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April18, 2008 - Bloomberg Calls on Feds to Help Sick World Trade Center Rescue Workers, Others

The federal government should be paying the medical bills of World Trade Center rescue workers and New York City residents sickened because of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said yesterday.  Bloomberg wants the US government to spend at least $150 million a year to help these people, many of whom are still suffering health problems because of toxic dust that blanketed lower Manhattan for weeks following the collapse of the twin towers.

Many World Trade Center rescue workers and other people in the vicinity of the 9/11 attacks have been a reporting a host of health problems since the tragedy. A study by the Mt. Sinai Medical Center found that of 9,000 emergency workers, 70-percent had suffered some type of lung ailment after the attacks, and that 60-percent still faced respiratory problems. In May the FDNY reported that cases of the rare lung disease sarcoidosis had risen dramatically among firefighters and EMS workers who had spent time at Ground Zero.

World Trade Center sickness have not just been restricted to emergency responders.  The New York City Department of Health last year found that one in eight first responders still suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Even children have not been immune from the effects of the deadly dust, as a recent report said that of 3,100 children enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Registry; nearly half had developed breathing problems three years after the attack.

Unfortunately, many of these people have had little help in dealing with their illnesses.  The federal government created a $1 billion insurance fund to help ground zero workers sickened by the toxic fumes and dust released when the World Trade Center was destroyed. The fund, however, has been beset by lawsuits and criticized for the lack of payments to sick workers.

New York City is also facing hundreds of lawsuit filed by sick World Trade Center rescue workers.  The city, along with the Port Authority, had tried to convince the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to give them immunity from nearly 8,000 workers’ claims.  But in March that panel ruled against the city, after having determined the immunity claims raised by the city were so complex that they could only be resolved by further litigation.

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April 11, 2008 - 9/11 health forum

Celia Correa, 58, has lung disease and a host of other medical problems that she believes are connected to her exposure to the World Trade Center dust after 9/11.

She and other activists are holding a forum about 9/11 health Sunday afternoon. Residents, workers and students will speak about their continuing health problems following 9/11. Doctors will talk about the 9/11-related illnesses they have seen and will tell people where they can go for treatment.

“More and more of us are developing more and more illnesses and conditions, but they’re not being linked to 9/11,” Correa said. “These medical problems take a toll on your body slowly, and finally it erupts.”

One goal of Sunday’s event is to spread the word about the W.T.C. Environmental Health Center, which offers free treatment to anyone with 9/11-related health problems. Staff from the center will register attendees for intake exams at Bellevue Hospital, Gouverneur Healthcare Services on the Lower East Side and Elmhurst Hospital in Queens.

Laine Romero-Alston, director of research and policy for the Urban Justice Center, one of the organizers, sees the event as an opportunity to spread the word about the free healthcare.

“There’s a serious health crisis related to 9/11,” Romero-Alston said. “Doctors don’t know what’s going on. What was initially all respiratory, is not all respiratory.”

She said doctors are now seeing increasing numbers of cancer cases and blood diseases in those exposed to 9/11 contaminants, along with more complaints about skin, digestive and gynecological problems.

Correa said she has experienced a progression of symptoms. She worked as an administrative assistant at 88 Pine St. from October 2001 until July 2004. She helped clean the office and worked at a desk directly beneath an air vent. The dust from 9/11 was literally part of the air she breathed, she said.

Correa developed lung disease, chronic asthma and bronchitis, respiratory problems that some doctors have linked to 9/11. But she also noticed a number of other health problems, which she didn’t initially connect to her exposure. She had acid reflux, vertigo, muscle aches, hemorrhaging and a rash that doctors couldn’t diagnose. No longer able to work, Correa was left without health insurance and had to declare bankruptcy.

Now, Correa receives all her healthcare and medication through the W.T.C. Environmental Health Center. She is also a member of Beyond Ground Zero, an activist organization that is cosponsoring Sunday’s panel.

Jeffery Hon, the city’s 9/11 health coordinator will attend the forum. Dr. Joan Reibman, a 9/11 health expert, will speak, along with representatives of several local elected officials.

The activists will also call on the federal government to provide funding for 9/11-related healthcare and research.

“They’re not doing anything about it,” Correa said. “We don’t understand why the government doesn’t want to acknowledge us.” Correa wants a guarantee of lifelong workers compensation and subsidized healthcare.

“We don’t know, ultimately, what the full health fallout is, or what it will be in five, 10 years,” Romero-Alston added. “There needs to be long-term federal response for all those affected.”

The 9/11 health forum will be held at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, at 199 Chambers St., on Sun., April 13 at 2 p.m.

-- Julie Shapiro

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April 11, 2008 - $$ War with 9/11 Contractors

By SUSAN EDELMAN

The city and its Ground Zero contractors have become embroiled in an explosive rift over who's responsible to pay 9/11 workers sickened during the World Trade Center cleanup, The Post has learned.

Splitting with Mayor Bloomberg for the first time, the contractors are now contending the city has no financial cap on its liability for claims from the cleanup.

The contractors have filed bombshell court papers saying they could be left holding the bag for "potentially enormous" costs if the burden of compensating sick 9/11 responders shifts to them.

They cite the Congressional Record, which shows Congress gave the city $1 billion for insurance to cover the debris-removal after the WTC collapse, with no apparent cap on those claims. The city sharply differs.

"The statute, legislative history and prior court decisions make clear that the cap applies to debris-removal cases," Connie Pankratz, a spokeswoman for the city Law Department, said Friday.

Immediately after 9/11, the Air Transportation Safety and Stabilization Act - which also protected the airlines - capped the city's liability for the "terrorist-related aircraft crashes" at $350 million or the city's insurance, whichever is greater.

The contractors say settlement with ill workers will be impossible until the court decides which side is right.

Lawyers for the suing firefighters, cops and other workers filed papers last week agreeing with the contractors - and urging US Judge Alvin Hellerstein to resolve the issue quickly.

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April 4, 2008 - Insurers Told to Cover NYC's Defense Costs Over Sept. 11 Health Claims

Mark Hamblett
New York Law Journal
03-27-2008

New York City has won a victory on the insurance costs of defending against as many as 10,000 claims of respiratory and other illness by construction workers, police officers, firefighters and others who responded to the catastrophe on Sept. 11, 2001.

Southern District of New York Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein has ruled that Lloyd's of London and other insurers are responsible for $100 million in defense costs already incurred and what could be at least twice that amount in future costs.

