"I always wondered why people around here die so young," says my source, a tenant at 600 South Curson Avenue.
My investigation was sparked by this email from an acquaintance and tenant:
I live in a Goldrich & Kest building in LA. And for the last two years it has been brought to our attention that there is mold in our building that is airborne and they aren’t doing much to get rid of it.
There is a woman…dying…here and several units have been sealed off, but they are keeping it on the down-low. They are not telling us which units have it and which don’t. But the doctors say it is called ‘Sick Building Syndrome.’
Once mold gets into your system it ain’t going out.
The staff has been told not to tell us there is mold in our units. They have been instructed to use the word ‘mildew’ or they will be fired. So they use mold kits to scrape it away, paint over it and move people into the units. Yet the mold is in the walls and is most definitely coming into our units through the air conditioning units.
The mold has been tested and their are medical records to back up everything that I am writing.
There is also a special blood test we all need to be taking to see if it’s in our system, but they aren’t telling everyone about it so only a few will get tested. The truth is, they need to be tearing the building down and moving us all out but all they care about are the rents.
The ADA’s office and the media are being contacted as Jonah has over 50 buildings, and thousands have lived here through the years who can be infected and not know. It might very well turn into a class action lawsuit.
So these are the two tests:
A.Sputum Culture=Microbiology-Respiratory Fungal Culture, Bacterial Culture and AFB Culture (incl. AFB stain.) These are lab tests for coughed up sputum.
B. OR Blood test: RAST (Allergen Specific IgE) They check for both Aspergillis fumigatus and Aspergillis niger. (The key is that sputum or surgically removed specimen are far more definitive than blood tests.)
Ed McMahon’s house was contaminated with mold. You may have seen on news. He was just in ICU with mold in his lungs, pneumonia, critically ill, etc. He’s gone thru long, arduous lawsuit over it.
Aspergillosis is the diagnosis for mold. The first test would only apply to people who are coughing up mold. The second would be the accurate blood work for us all.
So there are five units known to have gone in with a mold kit.
1.) Moved out family to a hotel for five days on a day’s notice (after getting mold tests back from lab) and then moved them into an upgraded unit. Management handled the entire move. Gee, I wonder why. The unit was sealed off for two weeks and then gutted for renovation. Now someone else can move in and get sick.
2.) A woman in 50’s has had her lungs deteriorate for the last two years. They have not paid for any bills nor acknowledged fault. Doctors say it’s in her blood and inoperable.
I think this is an old story but fascinating as we have the same exact problems in our building — management drama, security incompetence, attitudes, leaks. All of it. It really has turned into a slum.
This is so creepy read the last paragraph of the article I sent you…and check out the photos of the leaks in the garage we have the same exact thing. My god these people need to be exposed.
“In his fourth-floor apartment, looking out onto the dirt-filled fountain, Baker gets riled when he talks about G and K. He brings out photographs of a spore-covered wall that was revealed by repairmen working on a leaky shower pipe. Damage was so extensive that the whole tub was removed, but the mold-covered wall was left behind. It took 24 days for him to get a new working shower. In the meantime the mold caused rashes on his legs and exacerbated his girlfriend’s asthma. He says he was told to withhold his rent until he reached an agreement with G and K and then digs through a pile of papers to reveal an eviction notice. "I’m taking them to small claims court," he says. Baker, like so many other tenants, has had enough.”
Goldrich & Kest Industries were defendants in a mold lawsuit.
Here’s info about another lawsuit against Goldrich & Kest. Same apartment complex three years later generated this complaint.
Regarding Ed McMahon, here’s an excerpt from his Wikipedia entry:
On April 20, 2002, McMahon sued his insurance company for more than $20 million, alleging that he was sickened by toxic mold that spread through his Beverly Hills house after contractors cleaning up water damage from a broken pipe botched the job.
McMahon and his wife, Pamela, became ill from the mold, as did members of their household staff, according to the Los Angeles County Superior Court suit. The McMahons also blame the mold for the death of the family dog, Muffin. Their suit, the latest of many in recent years over toxic mold, was filed against American Equity Insurance Co., a pair of insurance adjusters and several environmental cleanup contractors. It seeks monetary damages for alleged breach of contract, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. A spokeswoman for the insurance company declined to comment.
On March 21, 2003, the long battle ended with Ed McMahon reaping $7 million from what was later discovered to be several companies who were negligent for allowing mold into his home. Their dog’s death was confirmed to be caused by mold.
