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Oregon Mold-Victim Teachers Treated Like Criminals? Teresa Westmoreland speaks out.
Video: Oregon Mold-Victim Teachers Treated Like Criminals? Superintendent Shoves Cameraman and Orders TV
Crew Off Campus
Part One and Part Two of a Television News (KATU) special on how teachers who
became ill from mold at a middle school say they were intimidated, "starved out", and treated like criminals. Watch
their superintendent as he orders the news crew off the property, and shoves a cameraman. Is this what we want in
our public schools? (videos no longer accessible, unfortunately)
Text version and more about Teresa Westmoreland's case, below:
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This story also has a text version (below), for Part One: Dealing With SAIF - Sick and feeling like a criminal
KATU Investigative Report
Dealing With SAIF - Sick and feeling like a criminal
December 15, 2004
by Eric Mason, KATU News
Salem, Ore. - Teresa Westmoreland says she's used to feeling sick, out of money and unable to work. The hard part she says is being treated like a criminal.
Westmoreland says battling what her doctors call a toxic reaction to mold, has been debilitating. But worse than all that, the 44-year teacher is being treated like a crook by the State Accident Insurance Fund (SAIF) "like I'm trying to get something from someone," she says.
The accusations come from what's known as IME's, independent medical exams that SAIF officials use to weed out false claims against the insurer. Westmoreland may have real reasons to suspect the bias of the exams.
A survey just released by The Department of Consumer and Business Services, a regulating agency; found 53 percent of IME doctors thought there was bias in the work they did.
After linking memory loss, muscle coordination and flu-like symptoms to a severe reaction to mold in her classroom nearly two years ago, Westmoreland has found herself in a treacherous netherworld between medicine and law where every victim is a suspect and every claim a potential legal battle.
Such are the chances you take when you claim you got sick or injured on the job in Oregon. But now, it's a world getting added scrutiny from state regulators in Oregon as well as state senators like Eugene's Vicki Walker.
"There are starve-out tactics that are being used," says Walker. "Delaying claims so these people can't put food on their table and can't pay their bills - so that they're forced to sign agreements."
Walker has been a critic of SAIF for more than a year, from the way it paid exorbitant consulting fees to former governor Neil Goldschmidt, to the way she says SAIF mishandled public records.
SAIF officials say they only deny 17 percent of all claims, and the new head of the agency, Brenda Rocklin is quick to defend the agency.
We pay claims promptly and we treat injured workers responsibly," says Rocklin.
Agency officials declined to talk specifics about the Westmoreland case or allow their contracted doctors to speak with KATU citing the confidentiality of medical records.
In Westmoreland's case the exam was scheduled by SAIF to determine if mold from the Talent Middle school was indeed the culprit behind the teacher's illness.
"It was the most degrading and humiliating experience I think I've ever been through," says Westmoreland. "It was as if the doctor had already made up his mind in advance."
Westmoreland also says the doctor treated her in a disrespectful and condescending manner.
The exam was scheduled by SAIF for October 20th of 2003 at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. But before Westmoreland made the 10-hour round trip to Portland she was curious about the doctor who would be examining her.
In a Google search Westmoreland found numerous hits for the doctor she was scheduled to see, Emil J. Bardana Jr. MD. He was a well-respected allergy specialist and had published numerous articles about mold in the work place.
"There was just one problem," says Westmoreland. "It didn't look like he believed mold was a serious long-term health problem."
"Basically I told SAIF I want another doctor, and they said 'no' I had to go or the claim would be denied," she says.
Westmoreland's worst fears were confirmed when Bardana filed his report to SAIF on November 3, of 2003.
Bardana's report issued to SAIF found, "no logical explanation for the symptoms," found certain neurological problems to be "bizarre" and further believed that she was being "led astray" by her personal physician and other specialists that said that mold had indeed been the culprit.
While SAIF officials will not release the exact amount paid to Bardana the do say the average fee for such an exam ranges from $500 to 600. But they say that fee does not affect the objectivity of the studies.
Among those who challenge Bardana's assertions are Westmoreland's personal physician, and specialists from well-respected medical schools including University of Southern California.
"There's a lot of second guessing here," says Michael Stone MD of Ashland referring to Bardana's opinion. "There's nothing about this she wants…the only thing she gets from this is a lot of frustration."
Countering Bardana's assertions, in a medical report filed in August of this year, Kaye Kilburn of USC medical school reported that Bardana's implication regarding a lack of mold sensitivity is "wrong and reflects naivete." He also referred on one occasion to Bardana's "shallow approach."
SAIF also ordered an Independent Neuropsychological Evaluation of Westmoreland. The report by Donna C. Wicher concluded that Westmoreland suffered from a Conversion Disorder.
Defined in the report the disorder is not an intentional production of physical symptoms but have a psychological component.
Wicher also concluded that Westmoreland's test results were inconsistent which suggested that her symptoms were the result of a "personality structure."
While each physician spent several hours with Westmoreland, those who've spent years teaching alongside her can't believe that her symptoms are all in her head.
