When Good Mold Goes Bad

[Guest guest]

(Good for you Doug! Keep up the great work you do. looks just

like my oldest son, Kirk. When I saw the photo I did a double take!!)

http://www.newsreview.com/issues/sacto/2002-02-07/cover.asp

Cover Story

When Good Mold Goes Bad

Mold is simply a harmless fungus, according to government regulators. Tell

that to Morton, whose son has suffered the devastating effects of

toxic mold.

By

Photo by Jill Wagner

White, his mother Morton and her fiancé Mike Putnam. In his six

years, has endured numerous and serious health problems due to toxic

mold.

Six-year-old White is sitting restlessly in the waiting area of the

HealthSouth Surgery Center and stays close to his mom, Morton. Wearing

his favorite NASCAR Jeff Gordon bright-red faux-leather jacket, his nervous

facial expression betrays the confident, daredevil aura projected by his

clothes. The waiting room is comfortable and seems designed to calm--the

soft classical music that is playing complements the framed pastel prints on

the walls. A nearby coffee table is stacked with the usual selection of

out-of-date magazines, and the September 2001 issue of Reader's Digest is on

the top of the pile. The cover story, " How hospitals are gambling with your

life, " goes unnoticed by the handful of waiting patients.

When a surgery assistant walks over to Morton and announces that they are

ready to start, 's expression turns to unabashed fear, and he executes a

token escape attempt, climbing the back of the chair, putting his back to

the wall. clearly isn't ready to start.

Since this isn't 's first trip to the surgeon's table, Morton suggests

that this outpatient procedure should be " a walk in the park. " But the

statement seems intended more to reassure herself than anyone else, and

has to be muscled by the assistant and his mom off the chair and through an

adjacent door.

Minutes later, 's cries, which progressively intensify to a

near-hysterical level, pierce through the lobby, drowning out the Muzak. The

remaining occupants of the waiting area shift in their seats.

" They had to heavily sedate him, " says Morton, returning to the lobby

shortly after the waiting room sound level had returned to normal. " He has a

lot of anxiety about this. "

It was surgery to mitigate a chronic sinus infection, which followed

previous ear tube insertion surgery to address chronic ear infections. In

the interim, had two battles with pneumonia, an unusually aggravated

asthma condition, and chronic fatigue. According to Morton, the ordeal began

shortly after they moved into the Downs apartment complex in Citrus

Heights. Initially baffled by her son's extended run of bad health, she

began to suspect that the persistent black mold that seemed to reoccur in

parts of the apartment, despite her continual cleaning and disinfecting, may

be connected to 's distress.

According to Morton, the property manager resisted her initial request to

have a toxic mold test conducted, until she enlisted the help of 's

doctor and an attorney. Downs apartment manager Yanders

denies that she needed additional persuasion to conduct a toxic mold test on

Morton's apartment, and said that she agreed to order the test as soon as it

was requested by Morton. Yanders hired Action Environmental Management

Services to perform the testing, and Morton's suspicions were validated when

the test came back positive for toxic mold. The mold test report noted that

" the presence of the toxic black mold Stachybotrys chartarum on the

quick-swab sample from the shower enclosure could eventually pose a

significant risk to the health of the occupants of Unit 138. ...

Stachybotrys is a saprophytic fungus with the potential for producing severe

allergic, respiratory, and/or immunological symptoms. Persons with a history

of allergies and respiratory ailments, the elderly, persons with a

suppressed immune system, children and infants are especially susceptible if

exposed to airborne spores and mycotoxins that are produced by this mold. "

Yanders declined to comment on the test results, or any other issues related

to Morton and her apartment, and referred additional questions to the

attorney for the complex. Gerry Larrea, the attorney for Downs,

confirmed that the apartment tested positive for toxic mold and was

remediated, but points out that the test results also noted that the level

of airborne mold spores inside the unit was lower than the level of airborne

spores measured outside.

Photo by Jill Wagner

The truth is out there ... and local mold educator Doug Haney is convinced

he has found it.

