Maryland's Highest Court Rejects Mold Expert's Causation Testimony as Unreliable

BALTIMORE - The Maryland Court of Appeals has affirmed a decision barring testimony by physician Ritchie Shoemaker linking mold exposure to musculoskeletal and neurocognitive illnesses, saying his “Repetitive Exposure Protocol” method of diagnosing such mycotoxin-related illness is unreliable under the state's Frye-Reed admissibility rule.

The high court's Sept. 24 decision affirmed an intermediate appellate court's decision to bar causation testimony by Shoemaker, a Maryland physician who treats patients for mold-related illnesses and testifies as a plaintiff expert in mold cases.

Plaintiff Josephine Chesson and five co-workers allege that they suffered an accidental injury or occupational disease as a result of …