No Cancer Coverage for 9/11 Responders

NEW YORK—When a decision was made to keep cancer off the list of diseases covered by the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, many were outraged. On Wednesday, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, the act’s sponsor, joined members of Congress and first responders to call on John Howard, the administrator of the program, to add cancer to the list of covered diseases.

A provision in the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act requires the administrator of the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program to conduct a periodic review of scientific and medical findings in order to determine whether those who worked at the WTC site are more likely to develop cancer and other diseases. If the review found a link, the disease could be added to the list of covered conditions.

“At the time we passed the Health and Compensation bill, there was limited scientific research on the illnesses that were caused by the toxic fumes. We know that on 9/11 we lost roughly 3,000 people, but since 9/11 many more have become sick,” Maloney said. “Doctors at the 9/11 health clinics have been telling us for years that they believe that eventually cancers will be scientifically proven to be caused by the toxins that appeared on 9/11.”

A study released by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) on July 26 found that “insufficient evidence exists at this time to propose a rule to add cancer, or a certain type of cancer, to the List of WTC-Related Health Conditions.” The decision to keep cancer off the list was based on that finding.

A study published on Sept. 3 by The Lancet, on the other hand, found that firefighters exposed to WTC toxins were 10 percent more likely to get cancer, compared to the general male population. The same study found that these firefighters were 32 percent more likely to develop cancer than those firefighters who were not exposed to WTC toxins.

“The New York City Fire Department report needs to be dealt with as much as John Howard’s [NIOSH] report,” said Kenny Specht, a New York City firefighter.

Specht was a first responder and continued working at ground zero from Sept. 11 to the third week of November 2001.

After the release of the NIOSH study, Howard said that the program will continue reviewing scientific research. Another study is due to be released in 2012. However, Maloney has used another provision in the act to call for an earlier review. This provision states that members of the public may petition for the program administrator to add a condition to the list. Howard is obliged by the provision to respond within 60 days.

“I do not need a doctor or a scientist to tell me or the people that I represent [whether] 9/11 did or did not cause cancer. I have been to 54 funerals in the last five years; 52 of them have been [due to] 9/11-related cancer,” said John Feel, a first responder and an advocate for those affected by 9/11.

Keith LeBow, 48, a Manhattan resident who worked at the WTC site as a volunteer for the first 100 hours following the disaster, now suffers from Reactive Airway Dysfunction Syndrome (RADS), acid reflux, post traumatic stress disorder, sinusitis, and cellulitis.

“How could they think there’s no link?” LeBow asked. “It’s nonsense.”