It turned out that the mold was mostly concealed behind a wall in the

bathroom, and likely caused by water incursion at the base of the shower

enclosure, which was also noted in the test report. Mother and son were

required to relocate to a hotel while the mold was eradicated from the

apartment, and the bathroom repaired. But like most instances where serious

health problems occur during or after exposure to toxic mold, it is

extremely difficult to definitively prove that White's illnesses were

caused by the toxic mold found in his home. And the issue of proof is the

unstable nucleus of the escalating toxic mold debate.

According to several authorities intimately familiar with the issue, toxic

mold is at the same place where asbestos and tobacco-related health problems

were at years ago--a link with serious illness was suspected, but not yet

scientifically established. And similar to the early asbestos and tobacco

health debates, a substantial amount of disinformation is being disseminated

by corporate, government and other interests that would not benefit if a

meaningful connection between toxic mold and illness is confirmed, they say.

Sacramento attorney , doctors Marinkovich and

Duffy, and local toxic mold writer, lecturer and educator, Doug Haney, all

say it is time to expose what they believe is the truth about toxic mold.

About a month before White was dragged through the door of anxiety,

Doug Haney was standing in a conference room at the Reno Hilton Hotel and

Casino. Haney's one-man Sacramento-based company, the Environmental Health

Research Group, was hosting a day-long, multi-speaker seminar titled " Indoor

Mold Contamination: Universal Policies and Procedures Manual & Training

Package for Administrators & Key Decision Makers. " The State Bar of

California certified the course for continuing education credits. But in

addition to attorneys, the 45 attendees, who paid $495 each to learn more

about fungus, included real estate brokers and property managers,

environmental safety consultants and a toxicologist. They came from

throughout California and from as far away as Texas and Michigan. Haney's

first seminar, held in a small Sacramento office a year and a half earlier,

drew only half a dozen lawyers. Interest in the subject seemed to be growing

and, after expenses, the impresario of toxic mold made a small profit on the

latest seminar.Haney began adulthood as a combat medic in Vietnam and now

makes a living as an environmental health research writer and consultant.

The desk in his home office is topped with a scientific microscope, and

copies of Gray's Anatomy and Mosby's Medical Dictionary are within arm's

length of the chair. His computer hard drive is packed with academic,

medical and health research documents from around the world and he has

written several books, including Toxic Mold--Toxic Enemy! He utilized

writing and research skills developed as a senior publications writer in the

space shuttle program while employed by Marietta Aerospace

Corporation. Haney discusses the mold issue with intensity and outrage over

what he sees as a public health scandal. He perceives a virtual epidemic

coming, " a tidal wave, " that he feels is not being adequately confronted by

the mainstream medical community and the government agencies responsible for

public health oversight.

Haney has come a long way in a short time--it was just three years earlier

that he first began to develop a serious interest in the mold issue. At that

time, he was living in a different Citrus Heights apartment complex from

Morton and her son, but Downs and Haney's buildings were only

a short walk apart.

Haney was a tenant at the now infamous Fairways apartment complex. The

636-unit, resort-style project developed serious mold problems in the

mid-1990s, and the owner has since spent immense amounts of money on mold

eradication and remains embroiled in ongoing lawsuits by former tenants (one

of whom has a Web site: www.thefairways.com).

When he was a resident at the Fairways and first heard about the mold

problems, Haney was skeptical. " I thought it was a hoax, and that people

were just trying to bilk insurance companies, " he said. Although he remained

healthy, he knew other residents who did get sick, and after attending a

mold education program designed to ease local hysteria at the height of the

Fairways debacle, he began to work full time researching the issue.

After scouring medical texts, academic and scientific research papers and

other sources, Haney became convinced that toxic mold was for real, and

presented a serious public health problem capable of causing a range of

debilitating illnesses. Haney has since changed careers in order to write,

speak and disseminate information about toxic mold. With the enthusiasm of a

new believer who has just had a religious conversion, he is a now a man with

a message. And Haney's sermon can be condensed to this: if we, as a

community--the public and private sectors--don't mobilize and take a

coordinated, aggressive, proactive approach to address the issue of toxic

mold, there are going to be more Whites. A lot more.