The decision is a welcome one for both the city and its contractors, who are in the middle of contentious litigation over liability and damages in the case, including the purpose of a $1 billion captive insurance fund established by Congress to deal with the claims.

Hellerstein's summary order in WTS Captive Insurance Co. Inc. v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co., 07 Civ. 1209, came following a March 19 hearing on cross-motions for partial summary judgment.

The judge said the so-called "excess insurers" -- Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's London; Certain London Market Insurance Companies; Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A.; and General Security Indemnity Co. of Arizona -- "have an ongoing duty to defend the City of New York and its contractors in the personal injury cases arising out of the World Trade Center clean-up effort."

That obligation, he said, extends from the exhaustion of the underlying insurance policy issued by Liberty Mutual and he instructed both sides to sit down for an accounting.

Plaintiffs lawyer Paul Napoli Jr. has headed a campaign to force the insurance fund to begin making payments to claimants, but lawyers for the city say he and his co-counsel have refused to recognize any cap on liability in the action and have misrepresented the fund as a "pot of money" just waiting to be distributed.

Napoli, other plaintiffs attorneys and members of Congress have criticized the city for using the funds to pay large legal bills rather than compensating 9/11 responders who have incurred respiratory and other health problems as a result of work at the World Trade Center site.

But Corporation Counsel Michael A. Cardozo said Wednesday in an interview that the captive fund is "an insurance fund."

"That's what the statute says. It is not a victims' compensation fund and if it were we wouldn't be having all these arguments," he said. "It is a billion dollars to insure the city and the contractors concerning claims that are far in excess of a billion dollars, with claims still to be filed and there is no choice but to litigate this because otherwise someone is going to be left naked."

Cardozo will testify on Tuesday at a congressional hearing to publicize the dispute over the World Trade Center damages claims. Congressman Jerold Nadler, D-N.Y., and Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., each chair of a Judiciary Committee subcommittee, have titled the hearing "Paying With Their Lives: The Status of Compensation for 9/11 Health Effects."

"What I plan to tell Congress is that we continue to urge them to reopen the [federal September 11th] Victim Compensation Fund," Cardozo said Wednesday.

Cardozo also said that a ruling Wednesday by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denying immunity from suit for the city and its contractors "makes clear we are going to have lengthy litigation and, after years either there will be a finding that the city and the contractors did something wrong or the opposite -- and as a result of that deserving people will not be receiving compensation."

Among the other witnesses expected to testify at the hearing is Kenneth Feinberg, former special master of the federal fund, which distributed money to the families of those killed in the terror attacks as well as those injured on Sept. 11, 2001.

Napoli said the Lloyd's decision means there will be more money available to compensate those injured in the cleanup. Under Hellerstein's ruling, he said, the insurance companies will be on the hook for at least $200 million in future defense costs as well as $75 million in past and future indemnity.

Fred W. Reinke of Dewey & LeBoeuf, who argued before Hellerstein, said, "We believe that there is an unambiguous pollution exclusion in the insurance policy which should result in the London insurers not being responsible for coverage with respect to the respiratory claims. Judge Hellerstein obviously disagrees. We also believe that it was premature for Judge Hellerstein to grant summary judgment to WTC Captive in light of several open factual issues that need to be resolved. The London insurers reserve their rights with respect to any appeal."

Margaret Warner of McDermott Will & Emery represented the captive fund.

Hellerstein said a full opinion explaining his ruling will follow.

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April 4, 2008 - NYC, contractors not shielded from WTC suits: Court

NYC, contractors not shielded from WTC suits: Court

By Joanne Wojcik
March 27, 2008

NEW YORK—Thousands of individuals who claim they were sickened during the World Trade Center attack and cleanup can pursue lawsuits against New York and the city’s contractors, a federal appeals court ruled last week.

Plaintiffs in the litigation include construction workers, police officers and firefighters who say they suffer from respiratory problems stemming from their exposure to toxins at the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack.

The city and its contractors have argued that they are immune to the suits, but the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week said the lawsuits will have to proceed in order for a district court to determine whether the city and its contractors have immunity under various state and federal laws designed to shield such entities in times of civil crisis.

New York and its contractors currently face more than 10,000 personal injury lawsuits that have been consolidated in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan.

Meanwhile, in a separate but related action, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered the city’s excess insurers to defend the city and its contractors in the personal injury cases. U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, the judge appointed to oversee all WTC-related litigation, also ordered the insurers to work out among themselves how much each will pay. The city thus far has spent $100 million in defense costs, attorneys say.

Those insurers, which collectively wrote $75 million in excess umbrella coverage, include certain underwriters at Lloyd’s of London, certain London Market insurance companies, Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. and General Security Indemnity Co. of Arizona.

Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co. of Boston, which had provided $4 million in primary coverage, settled with the city a little over a month ago.

The city also has an additional $1 billion in excess coverage through WTC Captive Insurance Co., a nonprofit captive formed in December 2004 with a $1 billion grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency as part of the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act.

WTC Captive, which has been paying defense costs on behalf of New York and its contractors in the underlying litigation, filed the suit against the other insurers. Those insurers have asserted various reasons why they have not been providing defense cost coverage, including late notice of claims and a pollution exclusion in the policies.

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April 4, 2008 - Appeals Court Ruling a Victory for World Trade Center Rescue Workers

Lawsuits filed by World Trade Center rescue workers sickened by the toxic dust at Ground Zero will be able to proceed, following an appeals court ruling limiting New York City's immunity in such lawsuits. The city had been trying to have the World Trade Center rescue workers' suits dismissed, claiming that because it was responding to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, federal and state laws provided immunity from such lawsuits.

In the hours and days after 9/11 terrorist attacks, thousands of rescue workers descended on Ground Zero to help with recovery efforts. Sifting through dust and rubble, sometimes with their bare hands, many lacked the clothing and equipment that could have kept them safe from harm. Several studies have confirmed that Ground Zero first responders are suffering from ill health as a result of their exposure to toxic dust at the site. Released last May, the initial findings of a three-year study conducted by the Mt. Sinai Medical Center found that of the 9,000 WTC first responders examined, 70-percent had suffered some type of lung ailment after the attacks, and that 60-percent still faced respiratory problems. Another report released by the FDNY that same month reported that cases of the rare lung disease sarcoidosis had risen dramatically among firefighters and EMS workers who were first responders at Ground Zero. And the New York City Department of Health also found that one in eight first responders still suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Faced with daunting medical bills, and often too disabled to work, thousands of World Trade Center rescue workers have had no choice but to sue New York City and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for their injuries. Lawyers for those entities had asked the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to give them immunity from nearly 8,000 workers' claims. The city was appealing a 2006 decision by the United States District Court in Manhattan that ruled it might only have partial immunity in regards to World Trade Center rescue worker lawsuits.

