulted with as many doctors as would see him.

Then, around March 2004, the reasons for Dan's phantom illness

became clear, at least to the uks. After reading in a local

newspaper that local health officials had recently closed the

Children's Oasis childcare facility because of the presence of toxic

mold, Dan began to wonder whether festering mold colonies in his own

office might be causing his illness. Months of research followed. So

did continued doctor visits. He and other employees had seen

multiple water leaks on ceiling tiles around their section of the

building. Others in Dan's wing of the building had also complained

of eye irritation and difficulty breathing.

Based on these symptoms, which a growing number of researchers now

tie to toxic mold exposure, an infestation made sense, he told

friends and family.

As his illness began to take hold, mental impairment gave way to

physical pain and loss of musculoskeletal control. Some days, Dan

had trouble walking. Other days, simple speech was a chore. Dan

began to forget things. Like where he was, or what he was doing.

Finally, in late 2005, one local doctor finally thought he had an

answer for the uks. It was then that Dr. Naresh Singh found

Dan's body to be infected with both Aspergillus and Stachybotrys.

Multiple blood tests performed by local and national specialists (at

least one of which came after Dan's death) confirmed Singh's

assessment.

Dan's flesh was riddled with mold colonies, which were still

growing, constantly infused (Dan and his doctor believed) with fresh

spores growing in his health district office. With constant darkness

and an endless supply of water and nutrient-rich bodily fluids,

Dan's internal tissues were the ideal breeding ground for the

billions of mold spores now circulating in his system. As the spores

gathered into colonies to feed on Dan's flesh, time was running out.

Something had to be done. Dan had to get out of there.

" In other situations, when this has become a problem, the employer

has usually complied, sometimes reluctantly, but they've complied,

and relocated the patient to another workplace, " Singh told one

reporter who first covered Dan's case back in 2006.

But not health district officials. Court documents and uk family

members say they shrugged off his requests, even becoming enraged as

the man from tried to save his own life by asking

repeatedly for transfers - requests backed by official letters from

his doctors.

However, earlier press coverage reports that health district

officials knew about their mold problem - and how it was harming

employees. " Dan is the third current active employee with this

specific diagnosis ... " reads one internal district e-mail, sent in

September 2005 from the district's human resources office. An even

earlier message, sent by Dan's supervisor in March 2004 reads, " ...

The mold spores make Dan's assigned desk an unpleasant and

unhealthful place to work. I frankly do not understand why the roof

itself cannot be fixed to eliminate this problem. "

On Oct. 14, 2005 -- nearly 19 months after Dan first requested a

transfer -- his employers let him leave Shadow Lane and, eventually,

retire early based on his medical condition.

THE END

During the next 18 months, documents show Dan's symptoms worsened at

an ever-increasing clip.

Confusion and loss of bodily control expanded to even more severe

exhaustion, cysts on his internal organs and skin, loss of breath

and a painful, persistent rash over most of his body. The rash --

which doctors say was actually the mold inside his body finally

beginning to eat through his flesh -- wracked Dan with pain day and

night.

" His last years of life were absolutely horrible, " says . " He'd

scream, he'd cry, he'd weep. Every morning before work, I'd change

his dressings, then videotape him to show what had changed from the

night before. "

Massive, constantly oozing sores covered his body. The sour stench

from Dan's sores was atrocious. His screams in the night were

heartbreaking.

" He got worse very quickly. He'd get new sores, new breakouts. These

sores would drain and 'weep' a fluid that stank. The fluid would

[soak] the bed sheets. Sometimes, Dan would be stuck to the bed, and

we couldn't get him off of it. He ruined all of his clothes. I had

to throw away two beds, including a $4,000 Sleep Number bed, " she

says.

Singh also expressed shock that health district supervisors didn't

transfer Dan back in 2004, after his first request.

" It was kind of a callous, uncaring mentality. Having mold and

having a problem in the building should be of big concern, so I'm

saddened that that was not perceived by them, " he told reporters.

And then, more than four years after the mold spores first entered

his body, Dan succumbed. He died at home on July 17, 2007,

surrounded by family. His wife at his side. says he went

peacefully. An autopsy she paid for came back with Dan's official

cause of death: mixed mold mycotoxicosis, or poisoning from a blend

of toxic mold.

TRAPPED IN THE OFFICE

Perhaps more shocking than the fact that his supervisors refused to

grant Dan a transfer from their Shadow Lane offices is that, by the

time he retired in late 2005, documents show that health officials

had known of a mold problem there since at least 1998.