Even though he is not a university or medical school-trained researcher,

Haney's work has been endorsed by several physicians involved in the toxic

mold issue, including P. Duffy. Last year, Dr. Duffy was selected by

the California Medical Association to be the legislative medical adviser on

SB 732, the Toxic Mold Protection Act. Duffy provided Haney's book to

legislators and other consultants involved with the bill. " I think Doug

Haney is very reputable, and he is rocking the boat enough to bring about

some changes, " Duffy said.

Photo by Larry Dalton

Fungus among us: Attorney has over 600 active mold cases pending

and gets 15 to 20 calls a day from people claiming to be sickened by mold.

Haney asserts that the current mainstream medical and government approaches

to the issue--to essentially deny or discredit the prevalence and adverse

health effects of toxic mold, leaving the lawyers and the courts to sort it

out--is patently irresponsible, and will only create additional human

hardship and misery. His views on the issue are unsettling and

controversial.

" This is way out of hand. People are dying, and a lot of people are not

talking, " he said, citing several reports of fatalities linked to toxic mold

exposure, including a still debated Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention study of infants in Cleveland, 10 of whom essentially bled to

death in their lungs after toxic mold exposure.

Haney and other medical authorities claim a whole host of serious ailments

can be caused by exposure. Respiratory problems, such as wheezing,

difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, and persistent coughing; ear,

nose and throat irritation and congestion; nosebleeds; blurred vision,

watery or red eyes, and light sensitivity; central nervous system problems,

such as constant headaches, memory problems and mood changes; aches, pains

and fever; skin conditions; hair loss; miscarriages; hard-to-diagnose

conditions such as chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia; certain types

of cancer, including breast; and arthritis can all occur, or be aggravated

by exposure to toxic mold.

Although most molds are relatively harmless, it is generally acknowledged

that the strains of Cladosporium, Penicillium, Aspergillus, Fusarium and

Stachybotrys chartarum, all of which have been identified in home

infestations, produce mycotoxins, a carcinogenic substance, as a byproduct

of their fungal metabolism. In sufficient quantities the toxins trigger one

or more of the health ailments associated with mold exposure, giving these

strains the somewhat inexact, but generally accepted " toxic " moniker. The

molds can enter the body by being inhaled, touched or eaten (such as by

consuming mold-contaminated food). Depending on the level of exposure,

anyone is potentially susceptible to health problems. But particularly

vulnerable are infants, elderly persons, immune-compromised patients (people

with HIV infection, undergoing cancer chemotherapy, liver problems and

similar conditions that weaken the immune system), pregnant women, and

individuals with existing respiratory conditions such as allergies or

asthma.

" This is why it is so important that policies and procedures be implemented

by the government and the private sector to preserve and maintain

uncontaminated environments at home and work, " Haney said. He and a small

but growing group of medical and legal experts believe that there is an

obvious cause and effect link between toxic mold exposure and serious health

problems.

They also express the opinion that the link is suspiciously not as clear to

powerful special interest groups and government agencies with a financial

stake in the issue. Haney maintains that insurance companies, health

maintenance organizations, government programs such as Medicare and

Medi-Cal, rental property owners and property management groups, and the

real estate and construction industries all stand to avoid significant

monetary outlays as long as any link between toxic mold and health problems

remains inconclusive. He explains that the costs to treat mold-related

illnesses, and abate and fix mold-infected buildings, are potentially

astronomical, given the extent of the problem. As a result of the political

influence exerted by these groups, other government agencies responsible for

protecting the public health, such as the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, the Environmental Protection Agency and the California

Department of Health Services are under pressure to maintain the status quo,

said Haney. " It's all about politics and money, " he concludes.

While the conspiracy theory is essentially impossible to prove, Haney and

others embroiled in the issue cite what is at least compelling

circumstantial evidence, such as the current status of the California Toxic

Mold Protection Act. Passed by the Legislature last year, SB 732 directed

the California Department of Health Services to assess the seriousness of

the toxic mold problem by convening a task force. The task force was

supposed to come up with permissible exposure limits for toxic mold, adopt

standards to assess mold threats, and adopt guidelines for the

identification and the remediation of toxic molds, by July 1, 2003.

