An advisory panel examining which conditions should be covered by the Zadroga Act appeared close Wednesday to recommending that some cancers be included, members said.
While the fund covers numerous illnesses linked with breathing 9/11 toxins, cancer is currently excluded because of insufficient scientific proof — a decision criticized by first responders and city officials who believe the link is crystal clear.
Evidence that there is a cancer link appears to be mounting.
There are 297 cops who have been diagnosed with cancer since working at Ground Zero — and the average age is a shocking 44 at the time of diagnosis, according to the data from the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.
The cancers range from lung — which is the most prevalent, with 19 cases — to rarer cancers that affect the bile duct, tongue and nasal passages, according to the data obtained from a random sampling of retired cops.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, 56 cops have died from cancer, the PBA said.
And an average of 16 cops are applying annually for cancer-related disabilities since the terror attacks, compared with about six a year before 9/11.
Interestingly, New York City is not releasing the names of the NYPD who worked at the destruction site of the WTC. NY Daily News has this:
Scientists at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan have asked for the full roster of officers who served at Ground Zero, but the NYPD’s surgeon refused, citing privacy concerns.
A state appeals court decision to award full benefits to the widow of a police officer who died of cancer after 9/11 could help ensure compensation for the disease for first responders, advocates said Wednesday.
But it isn’t clear whether it will have much impact on the 1,500 to 1,600 first responders who have lawsuits pending against New York City and the Port Authority.
They have until Jan. 2 to decide whether to drop their suits and join the $7.8-billion federal victim compensation fund.
The Appellate Division of State Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that Nilda Macri of Forest Hills was due accidental line-of-duty benefits after husband Frank, 51, who worked about 350 hours at Ground Zero and at Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island, died of lung cancer in 2007.
The decision overturned rulings by the city’s police Medical Board and the Police Pension Fund Board of Trustees.
The boards contended that Macri, a nonsmoker, already had the disease before he was diagnosed with an aggressive lung cancer in August 2002.
The appeals court disagreed, citing a 2005 state law. The law holds that administrative panels should presume the onset of certain illnesses among first responders was caused by their 9/11 exposure.
More than 1,600 people who filed lawsuits claiming that their health was ruined by dust and smoke from the collapsed World Trade Center must decide by Jan. 2 whether to keep fighting in court, or drop the litigation and apply for benefits from a government compensation fund.
For some, the choice is fraught with risk.
Federal lawmakers set aside $2.76 billion last winter for people who developed illnesses after spending time in the ash-choked disaster zone.
But to be considered for a share of the aid, all potential applicants must dismiss any pending lawsuits by the deadline and give up their right to sue forever over Sept. 11, 2001, health problems. Anyone with a lawsuit still pending on Jan. 3 is barred from the program for life.
In July of 2011, federal health officials basically stated there is little or no scientific evidence of a link between cancer and the contaminants police, firefighters and other first responders were exposed to at the World Trade Center site of the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York. As a result, the Victim Compensation Fund has been denying claims for medical costs for treatment of severe personal injuries such as cancer.
It is hardly surprising that federal officials refuse to acknowledge the obvious connection. In fact, I recall when former New Jersey Governer/former head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Christine Todd Whitman came out shortly after 9/11 and stated in substance that the air “was safe to breathe” at the 9/11 site. In 2007, in an appearance before Congress, Whitman reportedly defended her record and refused to express regret for assuring residents and workers the air around Lower Manhattan was safe. She also reportedly denied her remarks were made as a result of political pressure from the Bush White House. However, Whitman reportedly “admitted she had not read the clinical reports from the Mount Sinai Medical Center’s World Trade Center Worker and Volunteer Medical Screening Program. A Mount Sinai study last year found seventy percent of around ten thousand Ground Zero workers developed new or worsened respiratory problems” (http://www.democracynow.org/).
A federal law, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, enacted by Congress last year, provides health care, medical monitoring, and financial compensation for emergency response, recovery, and cleanup workers at Ground Zero who subsequently developed certain conditions, including respiratory illnesses, mental health disorders, and injuries caused by heavy lifting and repetitive stress. But the act excludes individuals who are diagnosed with cancer. Instead, it instructs the World Trade Center Health Program administrator to periodically review scientific and medical evidence to determine whether to add cancer to the list of covered conditions.
The fund is intended to help people who became ill after working at ground zero. It does not help, however, those who claim cancer resulted from exposure to the debris.
McCormick, who was diagnosed with Hodgkins Disease in 2003, died in 2008. He was 34.
David McCormick, Ryan’s father, said Sunday that because the government “has decided to exclude cancer at this point in time because they say they don’t have enough evidence … is disappointing.”
It took years of lobbying and partisan bickering, but the 9/11 Zadroga Act to help ailing Ground Zero responders finally took effect today.
The law provides $4.3 billion in guaranteed federal funding to cover health costs and financial compensation for emergency responders, recovery workers, volunteers, and residents who were affected by the attacks almost 10 years ago.
Advocates celebrated with a ceremonial ribbon-cutting against a backdrop of Star Spangled Banners at Mount Sinai’s 9/11 health clinic this morning.
National and city pols were also on hand, including Mayor Bloomberg, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and U.S. Reps. Jerrold Nadler, Charlie Rangel, and Carolyn Maloney.
