Pair of Studies Reportedly Support Alliance Stance on 'Science' of Mold
July 24, 2003

The United States Chamber of Commerce and the Manhattan Institute's Center for Legal Policy have issued two papers on the growing hazard of mold litigation and the lack of scientific evidence linking mold to health problems.

In "A New Plague – Mold Litigation: How Junk Science and Hysteria Built an Industry," the authors note that the insurance industry has paid billions of dollars for mold claims and there are more than 10,000 mold cases pending nationwide, a 300 percent increase from 1999. Despite this, the serious health claims that pervade mold litigation, such as brain damage, lung hemorrhage and cancer, cannot reportedly withstand scrutiny under the "reliable science" standard set by the U.S. Supreme Court. The paper reports that much of the fear about mold has been perpetuated by media accounts, which in turn have fueled lawsuits.

In "A Scientific View of the Health Effects of Mold," the authors state that mold can cause reactions for those who are prone to allergies. Infections caused by mold are reportedly rare, except for those individuals who are "immune-compromised." The study concludes that, "There is no sound scientific evidence that mold causes 'toxicity' in doses found in home environments."

"Both these studies' findings reinforce the Alliance of American Insurers' position that scientific knowledge is not sufficiently advanced to allow specific standards to be developed for mold," Kirk Hansen, director of claims for the Alliance, said.

"It is not always clear what causes mold to develop, when it causes damage, under what circumstances it poses a risk, or what health effects result from exposure to mold. It is also unclear as to what remediation measures are effective and which are cost effective," he added. "Therefore, it is gratifying that these unbiased studies would agree with us that the 'hard' scientific data necessary to set standards on mold exposure, not only aren't available, but also will be difficult to obtain," Hansen added.

URL: www.insurancejournal.com/news/newswire/national/2003/07/24/30919.htm

National Underwriter
July 17, 2003

Consumer Group Says NCOIL Has Industry Bias

By Daniel Hays

NU Online News Service, July 17, 4:41 p.m. EDT—A national consumer group said the leadership of a state legislators group that develops model insurance laws is undermining consumer protections, because 40 percent of the legislators have business ties to the insurance industry.

The Consumer Federation of America's criticism of the National Conference of Insurance Legislators was rejected by that group, which said it makes it a point to include consumer viewpoints in its activities, and that members' professional experience helps them consider legislation.

CFA said 40 percent of NCOIL's leadership has worked for or with the insurance industry and most of these NCOIL members have current business ties to the industry.

Susan Nolan deputy director of Albany, N.Y.-based NCOIL, said that she has not gone over all the members backgrounds, but she believed some had been mischaracterized by CFA. She noted that NCOIL's president, State Rep. Kathleen Keenan, D-St. Albans, Vt., is an emergency room nurse and the group's vice president is an attorney with a zoning law practice.

The CFA, in its report, said NCOIL has taken a series of recent positions on high-profile insurance issues that are "favorable, if not identical, to insurance interests and have frequently undermined consumer protections."

It mentioned a model bill on the use of credit scoring, a practice which it said involved frequent inaccuracies.

CFA also complained of a consumer credit insurance proposal it said would be costly to customers. The group cited a self-evaluation act that it said would give insurers secrecy for anything they claim as self-audit.

According to CFA, of 57 legislators, 23 had affiliations or did business with insurance interests and identified themselves with job titles such as insurance agents, claims representatives, agency owners or underwriters.

While there are 51 jurisdictions in the United States, only legislators from 34 are NCOIL members, said CFA.

Rep. Keenan, in a statement, said that NCOIL legislators are "on the front lines of protecting consumers' interests" and their "professional experience contributes to the development of sound public policy."

She noted that Robert Hunter, CFA's director of insurance, had addressed an NCOIL meeting on auto insurance two years ago and that Birny Birnbaum of the Center for Economic Justice had been part of recent NCOIL credit scoring discussions.

She said Mr. Hunter and other CFA representatives were invited to participate in last week's NCOIL meeting in Williamsburg , Va., but had declined.

"NCOIL brings together a confluence of ideas and practical know-how that can make state regulation work better today and even better tomorrow," stated Ms. Keenan.

CFA, however, believes that, "Too often, NCOIL's advocacy is virtually indistinguishable from [that] of insurance interests. Perhaps because so many of their members are affiliated with the insurance industry, NCOIL consistently promotes industry self-regulation and weak oversight of insurance abuses. CFA is thus issuing a consumer alert to federal and state lawmakers that they cannot count on NCOIL as an unbiased source of information on pressing insurance issues."