POCOMOKE CITY, Md. -- Patients have flocked to a Maryland doctor to discover whether toxic mold makes them sick. But some doctors question his methods.
Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker reaches out to patients worldwide from the small rural town of Pocomoke City -- and they seek him out, too, reported WBAL-TV in Baltimore.
Software entrepreneur Patrick Sullivan and his wife, from Scottsdale, Ariz., found Shoemaker.
"The way new things are discovered, they're often discovered in places like Pocomoke, Md., as opposed to Hopkins or the Mayo Clinic," Sullivan said.
Kris Ohlhaver has driven from Olney, Md., in northern Montgomery County, for four years. The trip, which normally takes three hours, takes Olhaver two days because of her illness.
"He's the first one that won't give up on me, no matter what," she said.
John Murtaugh, 32, a medical salesman, made the trip from Florida to see Shoemaker. Murtaugh has been ill since November 2003 and takes a mix of 15 medications and vitamins his doctor prescribed for fatigue, confusion, fevers and severe joint pain.
"I thought I was going to die," he said.
Murtaugh thinks toxic mold may be causing his illness and that his life depends on his appointments with Shoemaker.
"He really understands what's causing this illness in people, and he's documented getting people better," Murtaugh said.
"There's a real strong drive to not only feel better, but to know what is wrong," Shoemaker said.
Murtaugh is often frustrated; he broke down emotionally while explaining how a friend rushed him to the hospital with a 104.7-degree fever.
Through tears, Murtaugh recalled: "He was taking me to the hospital, he was asking me, 'They still don't know what's wrong with you?'"
Shoemaker called Murtaugh's reaction typical.
"It's all because of environmental exposure. He has no personal life, no girlfriend, no children, no hope of that," he said.
Shoemaker gives Murtaugh and all of his patients vision tests in addition to extensive blood work.
"There's data out there, you have to go looking for it and read it," Shoemaker said. "There are tests we know are abnormal in mold, and we can profile how physiology is disrupted and then fix it."
Shoemaker believes some people have an innate susceptibility to mold toxins. His approach is to custom build a treatment plan that often includes cholestyramine, a cholesterol drug he prescribes to wipe out mold toxins.
Although some of Shoemaker's peers said his work is a bit on the edge, they have no reason to doubt his motives or sincerity. They said there just isn't enough scientific information to judge Shoemaker's methods or effectiveness.
"One guarantee is that when (patients) leave here, they'll be able to see what their illness is in black and white on a series of lab results," Shoemaker said.
Shoemaker said he sees a 75 percent reduction in symptoms in 92 percent of his patients -- and he remains hopeful about Murtaugh's case.
"I have hope. I'm going to get back to a normal life -- go back to the gym, lose the 40 pounds I've gained," Murtaugh said.
Shoemaker gained notoriety in the late 1990s for his work in treating patients sickened by pfiesteria, a toxic fish-killing organism that has invaded the Pocomoke River.
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