No Chinese Drywall Link in Deaths, CDC Says ~

The US Government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has investigated 11 deaths of individuals exposed to Chinese-made drywall in their homes, and reports that all the deaths were the result of other causes. The CDC summary report, Summary of State Health Department Reviews of Deaths Reported to and Investigated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission Related to Exposure to Imported Drywall, is posted on the website of the Consumer Products Safety Commission. In the judgments of the medical authorities who reviewed these cases, said the CDC, exposure to imported drywall was not believed to be a contributing factor to these 11 deaths. In every case, death was clearly the result of other factors, which the report spelled out. For example, in the five cases studied in Louisiana, All five decedents had multiple long-term, severe, preexisting chronic health conditions before their deaths. Four of the persons had heart disease in addition to such other severe illnesses as cancer, diabetes, and systemic lupus erythematosus; the fifth person had metastatic cancer and vascular-related diseases. The conclusion of the LDDHS review of medical records and other relevant information is that imported drywall was not a contributing factor in the deaths of these persons. However, this does not get Chinese drywall off the hook for other, less serious, symptomatic complaints, reports the New Orleans Times-Picayune ( No link between deaths, Chinese drywall, CDC says, by Associated Press). CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson told reporters that hundreds, if not thousands of residents had reported symptoms such as nosebleed or respiratory irritation to the agency. With the drywall's corrosive effects on metal seen as its only significant issue, investors in the Newport News, Virginia, area have been moving in to buy up contaminated homes at lowball prices, remediating the homes and offering them for sale, reports the Virginian-Pilot ( More homes with Chinese drywall purchased by investors, by Josh Brown). One investor bought a Chinese drywall condo for $71,000 that its previous owner had paid $239,200 for, the paper reports. The investor, Matt Saunders of Simple Real Estate Solutions Inc., almost decided to replace the drywall but leave the existing wiring in place, he told the paper, because his electrician had told him that the wiring was still sound. However, Saunders reconsidered and decided to replace all the wiring anyway. Saunders told the paper, It's 100 percent fine. But the question is when a new buyer comes in, they're not going to be confident in the house.