According to The New York Times, the 2nd Circuit ruled against the city, having determined that many of the immunity claims raised by the city were so complex that they could only be resolved by further litigation. A lawyer representing many of the World Trade Center rescue workers told the Times the ruling was a tremendous victory for his clients. He said that if the cases go to trial, workers would be able to show that the city did not take proper precautions to protect them from hazardous dust.

The city has not yet said if it would appeal the ruling to the US Supreme Court, and according to The New York Times, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and advocates for the World Trade Center rescue workers have asked Congress to reopen the Sept. 11 Victims Compensation Fund to compensate injured workers in lieu of the litigation.

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April 4, 2008 - Court Rules City Not Immune To Health-Related WTC Lawsuits

A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that workers who say they were not properly protected while cleaning up the World Trade Center site can sue the city.

The court denied a request by the city and the Port Authority to give them immunity against nearly 8,000 claims. The lawsuits aren't expected to go to trial for several years.

Workers have claimed a variety of ailments, primarily respiratory issues, from breathing in toxic dust at the site.

In response to the ruling, the city's Corporation Counsel released a statement saying, "We are disappointed with the court's decision. However, we are confident that as the facts unfold in the District Court, the city and contractors will be found to be immune from lawsuits over our response to the terrorist attack."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the contractors, and others have urged Congress to re-open the old Victim Compensation Fund as an alternative to the current costly and time-consuming litigation

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April 4, 2008 - Former Head Of 9/11 Fund Wants To Compensate Sick WTC Workers

The former head of a fund to compensate September 11 victims supports reopening it for sick workers.

Ken Feinberg testified at a congressional hearing Tuesday that the fund should help thousands of people sickened by the dust cloud from the collapse of the World Trade Center.

He said it would be better for everyone than costly lawsuits.

Feinberg said there could be problems with re-opening the fund, since nothing similar was set up after the Oklahoma City bombing or Hurricane Katrina.

The September 11 Victim Compensation Fund was created by Congress after the 2001 attacks and distributed about $7 billion in total before expiring at the end of 2003.

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April 4, 2008 - Ground Zero workers fight for insurance funds

By Lisa Myers, NBC News Senior Investigative Correspondent

After 9/11, the federal government set aside $1 billion in insurance funds to protect New York City, and to compensate workers who became ill or injured after working at Ground Zero. Today, thousands of workers say they are sick, and they can't understand why so few of them have gotten any payments.

Workers like Mike Valentin.

Before working for two months at Ground Zero, Valentin, a New York City Police Officer, says he was in perfect health. Today, he has lung disease and an inoperable tumor on his windpipe, conditions he blames on the toxic air at Ground Zero.

“My doctor says that this is something I'm going to live with for the rest of my life,” Valentin said.

There's no compensation fund for him, like there was for families after 9/11. But Valentin and 10,000 former workers want New York City to pay, claiming they weren't adequately protected on the smoky "pile."

“I wore an American bandana around my face for the first few weeks, then eventually we got a paper mask,” said Valentin, who is now suing the city and who is represented by the Napoli Bern Ripka law firm.

The federal government created a $1 billion insurance company almost four years ago to pay legitimate claims, and to protect New York City. But Valentin's case, and thousands more, have not been heard.


"I just need my family taken care of, that’s all I want. I'm not looking to drive a Mercedes Benz, you know? I just want my family taken care of,” Valentin added.

So far, the World Trade Center insurance fund has paid out only $300,000 in benefits, to six workers with bone injuries. And yet it's spent $100 million on legal fees--mostly to challenge workers' claims in court.

New York City officials say they did adequately protect workers, with masks and other equipment. And, they say, since Congress set up an insurance fund, the city must carefully weigh each claim, which takes time, lawyers and money.

Michael Cardozo is the New York City Corporation Counsel, the city’s top legal officer. “This is ten thousand individual people with very different and complex facts that all have to be sorted out," Cardozo said. “I would certainly prefer to be able not to fight with the people who came out heroically to help clean up Ground Zero. I'm charged, of course, with a duty, and the city must defend itself,” Cardozo said.

But lawmakers who set aside those billion dollars say the little guy has been neglected.

"The problem is this fund has erred far too much on the side of not helping the workers, and dispending money," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

City officials are now lobbying to turn the insurance company into a compensation fund, to better serve the workers who endured the harsh conditions at Ground Zero. At a House hearing today, Cardozo and other panelists urged Congress to create a true compensation fund to aid the Ground Zero workers.

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April 4, 2008 - NY courts forced to hear 9/11 lawsuits

When the World Trade Center collapsed on Sept. 11, John Feal, a city demolition supervisor, was one of thousands of responders first dispatched to clean up the rubble. But after a steel beam crushed Feal's left foot, he became permanently disabled and was forced to retire.

Like many other responders, Feal said his workman's compensation claims were repeatedly denied by the city after the emergency.

But that may change.

Feal, who founded the FealGood Foundation, a group that advocates for Sept. 11 responders, is one of nearly 10,000 workers suing the city for injuries and health problems caused by unsafe conditions at ground zero during cleanup. And thanks to a recent federal court decision, they may be one step closer to seeing a settlement.

The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that New York City is not immune to WTC workers' claims. In the decision, the appellate court stated, "private contractors are paid for their services and able to pass along the cost of liability protection to the government."

The Second Circuit decision does not necessarily mean that the 10,000 responders will receive compensation. However, the decision indicates that these lawsuits can move closer to trial or settlement.

Many of the responders have severe respiratory illnesses and other ailments they attribute to improper protection by the city from the dust at the World Trade Center site.

The city argued, however, that it had immunity from the lawsuits because it was responding to an emergency situation, which required an "extraordinary response," according to a statement. When a Manhattan district court said there was not enough evidence for immunity, the city appealed to the Second Circuit Court, which upheld the district court's decision.

The City Law Department's Corporation Counsel Michael A. Cardozo said in a statement that although disappointed with the decision, the law department is "confident that the city and contractors will be found to be immune from the lawsuits" in future litigations.

David E. Worby, the attorney who is representing most of the responders, told The New York Times that if the case goes to trial, the city may wind up paying billions of dollars in compensation.

