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- Toxic mold. It's being called the asbestos of a new generation,
responsible for breathing problems, unsightly sores, even brain damage
... and a rash of lawsuits.
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- But critics say the science behind these claims is sketchy,
and that the people behind the lawsuits are just trying to turn toxic mold
into a courtroom piñata packed with million-dollar goodies.
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- "This is an extremely hot area," said David
Governo, a toxic-exposure defense lawyer in Boston who has seen a growing
number of mold cases in the past few years.
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- Governo added that many legal and technical conferences
are including sessions on the topic of toxic mold.
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- Those who deal with such malicious molds agree. Steven
Goselin, vice president of Envirotech Clean Air in Cambridge, Mass., has
been cleaning offices for 12 years and said toxic mold "has become
a major issue" in the last three.
-
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- Toxic mold first gained national attention in 1994 with
an Ohio case when a Cleveland doctor published a study linking the deaths
of 15 babies from bleeding-lung disease to homes hosting toxic mold.
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- But the Centers for Disease Control says a link between
the fungus and sickness is inconclusive.
-
-
- "You need to ask yourself why is it that they are
doing that? Is it because they want to protect the public health? Or is
it because they want to make millions, and sometimes billions, of dollars
with class-action suits and damages?"
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- " Anthony Bell of Californians Against Lawsuit Abuse
The increasing incidence of mold-related health problems has been blamed
on everything from new, "tighter" buildings that trap moisture
inside and allow mold to fester, to housing shortages in areas like the
Northeast that have forced people to live in moist basements where mold
is common.
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- Cases have cropped up across the country regarding public
buildings where scores of people become ill.
-
- But while scientific evidence has mounted since the mid-1990s
that certain types of mold can cause respiratory ailments, brain damage
and rashes, there are no guidelines about how much exposure to such toxic
substances is acceptable.
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- Other nations have been dealing with the problem longer.
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- "It,s been well known in Europe for decades, and
Canada is 10 or 15 years ahead of us," said Alexander Robertson IV,
a plaintiffs attorney in Woodland Hills, Calif.
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- Robertson,s first toxic-mold case was in 1994, representing
an unidentified actor and his wife whose million-dollar home in Malibu
was overrun with slimy stachybotrys that was harming their health. The
case was settled for $1.35 million.
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- Robertson has since represented about 1,000 plaintiffs,
and he fields calls daily from across the country.
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- In response to critics who accuse attorneys like him
of just being toxic-mold-chasers, Robertson cites anecdotal evidence of
people who have been sickened by their workplaces and homes.
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- "Remove them, and they get better," he said.
"They go away for a few weeks and get better, then come back and immediately
[get worse]. There,s clearly something going on here."
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- Anthony Bell of Californians Against Lawsuit Abuse disagrees.
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- "You need to ask yourself why is it that they are
doing that. Is it because they want to protect the public health?"
Bell asks. "Or is it because they want to make millions, and sometimes
billions, of dollars with class-action suits and damages that ultimately
go back to the consumer in higher costs and services?"
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- Governo, the toxic-abuse defense lawyer, takes a middle
ground. While he acknowledges that some claims of illnesses caused by toxic
mold are legitimate, he thinks that not all cases are.
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- "A lot of the problem in trying to separate out
valid cases is the fact that many of the symptoms are general in nature
and not specific to a particular toxin," he said.
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- Whichever side legal observers take on the issue, all
agree on one thing: Toxic-mold lawsuits are spreading as fast as the fungus
among us. _____
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- Fox News' Juliet Huddy contributed to this report
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