This is a partial transcript from an interview between Dr. Scott McMahon and Eric Dorninger, ND on how it all began! All right, what a special day to have a fusion in town! I’ve got my dear friend and bestie in all things CIRS and healing chronic and mystery illnesses, Dr. Scott McMahon, here. You’re in town as the keynote speaker for the Colorado Association of Naturopathic Doctors. We’re thrilled to have you in that role because the conference theme is "Healing Healthcare." One of the most misunderstood or overlooked inflammatory issues in healthcare today is CIRS (Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome), often linked to mold or biotoxin illnesses. You’re the first Shoemaker-certified doctor. How did you go from being a 25-year pediatrician to focusing on CIRS? Well, that’s a great question. There’s a couple of ways I could tell the story, but perhaps the most relevant is about a local businessman whose daughter fell ill after attending a high school with serious mold issues. The school was originally built as a bomb shelter with poor air circulation and had significant water damage over the years. This businessman took his daughter to various doctors across the country, eventually finding Dr. Richie Shoemaker, who diagnosed her illness as mold-related. Impressed by Dr. Shoemaker, the businessman approached the local school district, asking them to test the school for mold. However, the district used spore trap testing, which is known to miss issues like Stachybotrys 85% of the time. Frustrated, the businessman sued the school district, not for money, but to force proper testing. This is where I came in—I was asked to help identify other students who might be suffering from similar symptoms. After talking to the businessman for a few hours, I agreed to order lab tests and found that multiple students exhibited the same patterns of illness. That night, I dove into Dr. Shoemaker’s website and learned as much as I could about biotoxin illnesses. Soon after, I was seeing patients with CIRS and quickly became convinced of the connection between mold and the health issues these students were facing. Full Video Below ​