But the governor's new state budget failed to provide any funding to

implement the measure. " Calling the task force will require resources we don

't have at this point, " confirmed Sandy McNeel, a research scientist with

the department. But there are additional ramifications resulting from not

funding the task force. Among other provisions, SB 732 also requires

landlords and homeowners to disclose the presence of excessive mold when

selling or renting property. But the disclosure requirement isn't triggered

until at least six months after the task force comes up with exposure

limits. Until the currently nonexistent task force completes its work,

landlords and property sellers don't have to tell renters and buyers about

prior mold problems.

Tip of the iceberg? Visible mold, such as at the corner of a window, may

indicate a hidden, between-the-walls infestation.

Echoing many of Haney's warnings is Sacramento attorney . Last

November, won the largest toxic mold personal injury judgment in

history. After a two-and-a-half-week jury trial, the 12 Sacramento County

citizens that heard the evidence agreed that Darren and Marcie Mazza and

their 6-year-old son, Bryce, were made seriously ill, and will suffer

lifelong complications from the toxic mold found in their Watt Avenue

apartment. The jury awarded the family $2.7 million in compensation.

According to , the defense team in the Mazza case argued that

allergies to the family cat were primarily responsible for the family's

health problems--which included the hospitalization of Darren and Bryce--but

the jury was not persuaded. In legal terminology, said that he was

able to prove to a reasonable degree of medical probability that the toxic

mold caused the family's illnesses, and to a reasonable degree of medical

certainty that the family will continue to be susceptible to asthma,

respiratory problems and mold hypersensitivity for the rest of their lives.

Rick Rodgers, the defense attorney in Mazza, said that the case will be

appealed, but declined to comment further on the litigation.

As one of the few toxic mold injury cases to reach a jury, it would be hard

to exaggerate the significance of the Mazza decision, and the verdict has

sent shockwaves throughout the insurance, real estate and construction

industries nationwide. Nearly all toxic mold cases are quietly settled out

of court. " Most settlements are required to be confidential by the insurance

companies--they don't want people to know about them, " said .

Like Haney, has immersed himself in the study of toxic mold, and he

lectures nationwide on the subject. His office has over 600 toxic mold cases

pending, but he doesn't represent only tenants injured by toxic mold

exposure. He also represents defendants, including landlords, property

managers, and some of the largest insurance companies in the world. And

working both sides of the issue may lend his conclusions on the subject more

credibility. said that he has " no question " that illness caused by

toxic mold exposure is a much more prevalent and serious problem than the

medical community and the government is willing to acknowledge, and that the

substantial costs to identify and treat toxic mold illness is much of the

reason. points out that the link between toxic mold exposure and

health problems has been documented by a small number of doctors

specializing in allergy and immunology, but that the majority of doctors,

and especially general practitioners and those employed by HMOs, are either

unable or unwilling to acknowledge the connection. " It's in medical

literature, it's in the medical textbooks, and it's what they teach in

medical school, but people don't recognize it, " he said.

One of the doctors who does seem to recognize it is Marinkovich.

Marinkovich is a Bay Area pediatrician who is board-certified in allergy and

immunology, and is also a clinical faculty member at Stanford University

Medical School. At age 69, Marinkovich has been treating mold health

problems since the 1970s, and is regarded as one of the country's leading

authorities on toxic mold, treating patients who come from across the

country. Marinkovich is encouraged that awareness of the issue is growing,

but agrees that doctors are part of the problem. " A lot of them are closed

minded and don't want to be aware. They often write off a [toxic mold]

patient and say they're psychiatric, when they're not. " And Marinkovich also

concurs that political pressure is playing a role in keeping the connection

between toxic mold and health problems inconclusive. " The only way to prove

[the connection] beyond a shadow of a doubt is to [expose people to toxic

mold] and watch them die. And you can't do that. "

Finding reassurance that the claimed negative health effects of toxic mold

are exaggerated, inconclusive or outright fraudulent isn't hard. The EPA

provides concerned consumers an information sheet that begins, " Molds can be

found almost anywhere, " and goes on to note that, " Outdoors, many molds live

in the soil and play a key role in the breakdown of leaves, wood, and other

plant debris. Without molds we would all be struggling with large amounts of

dead plant matter. " In its publication " Questions and Answers on

Stachybotrys chartarum and other molds, " the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention concludes that, " Stachybotrys chartarum and other molds may cause

health problems that are nonspecific. At present there is no test that

proves an association between Stachybotrys chartarum and particular health

symptoms. "