Though the recent ruling is good news for Feal and his fellow responders, he wasn't completely content with the decision. Feal said in a phone interview that the decision was "a step in the right direction, but it was four to five years late." However, he added that he was "optimistic that by the end of the year, people will start getting compensated."

It is unclear what the next step in the legal battle will be. Cardozo said in the statement that the law department has not yet decided whether to appeal last week's decision to the Supreme Court.


Vivekananda Nemana is a staff writer. E-mail him at citystate@nyunews.com.

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March 20, 2008 - Former Giant walks for recovery workers

By Mickey Winfield: Freedom New Mexico

March 20, 2008 - 11:10PM

George Martin was a Giant on the field, and he's  also a giant off the field.

Martin is walking across the country, more than 3,500 miles in total, to benefit the rescue and recovery workers from the World Trade Center attack on Sept. 11, 2001.

He passed his journey's  2,000-mile mark near Portales on Thursday and took time to talk to Portales High School students.

Martin played defensive end for the New York Giants for 14 seasons, from 1975 to 1988. He was a team co-captain on the Giants team that won Super Bowl XXI against Denver. In that game, Martin scored the fourth safety in Super Bowl history, sacking John Elway in the end zone.

When Portales city learned of Martin's  journey, they jumped at the chance to welcome him and tell his story at a high school assembly.

"We thought that was a really great concept,"? Portales community affairs coordinator Nicole Wilkening said. "We thought it was a wonderful message when we discovered what his speech entailed."?

Martin talked about the message he brings school-aged children across the country.

"This is their community - they own it, they should be conscious enough to recognize the local heroes here- the police and firemen who put their lives on the line every day," Martin said. " What I'm talking about is to be socially conscious and aware. Don't wait for somebody else, take matters into your own hands to make a difference in your community."

Martin, vice president of sports marketing for AXA Equitable based out of New York City, lost several close friends during the Sept. 11 attacks.

"The people that I lost were very young - the age of my children,"? Martin said. "And I thought that's such a hideous attack to rob them of their future, their lives and to affect their parents. I'm a parent myself and I don't think there's any worse hurt that you could inflict upon a parent than to take their child away."?

Martin said he is raising money to help a significant number of recovery workers at Ground Zero who have developed serious, long-term medical problems over the last several years.

"I've seen how the first responders and rescue and recovery workers were adversely affected because of a toxic cloud,"? Martin said. "I consulted with a lot of friends, family and associates and we came up with the Journey For 9/11."?

Martin's walk began at the George Washington bridge in New York City on Sept. 16, 2007. His mission will end at San Francisco's Golden Gate bridge late this spring.

On a typical day of walking, Martin averages about 22 miles, and he has passed through portions of 11 states and the District of Columbia.

Martin said the biggest challenge of the massive walk is getting mentally prepared to walk every day.

"It been particularly difficult physically,"? Martin said. "It's been more challenging mentally to get up and do the whole thing over and over again, repetitively. That can be a monotonous drain on you, but it's been enjoyable because I've gotten to meet some incredible people and experience some wonderful things."?

The city of Portales also honored March 20 as "A Journey for 9/11 and George Martin Day."?

In addition to getting his own day in Portales, Martin picked up a few other awards for his efforts in the cause. He was named one of ABC News Persons of the Year in 2007, and he received the second annual Heisman Humanitarian Award

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March 6, 2008 - August Deadline For 9/11 Rescue Workers’ Claims

If you aided in the rescue, recovery or cleanup efforts of the World Trade Center ruins, it is important that you register no later than August 13, 2008, with the New York State Workers' Compensation Board. By registering, you will preserve your right to file a workers' compensation claim, in case you get sick in the future. Without a second thought, tens of thousands of people rushed to help after the terrorist attacks.

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March 3, 2008 - Environmental Illnesses Haunt Some Who Covered 9/11

Rescuers and construction workers aren't the only ones sickened by exposure to World Trade Center dust and smoke. Journalists, including photographers, are also reporting health problems.

March 03, 2008

By Daryl Lang

New York Times staff photographer Keith Meyers loved to tackle rigorous assignments, like flying in military jets and scuba diving with astronauts in training.

"He was almost hyper in terms of his energy level," says friend and fellow Times photographer Fred Conrad. "He could run circles around people."

On September 11, 2001, Meyers cut short a vacation and raced to New York to help with coverage at Ground Zero. Four days later, Meyers climbed aboard a Coast Guard helicopter to shoot a series of historic pictures, the first aerial news photos of the still-burning World Trade Center site.

As he leaned out of the helicopter, Meyers could feel the rising smoke.

"It was like breathing fire, and I could feel my skin tingling and burning," he says. A doctor later told him he probably had been exposed to chemicals as caustic as Drano.

Over the next two years, Meyers's health deteriorated. While covering the New York City blackout in 2003, he suffered several asthma attacks. His energy level diminished, and twice he nodded off behind the wheel while waiting at tollbooths.

Now 59, Meyers suffers from serious breathing problems. Treatment keeps many of his symptoms in check, but he can no longer do his job. He went on indefinite medical leave from The Times last year.

His diagnoses are like a catalogue of the illnesses that afflict 9/11 workers: asthma, rhinitis, sinusitis, gastroesophageal reflux disorder, paradoxical voice box disorder. On top of all that is a feeling of lost identity now that he has given up photojournalism.

"Not working is harder than being sick," he says. "And that's the battle I've got to fight, because I've got to be sure not to do anything to make myself sicker."

Meyers is not alone. Five other journalists have told PDN they suffer persistent health effects after working at the World Trade Center site, and a sixth has died of cancer. Two of them were unwilling to be named in this article, one for privacy reasons and another because of an ongoing lawsuit.

David Handschuh, a photographer for the New York Daily News, has been working with The New York Press Photographers Association (NYPPA) to make sure these journalists aren't forgotten.

Handschuh, 48, broke his leg covering the World Trade Center attack and was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. "It's not a New York problem. It's a nationwide problem," Handschuh says when discussing 9/11 health concerns, emphasizing that many out-of-town journalists were part of the coverage.

First responders and construction workers who toiled in the toxic aftermath of 9/11 have been the subject of news reports, political speeches and prize-winning newspaper editorials. But little has been said about the journalists who were exposed to the same conditions.

Handschuh and the NYPPA are advocating for legislation in New York State to extend the deadline for journalists to file 9/11-related workers compensation claims. Last year state lawmakers extended the filing deadline for rescue and recovery workers to August 14, but there is no similar extension for journalists.