I would say the report was balanced, though imperfect in details. Thanks to Huffington Post and reporter Ana Compain-Romero! Allow me to fill in some of those erred-details:
Overall, the teamwork involved in this project has been a great source of enjoyment for myself.
The screen-shots below are from the Huffington Post article. I almost forgot to mention that this very blog is featured in that Huffington Post report…
NPR reports that the death toll from 9/11 has been raised by 1, bringing the number to 2,753. The recent addition to the number of people who were murdered without a proper investigation on 9/11 came from a Manhattan worker who inhaled the initial dust cloud (like thousands of other people).
Last year, it was reported that upwards of 900 people had already died from 9/11 related illnesses. NY 1 reported last year:
Rodriguez, of Lindenhurst, L.I., the mother of two young boys, is among nearly 900 first responders to have died from an array of ailments traced to their service at the smoldering World Trade Center.
The clean-up of the WTC site was a disaster in many ways: From hasty removal of crime scene evidence to lies from the EPA and other agencies. Here is a clip from a report at World for 9/11 Truth:
Nearly 100,000 first responders have been exposed to toxic elements such as Asbestos and were not instructed to wear any special equipment to avoid medical problems. In fact, as demonstrated in the shocking documentary Dust to Dust: the Health Effects of 9/11, the EPA and the U.S. Government told them the air was safe to breathe.
A man who died last year of lung disease was added Friday to the official
list of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.
New York City’s medical examiner ruled that 63-year-old Jerry Borg, of
Manhattan, who died in December, was killed by complications caused by a lung
condition he got from inhaling dust from the collapse of the World Trade
Center.
Borg suffered from pulmonary sarcoidosis, a disease in which inflamed cells
can make someone’s lungs stiff and interfere with normal breathing.
A provision in the new 9/11 health bill may be adding insult to injury for people who fell sick after their service in the aftermath of the 2001 Al Qaeda attacks, The Huffington Post has learned.
The tens of thousands of cops, firefighters, construction workers and others who survived the worst terrorist assault in U.S. history and risked their lives in its wake will soon be informed that their names must be run through the FBI’s terrorism watch list, according to a letter obtained by HuffPost.
A city EMT who was honored by the White House for his 9/11 heroism claims he was short-changed by the Fire Department while recovering from surgery tied to his time at Ground Zero.
Gary Smiley, 48, who is described in court papers as “one of the most highly decorated paramedics” in the city, also says he was stripped of elite assignments after complaining that his wages were improperly withheld.
“This is a time for reflection, not retribution.” – Barack Obama, 2009
Obama is no hero. Only after so many wrongs could the recently passed 9/11 Health legislation seem right.
The Twin Towers on 9/11, had they not been destroyed by demolitions, would have been a hard days work for the NYPD and NYFD; yet the fires would have been put out. In fact in many parts of the buildings the fires were put out, or going out. It is quite possible that the NYFD would have lost a few good men through the day fighting the fires inside the WTC on 9/11 had they had the chance to do so, maybe 10 to 15 firefighters even. But surely not hundreds, especially not a thousand.
343 of NY’s first responders were killed in the World Trade Center demolitions of 9/11/01. They were murdered along with thousands of civilians and no one responsible has gone to jail for those crimes.
The WTC demolition created a cloud of debris-turned-to-dust that covered the city of Manhattan streets, homes, schools and lungs of tens of thousands of people. This could not have happened without explosives and demolitions; volcanoes aside.
The month following 9/11 was so filled with mistakes, possible criminal intent, disinformation, and irresponsibility from the EPA and CEQ that I will just have to list some highlights below:
US President Barack Obama signed a benefits bill on Sunday that will help police, firefighters and other emergency workers who became ill after working in the area around the World Trade Center towers that collapsed on 9/11.
Last night, the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart skewered Republicans for killing deficit neutral legislation to provide health care to the 9/11 first responders and emergency workers who suffered illnesses from working at Ground Zero. He also mocked the celebrity-obsessed media that has completely ignored the story. Republicans, like Sen. John Thune (R-SD), filibustered the bill because they said tax cuts for the richest 2 percent were a higher priority for Congress. While Republicans quietly snuffed out efforts to compensate 9/11 heroes, they were aided by a quiet lobbying campaign by the powerful lobbying front — the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber fought to help kill the 9/11 compensation bill because it was funded by ending a special tax loophole exploited by foreign corporations doing business in the United States.
The “U.S.” part of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is a misnomer. As ThinkProgress reported, the Chamber represents dozens of foreign businesses in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, Bahrain, India, Brazil, and other countries. An investigation of the Chamber turned up recent fundraising documents from the Chamber soliciting foreign contributions to the Chamber’s 501(c)(6), the tax entity the Chamber used to run nasty campaign ads against Democrats earlier this year.
In September, the Chamber sent a letter officially opposing the 9/11 first responders bill, called the “James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010.” The Chamber warned that ending the tax loophole would “damage U.S. relationships with major trading partners” and “aggravate already unsettled financial markets.” A lobbying disclosure filed with the Senate confirms the Chamber contacted lawmakers to help kill the bill.
Posted by Brian 
