Philadelphia Housing Authority pays $9M to girl disabled by mold

Mold and asthma combined to cause brain damage

The Philadelphia Housing Authority will pay more than nine million dollars to the family of a girl who has become severely disabled because of mold in her privately-managed apartment. The apartment was subsidized with public money and inspected by PHA.

The girl’s attorney says his client can not talk or walk because of a severe asthma attack that led to brain damage.

Barbara Washington is an asthma care coordinator with the Health Promotion Council, a Philadelphia nonprofit. She says this is an extreme example,

“We have not had a case that went to that extent. We have had children who had frequent emergency room visits because of mold in the house. Usually it’s a continuous and progressive episode. A series of coughing, wheezing, congestion. A lot of times, the medication ends up not being enough and they end up having to go to the emergency room to get more extensive treatment.”

Washington says many parents of children who develop asthma because of a problem in the home are so focused on removing the source of the sickness, they don’t have time to wage a legal battle.