"The first time I heard that I laughed, "says Heather Ayers. "It's hogwash." Ayers, who hired Westmoreland at Talent middle school as a health teacher in 1995 says her colleague was one of the hardest workers at the school.
"She's a person of amazing integrity," says another teacher, Toni Drew, "I've never seen someone put so many volunteer hours into anything."
From grants to public service awards Westmoreland seemed to be on the track to being a principal until she started feeling ill two years ago. Now Westmoreland says she can't complete the most simple of tasks including how to estimate when her daughter needs to be picked up from the bus stop.
But Westmoreland is not alone. Four others including teachers Cari Baker and Lisa Wileman also have claims against SAIF for mold related illness at Talent middle school.
"This is like some kind of nightmare," says Lisa Wileman "Our credit cards are maxed—I can't go to the store and buy a sack of groceries right now."
Baker, Wileman and Westmoreland are all financially strapped. Westmoreland's unpaid medical bills alone total nearly $50,000.
All three cite the IME process as flawed for its lack of objectivity.
"It's a joke---they're not independent at all," says Wileman.
After the three women received a copy of their IME, they began comparing notes. What they found was disturbing to say the least, and a sign that the reports may be cut and pasted by those contracted by SAIF.
In Baker and Westmoreland's reports there are two identical paragraphs which include the pronoun "she" when referring to conversations with other teachers at the school.
One of the sentences includes a grammatically incorrect sentence. It reads, "She apparently was also driving in a vehicle had onset of symptoms."
Baker also says that in her report she noticed that Bardana had included a sentence about a growth on her breast that did not happen to her but to a colleague. Also, says Baker, there were comments about alcohol use that were untrue.
A public affairs spokesperson from OHSU told KATU that the errors in cutting and pasting were "inadvertent."
The teachers also say they were sent bills for the IME's that demanded immediate payment.
Rocklin says if a bill was sent it was in error because the exams are paid for by SAIF.
The teachers say the bills were sent repeatedly and constituted harassment.
All three say they have suffered, not just at the hands of SAIF but also from a school district that has failed to support them and in some cases discredited them professionally.
Rocklin, who faced a handful of suspicious senators in Salem at yet another hearing about IME's is clearly trying to the bottom of the controversy.
"Clearly we don't want workers to feel any intimidation," says Rocklin.
(archived at www.injuredworker.org)
by Eric Mason, KATU News (Portland, Oregon) Dec. 15, 2004 Salem, Ore. - Teresa Westmoreland says she's used to
feeling sick, out of money and unable to work. The hard part she says is being treated like a criminal.
Video Part One: KATU SAIF Investigation, Part One
Video Part Two: KATU SAIF Investigation, Part Two
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Teresa Westmoreland, Injured Worker
http://egov.oregon.gov/DCBS/MLAC/docs/minutes/2005/draftmin_ime_01_14_05.pdf
Workers’ Compensation Management Labor Advisory Committee
IME Subcommittee
Friday, January 14, 2005
Ms. Westmoreland gave written exhibits to the committee. Ms. Westmoreland gave the
subcommittee background on her workers’ compensation claim. Her comments included
comments on the following issues: physician selection, Ms. Westmoreland’s testimony
focused on the insurer selection of IME physicians that are biased toward the insurer,
agreed that a list of certified doctors would help; appropriateness of some types of
comments in the IME physicians report; travel, back to back appointments can be
burdensome to an injured worker.
Committee Comments: Committee members discussed with Ms. Westmoreland whether
a form that would allow the worker to request advance payment for travel reimbursement,
information about when overnight accommodations would be allowed, and whether a
complaint process that goes to the Workers’ Compensation Division would have helped
in addressing her complaints. Ms. Westmoreland’s concern is that the complaints be
received by an impartial party. The subcommittee also asked whether Ms. Westmoreland
had utilized the Worker Requested Medical Exam (WRME). The education to the worker
needs to include better education to the worker about the right to request a WRME. Ms.
Westmoreland was not informed by her attorney that she had a right to a WRME. The
department commented that Ms. Westmoreland’s complaint was denied before the
effective date of the law that allows the worker to request an IME. The subcommittee
also asked Ms. Westmoreland for her opinion on when an exit survey would be the most
impartial from the worker. Ms. Westmoreland felt that a response immediately after the
exam would be the most appropriate. The committee also asked Ms. Westmoreland if a
certification process for the IME physicians would help the process. Ms. Westmoreland
is supportive of a process that raises the criteria for physician doing IME exams.
T. Westmoreland's presentation to the CA EPA, March, 2005:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/board/mt/mt031705.txt
6 MS. WESTMORELAND: Hi. My name is Teresa
7 Westmoreland. And I am a middle school health teacher. I
8 have not taught in my profession since February 26th,
9 2003. I'm currently drawing my teachers retirement
10 disability as well as disability from a private policy
11 that I have obtained. Although, you know, as much as my
12 doctors tell me it's going to take longer than what I am
13 imagining in my mind, I'm still hoping to be back to work
14 in the next couple of years for sure. I'm not willing to
15 give up yet. The quest is still on.