For environmental illnesses like asthma and cancer, proving a direct link between cause and effect is difficult. Certain cancers might not appear for decades.

But right now, some journalists are convinced their health problems are the result of their work at Ground Zero.

Keith Silverman, 49, a freelance camera operator who arrived at the World Trade Center the morning of September 11 and spent the next two weeks there for ABC, says he can no longer work in TV. He suffers from chronic sinus issues and is in remission from Hodgkin's lymphoma, problems he believes come from exposure to dust and smoke at Ground Zero. "They don't know what we breathed in because there were so many carcinogens in the air," he says.

Philippe Gassot, 52, a Washington, D.C.-based correspondent for French TV and radio; Jim Purcell, 42, publisher of a weekly newspaper in Middletown, New Jersey; and another photo- journalist all say they suffer from worsening breathing problems after covering Ground Zero.

A producer for a Canadian TV network spent a week at Ground Zero after 9/11. He was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in June 2002 and died of lung failure in 2004. His wife (who requested that his name not be published) says she believes the World Trade Center dust acted as a trigger for this rare form of cancer.

It is likely that there are more. Between 2002 and 2004, The World Trade Center Worker and Volunteer Medical Screening Program surveyed 9,442 workers, including 81 who worked for news agencies. The survey found that this group was five times as likely as the general population to suffer from reduced breathing capacity.

The NYPPA has been encouraging 9/11 journalists to fill out an anonymous online survey. By early February, the survey had logged 161 responses. Respondents reported a variety of breathing problems like asthma and persistent coughing, and symptoms of depression and PTSD. Thirty-six of them said post-9/11 health problems have affected their careers.

When the Twin Towers collapsed, they kicked up a cloud of pulverized cement, glass, lead, asbestos, PCBs, pesticides and other chemicals. Some of the journalists now suffering from health problems feel angry that the government did little to warn people about these dangers. They now scoff at the early assurances that the air was safe.

In a Sept. 13, 2001 press release, Christie Whitman, then head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said, "EPA is greatly relieved to have learned that there appears to be no significant levels of asbestos dust in the air in New York City."

On Sept. 18, even as the EPA cautioned rescue workers to wash their dust-laden clothes separately from other laundry, Whitman asserted, "The public in these areas is not being exposed to excessive levels of asbestos or other harmful substances."

The EPA did not have enough information to make such judgments, but they were pressured by the Bush administration to sound reassuring, according to a 2003 EPA Inspector General report. The White House Council on Environmental Quality "convinced the EPA to add reassuring statements and delete cautionary ones," according to the report.

Even knowing what they know now, journalists say they would have covered the story anyway. "The adrenaline was running, it was an important news story, I charged in and did it, I'd probably do it again," Meyers says. "But if I did it again I would be a hell of a lot more careful."

In a sad bit of irony, the helicopter ride that exposed Meyers to the smoke also earned him a share of a Pulitzer Prize, awarded to the photo staff of The Times in 2002 for its 9/11 portfolio.

"I'm just a guy who did his job and got sick. And I'm in great shape compared to a lot of other people," he says. "I am scared to death that a lot of our colleagues who were there are going to get sick soon or in five or ten years."

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February 29, 2008 - 9/11 rescue workers demand justice

Author: Mark Gruenberg

People's Weekly World Newspaper, 02/29/08 16:42

 

Money isn’t everything for Scott Aline, a member of Operating Engineers Local 138 in New York, who spent months cleaning up the toxic remains of the World Trade Center after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.

But it might have helped save his health and his house and prevent the pain he and his fiancé, Lee Abramowski, suffered when they had to give up their daughter for adoption because they couldn’t afford to care for her.

Aline and other workers on what was known after the Twin Tower collapse as “the pile,” feel forgotten by the Bush administration. Together with members of the California Nurses Association and armed with an AFL-CIO support letter, several hundred of these workers descended on Washington Feb. 26 to tell their stories and seek more aid, especially for health care.

After the terrorist attacks 50,000 workers, including police, fire fighters and construction men and women, were exposed to toxic fumes from the burning Trade Center. Today, these workers continue to fall ill from silicosis, bronchitis, pneumonia, lung cancer, cancerous polyps, leukemia, and post traumatic stress disorder.

Families are also devastated as many have been forced to retire on disability, many others have died and still others are dying now.

The federal government response has been to propose a temporary set of five clinics in New York City and one in New Jersey to diagnose and treat illness that the clinics deem to have been caused by the Twin Tower collapse. Bush has proposed only $25 million for the clinics for the year starting Oct. 1 and he does not want to make the program permanent.

Congress, led by the New York delegation, responded last year by voting for $160 million. Speakers on Feb. 26 said, however, that even that larger amount won’t cover all the rescue workers and their families. New York City estimates are that $250 million will be needed annually to cover the health care costs of workers involved.

Doctors have told Aline, who is 46, that he now has the lungs of a 70 year old man.

Aline spent many days searching for and collecting human body parts from some of the 3,000 dead. Both he and his fiancé are now diagnosed with post traumatic stress syndrome.

They are in a rented apartment because they lost their home after his income of $2,700 per month fell to $1,100 – the amount of his social security disability check. The couple says they are asking people for food, clothing and fuel.

Lawmakers, led by Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Carolyn Maloney, both New York Democrats and by Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), pledged their support for making the programs permanent. Kucinich blasted the administration for its willingness to spend billions on the war in Iraq and so little for the workers who actually responded to the terrorist attacks.

Nadler said there have been two cover-ups. He cited the first as when Bush and then New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani said the pile was safe to work on without protective gear and the second as an attempt now to hide the extent of illness among rescue workers.

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February 27, 2008 - Sept. 11 workers rip proposed health care cuts

WASHINGTON - Gregory Quibell already suffered from pulmonary fibrosis when he was diagnosed in October with leukemia.

He said yesterday he at first didn't think the cancer was related to his cleanup work at the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. But his doctor said it was, and now Quibell, 53, of North Babylon, wants the federal government to help him.

Quibell, a state correction worker, was one of several dozen 9/11 search-and-rescue workers who rallied yesterday at the Capitol, angry that health services meant to help them face what they say are severe budget cuts.

"We stood behind this country," he said. "It's time for the country to stand behind us."

The Bush administration has proposed cutting 9/11-related health care programs by 77 percent in next year's budget, to $25 million from $108 million. The cuts would affect a program at The Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan designed for 9/11 workers, rally organizers said.

