The Mold Crisis: Who to Contact
A Mold-Help Exclusive Report
“I have a serious mold problem. . . Why don’t I receive any help? Who do I contact?”
Don’t fool yourself, the government and major corporations know exactly what is going on. Hundreds of people contact us who are very distraught about the lack of governmental assistance and participation, organizations, and blatant cover-ups with this toxic mold nightmare. This is partially due to the fact that if the government were to acknowledge that toxigenic mold is much more common and serious than they care to admit, the government would have to offer public assistance to the thousands of claims that are reported, and they would also have to test and remediate public buildings such as schools, military installations, prisons, hospitals, and a multiplicity of public buildings that are plagued with this national health crisis. Obviously, this is not an pertinent issue with the government.
Additionally, no matter what your political affiliation is, just remember that the government makes millions of dollars from special interest groups sponsored by drug companies and insurance companies. The drug companies would hate the fact that the public would know how to actually prevent and sometimes permanently treat many symptoms and diseases associated with fungal exposure such as acid reflux, diabetes II, infertility, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, and high blood pressure.
The government is already trying to fill our heads with the ludicrous idea that drugs purchased from Canada (which are the exact same drugs that people pay double, triple, and sometimes quadruple the cost here) are unsafe and not controlled by the FDA. If the FDA doesn’t personally profit from our overly-inflated costs of drugs, of course they are going to say they are “unsafe.” Since that tactic didn’t work, the government is even threatening to press charges against people who purchase their drugs at reduced rates from Canada. Any scare tactic they can use, they will, even feigning ignorance that toxic mold doesn’t make people sick, yet the insurance companies are able to forego settlements due to their special interest “donations!” In law, they say that no one can have it both ways, but it appears that this administration has done just that by allowing insurance companies to renege on and even fail to cover mold claims as the cost is often prohibitive, while the medical arena denies mold causes illness so they can just keep prescribing drugs to soften the symptoms!
The worst thing is that we appear to allow it to happen!
The AMA (American Medical Association) governs the physicians and medical information in the United States. They also issue the insurance billing codes. For years we have known that the AMA has a very cozy relationship with the FDA and drug companies. To date, there is no insurance billing code for mycotoxicosis. This is why it is so difficult to obtain medical help for this illness.
The insurgence of asthma in poverty stricken households is not only caused by pollution and global warming, as the government would like you to believe. It is sign that perhaps lower class families may possibly be living in substandard housing and attending antiquated schools in disrepair that have been subject to water damage, thus contaminated by pathogenic fungi.
When George W. Bush was living in the governor’s mansion in Texas, he had extensive remediation (reported at over $300,000) done to the dwelling at the taxpayer’s expense due to fungal contamination in 1999. During that same year, 44,000 mold insurance claims were filed by the citizens of Texas alone. At that time, the good people of Texas voted for Bush as president, assuming that he would be interested in everyone’s indoor air quality. At present, (and several thousand claims later), we now know that President Bush was only concerned in 1999 about his own indoor air quality and not the people’s, partly due to special interest groups and a failure to take action due to important domestic political priorities and expenditures.
It is now time for we the people to stand up for our rights and contact as many people as possible. It is of the utmost importance that we stand up for our rights and understand why the United States government has abandoned us in our greatest time of need.
If you are one of the tens of thousands of mold victims, you must fight for your rights. It is very evident that no one else will. The insurance companies would just hope that you give up on your rights to litigate, and the drug companies would love for you to buy all the drugs available to treat the symptoms of your ailments. Everyone (including the government) will be able to profit from you and hope you give up in a fruitless battle as everyone claims ignorance or turns a blind eye.
If you have documented proof that either your home or workplace are a biological hazard, and you have decided to litigate (by the way, if you own your home, the chances are high that you waived your right to litigate in a binding arbitration clause that you probably signed when you purchased your house), you should also let anyone and everyone know about your circumstances. You can begin by going up the chain of command.
Where to Get Started
If you rent your house or apartment, it is important to contact your landlord or property manager. Sometimes, legal action may be necessary to get some results. Show your documented proof of testing by a certified testing company and laboratory. Some approved testing companies are listed here. Get estimates on remediation from a separate, non-affiliated company other than the testing company. If you are ill, make sure that you go to a physician who is knowledgeable about symptoms and treatment in mythological illnesses, such as mycotoxicosis. There is also a physician’s and lawyer’s list on these sites.
Many people have contacted us regarding schools who deny health risks and factual evidence. Much of this has been reported to be very politically motivated. Just as the government itself denies this problem, it exists and we have proof. They cannot deny this forever if we indeed create public awareness backed up with factual evidence.