Who is behind Goldrich-Kest? Jonah Goldrich, a billionaire. He and Stanley Black are best friends. They have this alter kacker group that has breakfast every Sunday morning at Canters. Jonah is super philanthropic and shies away from publicity. And the Kest? That’s Hancock Park’s Michael Kest, the son of real estate developer Saul Kest.
A tenant at the building who’s dying of a lung disease emails a friend of mine:
I agree with Luke’s verbiage. THERE HAVE BEEN MYSTERIOUS DEATHS in this building. Danny Cisneros (the hairdresser) on 4th floor several years ago. His family may have an autopsy on him. Peggy Kawahara who died mysteriously of a seizure in middle of night. Alan Kawahara who recently died from cardiac [arrest]. ALL of these people became VERY SICK and/or died in their 40’s/50’s. My DOGS also became VERY SICK/DIED during this time—there were a number of deaths in a row. WHILE all of this was unfolding, I then became VERY ill.
Literally all I’ve done since early ’06 is try to battle this damn Aspergillosis. Hundreds of thousands in medical bills, medications, surgeries, hospitalizations. One medication, alone, (just ONE medication in a sea of meds) was $20,000 cash! and I paid for it! Cash!! ’07-’08. (Sporanox) That was after my left lung collapsed (June ’07) and Cedars suctioned out a BASEBALL-SIZED specimen of mold in in that lung! (All for naught.) So I could unwittingly keep on breathing the same toxic air, getting re-infected, re-infected, re-infected. And, Museum Terrace knowing this from July ’07 through to the current day–April of ’09! In July ‘907, I gave Arnali Ray [building manager] even more medical records–even more than I gave you the other night. She’s been literally sitting on all of this information for two years now!!! Criminal!!
And, I’ve been SO SICK and SO invested MEDICALLY, that I haven’t had one spare cent to relocate on my own. Plus, I need a caregiver.
Now here I am with end stage lung disease. INOPERABLE! Too late for any surgery. In fact, on the CT Scan I showed you from 3/11/09–(much medical jargon) I have a partially collapsed right lung (atelectasis) and pneumonia (right now.) There are so many things going wrong with the lungs, my doctors are in damage control mode. What we DO KNOW is that I have to get out of here–FAST!
My Infectious Disease doctor, at first, hesitated to indict any one source but he JUST re-assessed (3-10-09) that I must be getting "re-infected" at building. My Critical Care MD is highly alarmed regarding "mold exposure" in building.
Looking at the woman’s medical tests, I see that a respiratory culture from her left lung shows the growth of mold. Aspergillosis is the diagnosis of mold. A report on a unit in the building (lower in this story) shows it is likely that the mold in her comes from the building.
The radiology test result from March 11, 2009 for the right upper lobe says: "There is a cluster of 1-2mm ground-glass nodules in a centriliobular distribution and minimal linear opacities located within the posterior segment (#30-34). These are new since 8/18/08. In the anterior segment within the medical subsegment in the caudal aspect, there are y-shaped tubular opacities in the middle one-third of the parenchyma representing mucous, plugging. More peripherally there are scattered irregularly marginated parenchymal opacities both ground-glass and more circumscribed and in the very caudal aspect of the segment peripherally and subpleurally, there is a crescent-shaped opacity measuring as much as 3.5 cm in transverse and 1 cm in AP dimension with no evidence of cavitation or air bronchograms. These are new findings since the earlier study. In the axillary portion of the posterior segment, in the mid-lung zone, there are scattered areas of secretions within the subsegmental bronchus…"
"Right middle lobe – In the caudal portion within the medial segment, there are two focal ovoid areas of opacity that represent peripheral mucous plugging and caudal to which a somewhat triangular-shaped opacity measuring up to 2 cm. These are new findings. Adjacent to these are localized linear-opacities in the medial segment adjacent to the heart that are chronic."
"Left-upper-lobe – Scattered 1-2 mm modular and linear opacities are seen in the poseterior subsegment… These findings are new."
"Left lower lobe – There is a cluster of nodules in a centrilobar distribution located peripherally… A 2-3 mm ground-glass nodule is again seen…"
"Again noted is the presences of cyllindrical bronchlectasis bilaterally as has been previously described. Scattered intraluminal abnormalities are seen."
A mold report done this year on one of the units found elevated levels of Aspergillus (as compared to the outside), and recommends a doctor review the report and for the tenant to be moved out, with their belongings cleaned.