Bush proposed $25 million for the programs last year before Congress increased the spending, and Congress is expected to raise the spending again this year, sources said.

A spokeswoman for the federal Office of Management and Budget, Christin Baker, said $200 million remains in a fund for 9/11-related health care. The money is expected to last through next year, Baker said.

Amid an intermittent drizzle, 9/11 workers and a few dozen supporters chanted "$25 million is not enough" and demanded that Congress restore the funding. They received support from four members of Congress, including Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton), who called

the proposed cuts "unconscionable."

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan) said 9/11 health care programs need $250 million to adequately serve those in need.

"When are we going to start helping the people who dropped what they were doing ... and went down to help?" Nadler said.

The rally was organized by the Fealgood Foundation and its founder, John Feal, 41, of Nesconset, who said a piece of steel crushed his foot when he was working on a demolition crew at the trade center. He said he faced foreclosure on his home after he was denied workers' compensation and Social Security benefits.

"I am one mad American," Feal told the crowd.

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February 27, 2008 - Councilman Proposes Bill To Aid Sick 9/11 First Responders

Rescue workers who got sick from working at the World Trade Center site after the September 11th terrorist attacks could soon get some financial help from the city, if the council passes a bill proposed today to help pay some of their healthcare costs. NY1's Amanda Farinacci filed the following report.

City Councilman Michael McMahon says workers made ill from their work at the World Trade Center following the September 11th terrorist attacks are also at risk financially because of a gap in healthcare coverage -- and he's proposing a bill to bridge that gap.

"Anyone who raced in to save lives, or to recover loved ones, or to protect our city, deserves this coverage," said the councilman.

Wednesday, McMahon was joined by the presidents of the rank-and-file police and fire unions as well as plenty of his City Council colleagues to promote the bill, which would require the city to pay temporary healthcare costs for sick workers who are waiting to get into a federal program providing long-term benefits.

Currently, it's taking anywhere from several months to upwards of a year for the workers to get a disability pension once they get sick. This means high co-payments and prescription costs and some treatments which are not covered at all.

"We're dealing with cancers, we're dealing with organs being removed, we're dealing with breathing, lung diseases, sarcoidosis," said Police Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch. "All of that brings up the payment aspect of the every month co-payments, the amount of money that's being paid, and we know from many, many times at this microphone what New York City police officers and firefighters get paid, this is a huge added burden."

"We worry about the future, because so many firefighters have had tremendous disabilities as it relates to lungs and cancers and other illnesses," said Uniformed Firefighters' Association President Steve Cassidy.

Supporters are optimistic the bill will pass because it is not aimed at providing long-term benefits, which Mayor Michael Bloomberg has objected to in the past. They estimate funding it will cost the city only about one or two million dollars.

McMahon is hoping to get full support from the council before taking the bill to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn -- and eventually the mayor.

- Amanda Farinacci

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February 25, 2008 - WTC First Responders To Rally In Washington D.C.

WTC First Responders To Rally In Washington D.C.
February 25, 2008

World Trade Center first responders and their families are heading to D.C. to continue fighting for health care.

Nearly 200 first responders are heading to Capitol Hill to hold a rally Tuesday protesting major cuts to their health care.

They say the government slashed the budget for 9/11 health care from $108 million to $25 million for the next fiscal year. The workers say they deserve better care after exposing themselves to toxic air.

"We're not going to stand for being cut out of the budget by 77 percent,"said John Feal, founder of the Fealgood Foundation. " It is not adequate and it is  an insult."

"If I got hurt in Afghanistan, my family and I would be covered, but since I got hurt in Manhattan we're not,"said WTC construction worker Thomas Magee.

Many first responders are also pushing congress to pass the James Zadroga bill which would ensure that everyone exposed to toxins at Ground Zero has proper medical care.


 

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February 13,, 2008 - 9/11 Toxic Dust Deaths Continue

When the World Trade Center (WTC) towers crumbled, a dust cloud containing more than 2,500 contaminants spread across the city—reaching as far as New Jersey. The toxic dust was composed of harmful elements such as construction debris, glass and other fibers, and poisonous compounds such as lead, mercury, and asbestos. Those living and working near the WTC and those who assisted in cleanup were gravely affected by this contaminated dust. Many of those exposed to the dust have experienced disquieting health issues, ranging from problems with breathing to various forms of cancer, the most common being lung cancer. On January 6, 2008, the New York Post released the preliminary results of a study by the New York State Department of Health, which reported at least 204 rescue and recovery workers and volunteers have died since 9/11, falling victim to a range of cancers and other disorders. The lead researcher informed The Post that a total of 98 fatalities have been confirmed with death certificates. The research shows that 77 persons died of illnesses, including 55 deaths caused by lung and other cancers. Lung cancer and various respiratory ailments seem to be the most common health issues facing those affected by the WTC attacks. -What Really Happened

As time elapses, the fateful and devastating effects of the terrorist attacks that took place on September 11, 2001 continue to unfold. Countless hopes and dreams went down with the collapsing World Trade Center towers­—an intangible loss that can never be calculated or aptly assessed. However, a looming concern regarding the health effects of the aftermath continues to rise.

When the World Trade Center (WTC) towers crumbled, a dust cloud containing more than 2,500 contaminants spread across the city—reaching as far as New Jersey. The toxic dust was composed of harmful elements such as construction debris, glass and other fibers, and poisonous compounds such as lead,mercury, and asbestos. Those living and working near the WTC and those who assisted in cleanup were gravely affected by this contaminated dust. Many of those exposed to the dust have experienced disquieting health issues, ranging from problems with breathing to various forms of cancer, the most common being lung cancer. 

On January 6, 2008, the New York Post released the preliminary results of a study by the New York State Department of Health, which reported at least 204 rescue and recovery workers and volunteers have died since 9/11, falling victim to a range of cancers and other disorders. The lead researcher informed The Post that a total of 98 fatalities have been confirmed with death certificates. The research shows that 77 persons died of illnesses, including 55 deaths caused by lung and other cancers.

Lung cancer and various respiratory ailments seem to be the most common health issues facing those affected by the WTC attacks. In early April 2006, the Centers for Disease Control reported an alarming 62 percent of individuals caught in the toxic dust cloud are suffering with respiratory problems. Additionally, 46 percent of those living or working near the WTC that avoided the dust cloud have reported consistent respiratory problems.

