NEW YORK—On Sept. 11, 2001, James Zadroga made a choice to join other ground zero workers at the front line of rescue and recovery operations after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center towers.
Five years later, he died of respiratory disease from toxins that entered his body on 9/11. He was not a smoker and had no history of asthma or other respiratory disease before his participation. The death of Zadroga was a tragic one, but it brought thousands of other 9/11 responders who suffer the same illness the help they needed and deserved.
Zadroga was the first officer whose death was attributed to his participation at the World Trade Center site. He had a family and held a job at the New York City Police Department.
After spending 470 hours in the ground zero area, he developed a consistent cough and eventually needed oxygen tanks to breathe. Zadroga sought help, but he did not receive aid from the government until 2004, long after his health had severely deteriorated.
After his death on Jan. 5, 2006, an autopsy report showed that his death was “directly related to the 9/11 incident.” Government officials began to take notice of the health conditions of ground zero participants and citizens who lived, worked, or went to school in the surrounding area. Former Gov. George Pataki signed a law in 2006 that paid more death benefits to relatives of volunteers who participated in the rescue and recovery of the World Trade Center area, and those who died from diseases related to their participation.
The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act passed through Congress at the end of 2010, and was signed by President Obama on Jan. 2. The act established the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide care for those physically present at the “World Trade Center site, the Pentagon site, the Shanksville site, debris removal routes such as barges and Fresh Kills, and any area that is sufficiently close to the crashes that the special master determines to have had a demonstrable risk of physical harm,” according to a fact sheet from the Department of Justice. The act covers a wide range of respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic cough syndrome, and mental health conditions such as post traumatic stress disorder. Musculoskeletal disorders such as lower back pain and carpal tunnel syndrome are also covered for responders.
Under the act, Congress allocated $2.7 million dollars to reactivate the Victim Compensation Fund (VCF), which allows individuals that were injured or harmed in the attack to file claims within two years. Claimants do not have to reside in New York City.
After Obama enacted the law, Special Master Sheila L. Birnbaum hosted many town hall meetings with hundreds of victims, victims’ advocates, and others affected by the act. Public commentary was taken into consideration before the final ruling for the act was issued on Aug. 26. It expanded the area recognized as a “9/11 crash site” including the area south of Canal Street in lower Manhattan, and added additional forms of proof that may be used to establish eligibility.
Researchers at the Mount Sinai Medical Center released the first long-term study on the health impact of the twin towers’ collapse on responders last Thursday in the Lancet magazine, and results showed that first responders are more likely to suffer a range of diseases. Twenty-seven thousand police officers, construction workers, firefighters, and municipal workers were evaluated by the Mount Sinai World Trade Center Clinical Center of Excellence and Data Center. Nine years after the 9/11 attacks, 28 percent of patients had asthma, 42 percent had sinusitis, and 39 percent had gastro-esophageal reflux disease. Forty-two percent of all the patients had abnormal lung function tests.
Studies also show that there was an increased risk of melanoma, thyroid and prostate cancer, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma among firefighters who served at ground zero compared to the general population, and an overall increase in cancer for firefighters who were exposed to debris and toxins at the World Trade Center site compared to those who were not. U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), and Peter King (R-N.Y.), the authors of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, issued a statement regarding the findings published in Lancet.
“Evidence of an increased risk of cancers among firefighters who served at ground zero underscores the severity of toxic exposures caused by 9/11, the full effects of which are still emerging 10 years after the attacks,” said Maloney, Nadler, and King in the statement. “We will be looking closely at the findings published in the Lancet and hope that Dr. Howard will consider as soon as possible adding coverage for the cancers discussed in the Lancet study, which the Zadroga Act empowers him to do.”
The three representatives have written a letter to Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius urging her to appoint members to the Scientific/Technical Advisory Committee.
The panel was created under the Zadroga Act and is responsible for reviewing scientific and medical evidence, and making recommendations to 9/11 Health Administrator Dr. John Howard on 9/11 health condition coverage.