In their defense, district officials point to a series of toxicology

studies from 2005, 2006 and 2007 that, they say, prove employees on

Shadow Lane were never at risk from the Aspergillus and Stachybotrys

repeatedly found in their Shadow Lane offices.

" There is a report that some of these types of mold spores were

identified in 2005 and 2006, but the 2005 results were not in any

different levels than was found in outside air in Las Vegas, while

the 2006 report suggested that type of mold was not airborne, but

limited to a small surface area and was consistent with a roof leak

and deemed not unusual, " says district spokeswoman Bethel.

Of the four studies cited by Bethel, three report mold in the health

district's Shadow Lane offices, but at levels significantly lower

than those found in outside, ambient air. At least one study,

conducted Dec. 13, 2006, found strains of both Aspergillus and

Stachybotrys, but not at levels, she says, that would normally pose

a human health risk.

But at least six additional environmental studies from private

firms, government teams and UNLV microbiologists (who,

coincidentally, hold a patent for developing high-tech methods of

detecting Aspergillus and Stachybotrys) tell another story.

As early as October 1998, according to documents obtained by

CityLife, UNLV scientists had found Stachybotrys on some of the

building's ceiling tile during and after renovation work on the

building. But they found no airborne spores.

Officials with the health district insist that in-house maintenance

crews regularly clean the Shadow Lane facility, replace air filters

and " remove or clean any areas that could pose a legitimate health

hazard to ... employees or the public. "

That fall, after repeated employee complaints of illness and Sick

Building Syndrome, another firm went inside the Shadow Lane offices

to look for mold. Again, inspectors found Stachybotrys infusing

ceiling tiles - this time, alongside fresh Aspergillus spores.

According to these same documents, inspectors were so concerned

about the mold at Shadow Lane, they summoned a so-called remediation

crew to the site.

" We set up full isolation and decon[tamination] chambers ... we

removed and double bagged all suspected [materials] and left the

isolation barriers up for the [then] County Health Department

maintenance crew to install new drywall, " writes Terranova,

president of Terra Nova Inc., the Vegas-based environmental firm

that found the toxic mold a second time.

No matter how often crews cleaned up the mold, however, fresh

colonies seemed to have little trouble growing in the Shadow Lane

offices. In the ensuing years, additional inspection teams at Shadow

Lane found still more toxic mold there.

In mid-March 2003, documents show UNLV microbiologists descended on

Shadow Lane to again hunt for Stachybotrys. They found it in the

same hallway where Dan had begun working a month earlier.

Although UNLV scientists prepared no final written report for health

officials at the time, an internal UNLV document states that the

biologists did call district personnel, urging them to decontaminate

the area.

Further, court documents allege that, in May and August of 2004,

ceiling tiles and air-conditioning vents at the Shadow Lane offices

tested positive for both Stachybotrys and Aspergillus. Both molds

were found less than 20 feet from Dan's desk.

PAPER TRAIL

Before he died, Dan kept the kinds of immaculate records that have

helped form the legal backbone of 's claim against the health

district. From copious hand-written notes on clashes with health

district officials to homemade blueprints of district headquarters

(and detailed notes on where inspectors found mold living in those

same Shadow Lane offices), Dan's homework speaks from beyond the

grave.

One of the most interesting items? A list of more than a dozen

current and former health district employees (according to and

family friends who've reviewed the items with CityLife) who also

either got sick or succumbed to catastrophic illnesses while working

at Shadow Lane. None of those employees would speak on the record to

CityLife.

If the court decides in her favor during her upcoming lawsuit,

says the money will help pay for Dan's still outstanding medical

bills, now in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. But a ruling for

Dan would also, strangely, redeem his suffering -- and might prevent

others from living the nightmare the uks endured for more than

four years.

She's not doing this for the cash, she says. She's going after the

health district for the public good -- and because it's what Dan

wanted.

" On his deathbed, Dan said, ', please follow through with this

lawsuit and stop [what's] going on in the health district.' That was

his dying wish. Dan was a very honest guy, and he always did what

was right. That's why he got in trouble, " she says.

If she loses the lawsuit, it won't really matter. By taking the

district to court, says she's following the moral example set

for her by the greatest man she's ever known. By going to court, she

feels she's still able to take care of Dan, of his memory. Dan would

have done the same for her, she says.

" He was always so concerned about everyone else. He always wanted to

know how everyone else was doing. He took the focus off of himself

and put it on other people, even to his dying day. That's just the

kind of guy he was. "