16 I want to start with just talking to you a little
17 bit about what happened in my classroom. And imagine this
18 in an office building, and see if you can imagine this
19 happening maybe in your office building that you work in.
20 Every time it rains and there's a little bit of wind, the
21 rain comes across your entire room on the ceiling tiles,
22 not on the roof, on the ceiling tiles. And every time
23 that happens the ceiling tiles become soaked with the
24 rain. And eventually those ceiling tiles get so water
25 drenched that they actually crumble and break in your
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1 office, in your room.
2 And then imagine, one falls, that the custodial
3 staff and the maintenance staff have an argument about
4 who's going to replace ceiling tiles. So when the ceiling
5 tile cracks and crumbles from water moisture into your
6 classroom or office and then you've reported it to
7 maintenance staff, you report it to the custodial staff
8 and ask someone to please replace the ceiling tile, and
9 they say, "No, it's their job and not our job," and
10 they're in disagreement and we don't know whose job it is.
11 And then imagine the next time it rains and there's no
12 ceiling tile.
13 So, guess what, it's raining in your office, in
14 your room. This is what happened to me and this happened
15 over a course of seven years while I was in that
16 classroom, continual, constant water damage in the
17 classroom.
18 And this couldn't seem to get resolved because it
19 was an issue of money. And that's pretty much what it's
20 always about. It's always about money. As you know -- I
21 heard on the news this morning when we got up that the
22 Governor is calling for changes in education which result
23 in funding changes. And it's always about not enough
24 money, and the government always saying that there's too
25 much money, not enough taxes. We all know the whole
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1 story. And what the solution is, I'm not sure.
2 But what I do know is without regulations and
3 without some sort of stiff penalty in place, these kinds
4 of things are going to continue to occur in school
5 classrooms across the nation, because maintenance is not a
6 high priority for schools right now. The high priority is
7 getting those tests passed for No Child Left Behind, the
8 test passed for each individual stay that they have.
9 Those are where the priorities are right now.
10 And so as far as ceiling tiles getting replaced
11 and the source of the water intrusion being dealt with,
12 it's not going to happen. The money just isn't there or
13 it's not being spent in that way.
14 When I started researching and finding about --
15 more about sick building syndrome, I came across a book
16 that said that typically governmental agencies and
17 insurance agencies and administrators in the school
18 districts handle sick building syndrome with the 3D's.
19 And I've kept in mind and -- research to learn about this.
20 The 3D's are defensiveness, denial, and discrediting. And
21 first I thought, "Well, what are these 3D's?" But
22 unfortunately I'm here to tell you I've gotten to
23 experience all of them, and it hasn't been pleasant, let
24 me tell you.
25 Defensiveness, you know, in my district started
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1 off by saying -- when my doctors -- I had two doctors
2 write a letter that said they didn't feel it was safe, not
3 just for me but the teacher who took my place, to be in
4 that room and that the issue needed to be addressed. The
5 district responded with saying, "There isn't a problem
6 here. It's her particular immune system that has caused
7 this illness. It's not going to happen to a" --
8 quote-unquote -- "'healthy person' so we're not going to
9 worry about it at this point in time."
10 Then as other people became sick and the issue
11 became larger than just one single person, we got into the
12 denial issue. And this is the part that I'd really like
13 you to consider when you adopt your recommendations and
14 regulations. Whenever an issue comes up that involves an
15 insurance industry, and it involves money, there's going
16 to be a conflict of interest. There just has to be,
17 because the school district has an insurer, and then the
18 insurer wants to make sure that there are not claims paid
19 out, that they are not liable for injuries.
20 And imagine you have a building of 600 children
21 and 45 staff members and 24 of those staff members are
22 saying they're ill from the building, the liability issue
23 is huge. So the insurance in response is just denying,
24 denying, denying, "There's no problem here. We've done
25 everything we can. We just can't do anything about it."
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1 ACTING CHAIRPERSON RIORDAN: Excuse me. Teresa,
2 I'm going to have to ask you to speed up to finish.
3 I'll give you one last summation.
4 MS. WESTMORELAND: Okay. So with only one last
5 summation, I'm going to end with the piece -- I have a
6 quote from Dr. Kaye H. Kilburn out of USC. And he's one
7 of the lead researchers in this area of neurotoxins and
8 their impact on human health.
9 He says that: "Recognition by the medical
10 profession and by the public that mold causes neurological
11 and/or respiratory damage is important because these
12 illnesses are often progressive and irreversible. The
13 social, personal and economic consequences are immense.
14 Prevention by avoidance of the exposure is imperative."
15 And especially I would like you to consider that
16 children do not have a choice. They can't switch jobs.
17 They can't ask for a transfer to a different classroom.
18 They're there. And we need to protect them. Someone
19 needs to have a voice for our children.
20 Thank you for your time.
21 ACTING CHAIRPERSON RIORDAN: Thank you.
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