At the state government level, the toxic mold issue has been delegated to

the California Department of Health Services, and the agency has issued

several reports and information sheets on the subject. One consumer report,

" Mold in My Home: What Do I Do? " acknowledges a laundry list of possible

health ailments that have been reported in conjunction with exposure to

toxic mold, but the department also reassures the reader that " Everyone is

exposed to some mold on a daily basis without evident harm. "

In the private sector, and perhaps representing the opinion of much of the

mainstream medical community, talk-radio medical guru Dr. Dean Edell vents a

scathing opinion on the issue in a March 12, 2001, broadcast. " Toxic mold

may be what America needs in order to go off on a new health panic. We need

something to be upset about because life is just too damn good for us and we

cannot handle it! " The talk doc does admit that " There are people who are

allergic to mold, but it is not a toxic thing--it's an allergy, " and implies

that the condition essentially constitutes just another " fraudulent

disease--like multiple chemical sensitivity ... " Edell also offers a

complimentary diagnosis to people who claim health problems from exposure to

toxic mold. " We have proven that these people, basically, have a

psychosomatic illness. "

The area's largest HMOs--Kaiser Permanente, Health Net and Blue Cross--offer

members scant information on the subject of toxic mold, usually dismissing

any effects as allergy related. Dr. Yip, Kaiser's local mold

authority, does say that the number of mold cases he has seen has increased

dramatically over the past two years, and he attributes the increase to

greater awareness of the subject. Yip said that most patients with

mold-related problems are having an " allergic response, just like [with] a

cat. " Yip acknowledges that he is aware of anecdotal reports that toxic mold

can produce mycotoxins which may be linked to other health problems, but

points out that there are no peer- reviewed medical studies on the subject.

He advises patients with toxic mold exposure symptoms to avoid the exposure

by either moving, or thoroughly cleaning any mold present in the home. " Once

the exposure is removed, people recover rapidly, " he said.

Mold buffet: Moisture between walls and the paper surfacing on sheetrock is

all it takes to create a toxic mold feeding frenzy.

Blue Cross spokesman Larry said that the corporation doesn't have

anyone qualified to comment on the toxic mold issue, but that doctors under

their plan are " authorized to do anything that is medically necessary, " and

a representative from Health Net parroted the same position nearly verbatim.

The managed care plans may be emphasizing their compliance with the

" medically necessary " standard as a result of the January 1, 2001, enactment

of the Managed Health Care Insurance Accountability Act of 1999. Among other

things, the Act makes HMOs liable for any substantial harm caused to

patients by their failure to provide medically necessary health-care

treatment.

But one of the problems with HMOs, according to Haney, is that by refusing

to acknowledge the connection between toxic mold exposure and serious health

problems, they are able to avoid having to authorize certain medically

necessary treatments for toxic mold-related illness. And Marinkovich

describes his own personal experience with the problem. Marinkovich explains

that some patients exposed to high levels of especially tenacious strains of

toxic mold that will colonize within the body, will require long-term

treatment with a relatively costly anti-fungal medication. " That's where I'

ve run into the most trouble with insurance companies. These anti-fungals

are very expensive and the insurance companies don't like to pay for them so

they often deny therapy for patients, " he said. Marinkovich explained that

in certain cases the indicated treatment is the orally ingested prescription

anti-fungal Sporanox, which costs $9.50 per pill. The pills must often be

taken twice a day for a full year, which can run over $6,000.

