Re: Legal question/ 2004 Boston Hearing at the Boston Teachers Union/ Challenge

[Guest guest]

First, to the Legal Question, which is in this loop.

I would NEVER go into a Workers' Comp hearing pro se.

1st - there is a great deal of controversy about our soldiers in Iraq

and Afganistan without proper protective battle gear. The lawyer is

your suit of armor.

2nd - Workers' Comp usually, pays for the lawyers fees, or comes out

of funds that are paid by the employer as a member of the insured.

You need to find, perhaps, a lawyer with experience in " exposure "

cases. The Bar association should be helpful with that.

NOT LEGAL ADVICE

*********************************************************************

Thank you very much, and Sharon for your kind words, this is a

lonely war.

Second - the challenge to you all on this board. Put your money and

your efforts where your mouths are! If you can spend the time to

post information and share with your fellow posters, you can get on

the " horn " --- the " phone " and call your elected officials and

schedule a hearing to discuss Indoor Air Quality (or lack thereof),

as a matter of public concern. Don't wait and sit on your rear end

and think someone else is going to do it for you.

My words are harsh, but too bad! I lost may friends (who were really

NOT my friends) when I came " out " about this matter. You may lose a

few in the battle as well. But you will make some wonderful new ones

in the process.

They will call you a " nut " or whatever, but who cares. I don't have

cancer, like many of my colleagues, and maybe God rewarded me, and

spared me to be with my kids, who had to endure the slings and arrows

of the " locals " who were not nice in their discourse, about their

sick mother.

If you are in the workplace, look around and see who has cancer, or

auto immune disease. They may go quietly, but YOU don't have to.

Make noise, make a scene, make a stink, or whatever it takes to raise

awareness on this issue. If you have a home problem, you are in

control, but the workers, and especially school kids, like I was

trying to protect, have NO control, except through the public venue

of the community or public hearing. You PAY union dues. Make your

money work for you.

Don't think what happened in Boston over time, will carry you. It

won't. Only few public officials stood with us. The rest hid. Even

those with cancer, and are now DEAD, did not come out, like

Francis, " Mickey " Roache, who visited my classroom, and saw the mold,

a month before the first hearing in 2001, where I met .

Chuck , took over for Mickey Roache, after his election to

another post. Maura Hennigan helped with the 2004 hearing. I went to

high school with Maura and she was a fellow former Boston School

Teacher, and member of the Boston Teachers' Union.

Chuck sits on may community boards concerning air quality as

well. He is one of 13 city councillors. He " manned up " as my kids

would say. I wish I could say they all helped. They didn't.

But YOU can find that special elected person, who can help. YOU know

who has courage in the face of disaster. " We " do not know who is in

YOUR community. In this country, we call America, the town/city

meeting is YOUR right! In 2008, there is a lot more information than

there was in 2001. This forum dates back to the late

1990's. This is a national plague. And, it is great what we did in

Boston, but it is history. Yesterday's news. YOU can make today's

news. Like Smokey the Bear used to say " Only YOU can prevent forest

fires...Only YOU can have your own town/city meeting. "

Maybe WE can come to YOUR hearing!

>

> Hello everyone,

>

> I worked on the Boston City Council hearing in December of 2004.

One of the

> reasons for the hearing was to update the Boston City Council and

those who

> attended on what happened during Mycotic Awareness Week in DC in

September of

> '04 and to garner support for Congressman Conyers' HR 1268, The US

Toxic Mold

> Safety and Protection Act, also known as the Melina Bill.

>

> It was an amazing hearing with people traveling from California

> (representatives from Schoolmoldhelp.org), Georgia (had the honor

of actually meeting our

> moderator, KC!) , Maine (our own Janet), North Carolina (Dr.

Simone Sommer

> and her son Josh), a few people from DC, including Segal from

Congressman

> Conyer's office and a representative from Sheetmetal Workers Union

> International), Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island and other

states to discuss mold

> exposure and illnesses, problems in getting diagnosed and treated

for our

> illnesses as well as other topics related to mold. We had

representatives from

> the Boston Teachers Union, including Ginny Lane who arranged for

the use of

> the building), doctors, lawyers, private industry representatives

and those

> sickened by mold in their places of work, schools and homes.

>

> The hearing was chaired by Boston City Councillor Chuck (an

amazing

> man who has worked very hard on this issue for years) and Boston

City

> Councillor Maura Hennigan (now Clerk of Suffolk Superior Court for

Criminal Business)

> who filed the order for the hearing. A document the size of a

phone book

> was distributed and entered into the record which contained

countless

> testimonies from people across this country who had been harmed by

mold exposure.

>

> Having been involved in all the hearings the Boston City Council

has

> conducted over the years on the issue of mold exposure and illness,

I have to say

> from my own personal experience as well as reading about and

talking to people

> around the world whose health has been harmed by mold exposure,

time and

> time again, the frustration by those sickened centered around

their doctors not

> recognizing, diagnosing and treating mold illnesses and it wasn't

any

> different at the hearing: RECOGNIZING, DIAGNOSING AND

TREATING.

>

> At the 12.9.04 Boston City Council hearing, this particular

problem was

> addressed by Dr. Johanning, specifically as it pertained to the

detrimental

> effects the ACOEM Mold Guideline was having on the truth about

mold illnesses.

>

> Others raised it in a less direct way but the bottom line was the

same: Why

> can't our doctors help us? How can so many of us be sick yet our

doctors

> don't seem to understand? How can so many of us be sick but the

medical

> infrastructure doesn't seem to have a clue? I am sorry to say but

it is all about

> money, just like lead paint, asbestos and cigarettes. People out

there are

> protecting stakeholders to the detriment of the health of children

in schools,

> workers in the workplace and residents in their homes.

>

> At subsequent hearings before the Massachusetts Legislature's

Joint

> Committee on Public Health, the ACOEM paper was discussed and

documents were

> presented to the committee backing up the " prudent man's "

interpretation of the

> validity of these guidelines and the harmful ramifications on all

us who have been

> made ill by mold exposure. And as you all must know by now, the

Wall Street

> Journal (who had the same information) investigated the

allegations and

> backed up common sense and exposed the conflicts of interest with

some doctors

> who chose to take care of clients rather than patients.

>

> We also are grateful to Senator Kennedy to submitted a request to

the GAO

> for an audit on this very serious health issue. We also await a

hearing before

> congress. Money has to get out of medicine on this and so many

other health

> threats. Whatever happened to " First, do no harm. " ?

>

> Ginny, you are absolutely right. Other states must take up the

charge and

> address this issue on their own local and state levels. But rest

assured, our

> elected officials on the federal level know about this and the

apparent

> conflicts of interest. With all the hard work of many, we WILL

get to the truth.

>

> Mulvey son

>

>

>

>

> **************It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms and advice on AOL

Money &

> Finance. (http://money.aol.com/tax?NCID=aolcmp00300000002850)

>

>

>