TOXIC MOLD IN THE NEWS

TOXIC MOLD LITIGATION

November 14, 2003 BREAKING NEWS!!
"County settles toxic mold lawsuit with judge" A Tulare County Superior Court judge filed a toxic mold lawsuit against Tulare County and County Counsel Bales-Lange charging the county counsel was directly responsible for the seriousness of her illness, including hair loss, dizziness, episodic vertigo, acute pain in her abdomen, respiratory distress, ringing in the ears, facial swelling, and severe rashes.

In 1999, a patch of mold was found by county employees on a pipe above the ceiling of the court chambers that were discovered to be toxic mold, or stachybotrys. The judge has dropped the toxic mold lawsuit after the county agreed to pay her $40,000.


November 13, 2003 BREAKING NEWS!!
"Extensive toxic mold problems to be addressed within UNC system" The UNC system is planning on asking the state Legislature for nearly $30 million to fix toxic mold problems at two public universities. NC Central University would get $25.4 million and UNC Pembroke would get $3.5 million. The massive toxic mold problem at NCCU has had to shutter two residence halls and it has infested around a dozen other buildings on campus.

The board has plans to discuss how the toxic mold problem got so bad. So far, no talks of toxic mold lawsuits have arisen, however the members of the board made it clear that the money for the toxic mold needs to be treated as an urgent issue by classifying it as an emergency.


November 6, 2003 BREAKING NEWS!!
"Toxic mold continues to pose dangerous health risks" The number of toxic mold cases is rising dramatically, mostly due to the growing knowledge of the dangers of toxic mold. Still, toxic mold is still vastly unknown about by the medical community and the general population. According to the Environmental Assessment Association, toxic mold concern is mounting as the medical field is better understanding the effects and ailments that toxic mold can cause.

The dangers of toxic mold are that they can cause serious health ailments but are hard to detect. A microbiologist can only determine differences between just mold and toxic mold. Common symptoms of toxic mold exposure include memory loss, allergies, and breathing difficulties. People with existing respiratory illness, asthma, and infants should be especially careful because of the fever and mold infections that can be suffered within their lungs due to toxic mold exposure.

The CDC has stated there is an unknown species of fungi in existence, though estimates have ranged from tens of thousands to 300,000 or more. There are some toxic molds that are so dangerous that once inside human tissue could grow in masses in your lungs or kidneys and other that can grow along walls of arteries, veins, and heart valves. Toxic mold can be difficult to treat in some instances.


November 4, 2003 BREAKING NEWS!!
"Toxic mold dangers still unknown" Identical twins living in California continued to suffer for years from respiratory infections, mystery pains, and concentration problems. It was not until the sisters asked the gas man to check for carbon monoxide that they realized there were large amounts of mold hanging off the floorboards. According to the energy technician, his throat and eyes began to itch and burn instantly, a reaction to the toxic mold.

Even after telling doctors and the landlord about the toxic mold, the women were still unable to get an adequate response because of the lack of information about the dangers of toxic mold. The landlord refused to pay to remove the toxic mold, and doctors were skeptical of their symptoms and did not know how to treat their adverse reactions to the toxic mold. In response to the lack of information, the sisters were responsible for going to their local city council and helping to get the Toxic Mold Protection Law passed in California.


June 12, 2003
"Toxic mold finding dogs" People are willing to shell out $12,500 for specially trained dog that can sniff out fungal problems like toxic mold. The newest introduction to finding toxic mold are dog graduates of the Florida Canine Academy, with 1,000 hours of training to be able to sniff out toxic mold and other funguses. Toxic mold lawsuits have continued to prove problematic across the nation.

Dogs are thought to be the answer to detecting toxic mold because the olfactory systems are able to process parts of mold per million opposed to humans who process notice parts per thousand. Toxic mold lawsuits greatly increased following the case two years ago that ordered Farmers Insurance Group to pay $32 million to a family that had become ill after being exposed to the toxic mold.


June 10, 2003
"Louisiana toxic mold countersuit filed" The owners of a now almost empty New Orleans office tower have filed a countersuit because of the 700 state workers that vacated the premises. State offices left the Plaza Tower in 2002 after making a number of complaints regarding the conditions of the building, including toxic mold. A class action lawsuit was filed against the building’s owners back in 2001 because of toxic mold, water leaks, and falling asbestos ceiling tiles.


May 30, 2003
"Toxic mold affects health even in small amounts" Toxic mold has continued to be a controversial subject, especially over the last couple years. Toxic mold lawsuits have argued what extent toxic mold damage can result in. The hundreds of pending toxic mold lawsuits claim that the mold has resulted in serious health problems, and a Florida study has concluded that people’s immune system changed with regular exposure to toxic mold even at low levels. The study involved just 1% of the wall to be covered with toxic mold, which was one square foot of a 100 square foot wall.


May 23, 2003
"Nevada county toxic mold cover-up" Reports of toxic mold problems arising all over the nation has been responsible for the hundred of toxic mold lawsuits currently underway. The Clark County Housing Authority failed to replace water-damaged drywall and simply boarded over it when contamination first appeared. The county admitted that it had issued “inappropriate repairs when we first exposed the contamination last year.”

The residents of the toxic mold contaminated building gave $10,000 as a temporary relief for the family to move into a new home and declared the investigation incomplete. Despite this, the county failed to further investigate the toxic mold contamination. In addition, the county never cleaned up the property for the residents that were forced to move due to the toxic mold.