An honorary keepsake saved by a WTC volunteer has illuminated a possible leading cause to the disconcerting lung ailments. Community liaison Yehuda Kaploun, who spent 48 hours volunteering immediately after the attacks at Ground Zero, saved the dress shirt he wore in a plastic bag to honor those lost on 9/11. Kaploun submitted the shirt to authorities in April 2006 with hopes that results of contamination would help volunteers get medical support for the diseases they are likely to develop or may have already developed.

Test results revealed the shirt contains a highly toxic level of chrysotile asbestos, otherwise known as white asbestos. The contamination was 93,000 times higher than the average amount found in U.S. cities, and also higher than the Environmental Protection Agency’s reports of the most contaminated building after 9/11.

Kaploun’s shirt was also contaminated with mercury, barium, zinc, chromium, antimony, cobalt, copper, lead, and molybdenum. Heavy metals like these burned in the fires that lasted for nearly four months after the attacks.

With these disturbing levels of asbestos and other contaminants, it’s no wonder so many individuals associated with the aftermath are suffering with respiratory problems and lung cancer. How could such high levels of asbestos be recorded when the EPA banned and ordered a phase out of asbestos in 1989?

Completed in 1977, the WTC was originally designed to utilize 5,000 tons of asbestos-containing fireproofing on the first 40 floors of the buildings. Anticipating a ban on the use of asbestos in construction in New York, the builders stopped using the material after reaching the 40th floor on the north tower. A spokesperson from the New York Port Authority stated more than half of the asbestos-containing fireproofing was replaced at a later date.

Despite these measures, an estimated 2,000 tons of asbestos was released into the air in the form of fine dust. Microscopic asbestos compounds are easily inhaled, and due to its atomic structure, readily adheres to any substance and is indestructible by the human body. Once absorbed, asbestos sticks to the inner lining of the lungs, heart and stomach, and cannot be broken down or expelled by the body. Asbestos exposure could potentially lead to a variety of destructive and deadly illnesses, such as asbestosis and lung cancer. Exposure to asbestos over time can also lead to a very rare form of cancer, known as mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that develops in mesothelial cells, which form the protective membranous linings that surround the body’s organs, and line body cavities such as the chest. The most common forms of mesothelioma infect the pleura (outer lining of the lungs and chest cavity), the peritoneum (lining of the abdominal cavity), and the pericardium (a sac that surrounds the heart). Every form a mesothelioma, except the benign form, is most likely fatal, as beating the disease is exceptionally rare.

Unfortunately, mesothelioma is extremely difficult to diagnose in its early stages. Once an individual is diagnosed with mesothelioma, the cancer is usually in its late stages and is highly resistant to treatment. The only known cause of mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos, and an individual’s risk for developing this cancer increases with extended exposure.

This elusive disease typically remains dormant for 20 to 50 years before symptoms begin to appear. Symptoms of mesothelioma are relatively non-specific and are often quite similar to symptoms of other diseases, which undoubtedly contributes to late diagnosis. For example, pleural mesothelioma, the most common form of the cancer, exhibits symptoms ranging from a persistent cough to night sweats or fever. These early warning signs are often misdiagnosed as pneumonia or influenza, allowing the cancer to develop and spread unnoticed.

Nearly 10,000 individuals in the United States die annually from asbestos-related diseases, such as lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis. If you or anyone you know was near the WTC on 9/11, helped in the cleanup, or live or work near the site, you are advised to closely monitor your health and seek assistance from a licensed doctor. For additional resources on mesothelioma and mesothelioma treatment please see the resources at Asbestos.com

If you have not done so already, it is not too late to contact The World Trade Center Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program. This program provides free and confidential monitoring examinations to workers and volunteers who responded to the WTC attacks. For the next five years, those who participate in the program will receive free medical examinations at regular intervals to monitor responder health. The program’s website, WTCExams.org, offers more information on how to sign up and where to go for examinations.

For more information on asbestos, its uses and harmful health effects, please visit Asbestos.com.

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February 6, 2008 - NY Lawmakers Shocked At Bush's 77% Cut In 9/11 Health Funding

New York lawmakers in Washington who have been persistently pressing the White House for increased funding for healthcare programs for ailing 9/11 World Trade Center workers were jolted last week when President George W. Bush's proposed budget slashed those programs by 77 percent.

Only last Wednesday, they pointed out, a White House spokesman had issued a statement that the president's 2009 budget would "reflect his continued commitment" to WTC workers. In reality, the budget issued appropriated a paltry $25 million, down from $108 million in the present spending plan.

"This dramatic and unwarranted cut flies in the face of common sense, compassion and just plain fairness," Senator Charles Schumer declared as he promised to "fight these cuts tooth and nail to ensure these heroes receive the health care they need and clearly deserve".

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton stated she was "disappointed and saddened to see that the president chose not to acknowledge the clear healthcare needs of these heroes", and Congressmember Carolyn Maloney said it was "shocking that the president would use his final budget to take an axe to the 9/11 healthcare programs".

Maloney (D- Queens/Manhattan) noted: "Just a few weeks ago, the administration canceled a program for 9/11 responders from around the country because they said it lacked funding, and now they release a budget that doesn't even ask for the money they said they needed.

"The administration has failed in every single one of its budget proposals to deliver adequate help to the heroes of 9/11. Sadly, it looks like this is yet another problem the president will be leaving to his successor."

Maloney pointed out that the Fiscal Year 2008 budget had for the first time included $25 million for 9/11 health programs, even though the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) estimated these programs would need more than $200 million.

The administration at that time promised more funds would be provided, but nothing more was added.

Ultimately, under pressure from the New York congressional delegation, the administration relented and provided $108 million for sick responders, residents, and students, plus another $50 million for 9/11 health needs in an emergency spending bill.

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February 2, 2008 - Witnessing Horror at the World Trade Center

KEVIN V. KELLY, M.D.
New York, N.Y.

To The Editor: The study reported by Megan A. Perrin, M.P.H., et al., published in the September 2007 issue of the Journal (1), involved a methodologic decision which may have resulted in the loss of some clinically important data and an underestimate of the traumatogenic experiences of firefighters.

The article stated that "witnessing horror," one of the variables studied for its effects on the prevalence of probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), "was defined as witnessing any of the following: an airplane hitting the World Trade Center, a building collapsing, people running from a cloud of dust/debris, individuals being injured or killed, or people falling or jumping from the World Trade Center towers" (1, p. 1387). These experiences are surely horrific, but the list includes only events at the time of the collapse.