We have also received many reports on OSHA and Worker’s Compensation denials. To this date, we have not heard of even one Worker’s Compensation case paying benefits on employees who have become ill due to toxic mold in the workplace. In desperation, the defense hire paid biased “experts”, such as Dr. Ronald Gots (who has admitted that he hasn’t practiced medicine on over 20 years) or Dr. Emil Bardana (a slovenly obese man who looks as though his own health may be in question), to dispute the severity of causation; and they even stoop so low as to claim there is not enough evidence that pathogenic fungi causes illness. I guess some people will say just about anything for the right price. This again, is another Government denial backed by the CDC (Center for Disease Control) and EPA Environmental Protection Agency (who are supposed to appeal to the health and welfare of we the people) who are so very vague about the problem, it is very evident that they are trying to downplay this scenario, even when sixteen infants died of pulmonary hemorrhages due to stachybotrys exposure in Cleveland. They like to pretend there is not enough evidence regarding the harmful effects of toxic mold, or give dangerous and misleading advice that mold should be cleaned up with bleach and water. There is an abundant amount of peer-reviewed studies and research to back the fact that toxic mold exposure can cause permanent neurological, immunological, psychological and pathological damage and even alter DNA on otherwise healthy people. In other words, you do not have to be immuno-comprised to be affected and permanently damaged by fungal exposure, contrary to many prejudicial reports that are stated. An influx of cases of autoimmune diseases have been recently reported from mold patients, especially Lupus and Multiple Sclerosis.
How many rising cases of this asthma epidemic do we need to have before the government will admit that mold exposure is a biological health threat? How many children have to get so sick they are suffering from seizures at public schools? How many people have to die needlessly? This is an absolute outrage and we have to create more public awareness! It is important to file claims regardless.
Contact your local housing authority if you are renting or in Section 8 housing. Just type in housing authority and your city and state into Google. If you still can’t find it, type in housing authority and your local area code. Call your local health department. You can get the number once again if you type health department and your city and state into Google. Contact DEQ (Department of Environmental Quality; search by state). They will tell you that it is a health department matter, but it is still important to contact them and let them know about the problem. File a complaint with HUD (Housing and Urban Development). We know that they are aware of the problem because they visit this web site regularly. The more persistent you are we this chain of command, the better! If mold in a public building has affected your life or you believe it has harmed the health of your loved ones, we also suggest you contact the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union). Many feel that no one can fight the government, but the ACLU can.
If the problem exists at a school, this may be difficult as you may be subject to constant denial. Most schools have defective and inadequate indoor testing. Contact the teachers, principal, and school board. Of course, many schools will deny the problem. Most IAQ testing companies who hold contracts to test schools often do an inadequate job. Mona Dano from Gloucester, New Jersey is currently fighting an uphill battle. Several hundred people, including much of the staff at her son’s school are allegedly very ill from mycotoxicosis. She claims that the school allegedly denied that the mold problem existed. She brought in her own testing company and they discovered extremely high levels of aspergillus. She has developed a web site to help alert other parents of the school’s alleged debacle and is currently seeking legal counsel and working on a mass media campaign to create more public awareness. You can create a web site for your own locale.
Next, if you do have legal counsel, it is important to ask them first if this won’t damage your case if you contact the media. Call every television, newspaper and radio stations in your area. It is important that we stand together on this and inform as many people as possible. Once again, you can do a search on Google and look up local media with your city and state. Use keywords such as newspaper names, television station and radio station call signs to narrow down your search.
It is important that you voice your feelings, opinions, personal experience, and loss to all politicians in your area that may have some input in congress. Listed here are a concise listing of your state senators and governor. It is also important to contact your local representatives. Make yourself heard! If enough of us band together and people respond, it is possible to make ourselves heard. But it is up to you to act now.
Mass media in the United States has always controlled what they report, mostly due to the large corporations who sponsor them. This is very evident if you look at the BBC or Aljazeera, for example, and how it differs from local news resources. In our opinion, world events told from international correspondents appear to report the news from a less biased standpoint. However, it is still important to let local producers and reporters know how you feel because unfortunately most Americans watch current events from a regional or national perspective. Listed below are some national media resources who have done investigative reporting on mold issues in the past, or are currently interested in doing more research on this health threat and the ramifications. Contact them and tell them your story of loss and how there were no resources to help you. Give them the facts of your tragedy.
Together, we can make a difference. If you lost your health or that of a loved one; perhaps your home to this morbid atrocity, it is your duty to alert people. . . Everyone you possibly can. Don’t let your losses be in vain. This begins with the media and politicians. Otherwise, it’s just going to keep on happening to innocent people who have been seemingly uninformed due to lack of public awareness, and ignorant people will keep negating it. Just write or call your politicians and representatives (listed above), and contact your local and nationwide news media. It is up to you to make this happen. Remember, the Government can’t ignore us forever. There are just too many people who already know the truth, and many more are learning every day.
Author: Contributor