To get around the medically necessary requirement, Marinkovich said that

after he submitted a bill to an HMO, they notified him that they couldn't

approve the treatment because there wasn't medical literature in support of

it. " So then I write back a letter saying 'Here are three articles in the

literature that support what I'm doing.' And they wrote back and said,

'Well, we showed this to our medical advisory committee' and they still said

no. And you know very well that their medical advisory committee is full of

doctors who'll say no, so it's stacked against the physician that really

cares about his patients. Bad situation. "

But perhaps an even worse situation is that an HMO has recently filed a

complaint against Marinkovich for malpractice. He is convinced that the HMO

that has filed the complaint is the same one that he repeatedly battles with

to pay for his recommended, albeit expensive, toxic mold treatment. He

believes that the HMO is trying to circumvent the medically necessary

requirement and stop him from treating patients by complaining to the state

medical board on the pretext that, " Look, he isn't doing what everybody in

the medical community is doing, " when their real motive is to cut costs. The

soft-spoken Marinkovich is clearly dismayed by the tactic and feels

pressured to defend his 30 years of work. " Well, everybody else in the

community isn't treating it because they don't understand it, " he explains.

He believes that, in taking the action against him, the HMO is ultimately

trying to " reduce medical treatment to the lowest common denominator. " And

Haney submits that, like Dr. Edell, most HMOs would not object to resigning

all toxic mold-related health problems to the category of psychosomatic

illness.

When Morton and her son moved back into the apartment after the mold

had supposedly been eradicated, was still having problems. She also

noticed that, despite the recent work in her bathroom, the shower pan still

wasn't caulked properly and mold kept reappearing on the shower door. Morton

also noticed that mold kept trying to grow under the rim of the toilet in

's bathroom, and when she lifted the tank lid to drop in a bleach

tablet, she discovered mold throughout the tank and on the underside of the

lid. " I didn't touch it, I said 'I'm not stirring this up anymore,' " she

said. Downs attorney Larrea said that management promptly cleaned

the toilet tank, but that was the last patch of black fungal matter Morton

intended to see, and they moved a short time later.

It is too soon to say if has made a complete recovery--his allergist

said it could take three to six months to see a noticeable improvement--but

Morton said that he doesn't have to sleep nearly as much as he did at the

previous apartment, where he needed up to 14 hours a night. " And he's not

moody, cranky and irritable all the time, " she said. Although the attorney

that helped them convince the apartment manager to conduct a mold test of

the unit tells her that they have potential grounds for a lawsuit to, among

other things, obtain reimbursement for medical costs and time lost from

work, he also said they need to find another attorney. Despite the

" avalanche of frivolous mold lawsuits " spin disseminated by the real estate

and insurance industries and printed in the business sections of daily

newspapers, the reality is that very few attorneys will even look at a mold

case. Because of the high costs of medical, toxicology and the other expert

witnesses required, the few cases that are actually brought to trial are

usually taken on a contingency basis by law firms with deep pockets.

Attorney said that the costs of experts needed to prove the

plaintiff's damages in the event a case goes to trial, " even if you have a

family of three living in an apartment complex, " would be somewhere in the

range of $45,000 to $65,000. said his office has over 600 active

toxic mold cases, virtually all of which will settle without a jury trial.

" And we probably get 15 to 20 [toxic mold] calls a day. We now accept maybe

one percent of that, " he said.

But despite the inaction and obfuscation by the government and the

mainstream medical community, the issue seems to be reaching critical mass

in parts of the private sector. Last year, the California Apartment

Association took the initiative to convene its own mold task force that,

after thoroughly researching the subject, did issue a report, " Mold on

Rental Property--Guidelines for Assessment and Remediation of Fungal

Contamination. " The report acknowledges that toxic mold exposure can cause

serious health problems, and encourages landlords and property managers to

take a proactive education, prevention and intervention approach to the

issue of toxic mold contamination in rental housing, recommending that all

on-site staff and tenants be provided mold education.

Next month, Haney will bring his own 2002 mold education tour to the Holiday

Inn in Sacramento where he will have five other speakers, including Melinda

Ballard, who won a $32 million jury verdict in Texas for mold-related

property damage to her home and bad-faith handling of her insurance claim by

her insurance company. And at the end of March, he is back on the road and

planning to give a similar course in Houston and one in Seattle in April.

" This is my war on ignorance, " he said. " When I came out of Vietnam, two of

my buddies had died, and there was nothing I could do about it. Now they're

on that [Vietnam Veterans Memorial] wall. This is something I can do

something about. "