As noted in the Cohort section, work at the World Trade Center site continued for nearly 9 months after the collapse. During that time, members of the New York City Fire Department performed the bulk of the recovery work and were repeatedly exposed to horrific scenes of decaying and dismembered human remains. In the early days of the recovery effort, firefighters often had to disassemble corpses in order to remove them from the wreckage before they burned. In later months, the remains they found were in states of increasing decomposition. All these conditions contributed to the cumulative traumatic effect of the ongoing World Trade Center experience and may help to explain the greater prevalence of PTSD found among firefighters than among other groups, such as the police.

In my capacity as staff psychiatrist for the New York City Fire Department’s Bureau of Health Services and Counseling Services Unit, I have had occasion to interview and treat hundreds of firefighters traumatized by their experiences at the World Trade Center. While large-scale bereavement and threats to personal safety were surely traumatic for them, it is the horrific experiences of the recovery period in the months after the collapse itself that regularly appear in their nightmares and flashbacks.

Footnotes

Dr. Kelly is a medical officer in the New York City Fire Department.

This letter (doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2007.07091491) was accepted for publication in October 2007.

Reference

  1. Perrin MA, DiGrande L, Wheeler K, Thorpe L, Farfel M, Brackbill R: Differences in PTSD prevalence and associated risk factors among World Trade Center disaster rescue and recovery workers. Am J Psychiatry 2007; 164:1385–1394[Abstract/Free Full Text]

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January 30, 2008 - Cancer kills detective, 43, who put in long hours at Ground Zero

A 43-year-old Manhattan detective who worked at the World Trade Center wreckage and a Staten Island landfill for months after the Sept. 11 terror attacks has died of cancer.

William Holfester's relatives believe conditions at Ground Zero might have caused the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that killed the young grandfather last week at a Long Island hospital.

The 17-year NYPD veteran was diagnosed 18 months ago, said his brother-in-law, Paul D'Arcangelo.

"His duty was to pretty much rake through and sift through for any personal items and body parts," said D'Arcangelo, 53. "I'm sure the mix of all of these chemicals produced quite a mixture of noxious materials.

"We all feel it is related [to the cleanup work], but I don't know what proof there is."

Holfester, who worked in lower Manhattan's 1st Precinct, put in 12-hour days for about three weeks, including weekends, after the attacks, relatives said.

NYPD officials confirmed Holfester put in "a lot of hours" during the recovery effort while assigned at Ground Zero and at a landfill, but could not provide specifics on hours or days. The family has filed for line-of-duty death benefits, the officials said.

Sgt. Michael Ryan, 41, also died from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma last November. He was one of five NYPD Ground Zero workers who died of cancer last year and were given line-of-duty recognition by the department.

Holfester of Mastic Beach, L.I., died Jan. 22 at Stony Brook University Medical Center and spent the last months of his life attached to a feeding tube. At the end, the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Holfester weighed only 80 pounds.

"He was a good guy. His bosses told us Billy was the type to get a case that involved a lot of investigation," D'Arcangelo said. "His [case] folder would start out small and get very big. That was the type of guy that he was."

Holfester left behind his wife, Michelle, two children, 12 and 24, and three grandchildren.

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January 28, 2008 - Care for 9/11 Responders Is Piecemeal

NEW YORK -- As President Bush gives his State of the Union speech Monday, there will be one man in the audience who plans to sit quietly and watch, his very presence a form of protest.

Joseph Libretti, 51, is sick. He has been diagnosed with chronic lung disease since volunteering after Sept. 11, 2001, to cut through steel to remove bodies from the gritty, smoking pile of detritus of the World Trade Center. Now, too weak to return to his job as an ironworker, he mostly keeps close to his Pennsylvania home.

He is among a group of responders demanding a coherent national program to provide local medical treatment for Ground Zero workers from outside New York City who answered the call to help after the terrorist attacks. An existing program was effectively halted in December, when the federal government canceled its search for a contractor to process medical reimbursements.

"The president should take care of the workers," Libretti said during a telephone interview in which he frequently coughed and lost his breath. "If he sees me and other first responders, he'll know we're there."

His protest was helped by Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), who has made medical care for Ground Zero workers her cause.

"What kind of a nation are we?" Maloney said. "What kind of a message are we sending to future responders? 'You are rushing into tragedy, and we are not going to be there.' "

Right now, Libretti's son regularly drives him two hours to Manhattan to consult with a pulmonologist and a psychiatrist at Mount Sinai Medical Center, which runs a program providing comprehensive treatment to first responders who suffer from some common ailments: cough, asthma, headaches, nosebleeds, other respiratory ailments and post-traumatic stress disorder.

People came from all 50 states to help in rescue, recovery and cleanup at Ground Zero, and the federal government had been searching for a contractor to run a business center to manage their health care since then. The center would help clinics across the country treat and monitor first responders, streamline existing payment and pharmaceutical plans, and pay medical bills.

On Dec. 13, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention canceled a request for proposals to establish the business center. Without the center, there would be no entity to offer medical referrals to responders far from New York City, or any single scheme for the government to reimburse their doctors or to streamline pharmaceutical reimbursements.

James Melius, an occupational health specialist who is the chairman of the steering committee of the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program, said the center is critical because funding to treat and monitor the health of first responders across the country is about to expire.

The Red Cross is providing limited funding to treat about 500 first responders outside the New York City area, but that will end in coming months, while another contract for monitoring about 2,000 people will run out in June, Melius said.

"These people will basically be on their own," he said.

Bernadette Burden, a spokeswoman for the CDC, said the contractor request was canceled because its language was unclear and confusing.

"We wanted to review the requirements," she said, "to make certain this solicitation was accurate and fair and to make a determination as to whether a new solicitation should be issued in the future."

Funding was uncertain, and there was little interest in filling the contract, added Holly Babin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services.

But Congress had already appropriated $50 million for treating and monitoring first responders, and it approved another $108 million shortly after the contract was called off, Rep. Maloney said.

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January 28, 2008 - A WTC worker's silent State of the Union protest

WASHINGTON - John Feal of Nesconset, had vowed never to return to the nation's capital.

The former demolition supervisor, whose left foot was crushed by an eight-ton steel beam while he worked to remove debris from Ground Zero, said it was simply too painful to be reminded of what he sees as the Bush administration's abandonment of him and other 9/11 responders.

But Monday, Feal, 41, gave it another shot, sitting in the gallery of the U.S. Capitol, along with eight other first responders, who are battling illnesses and other disabilities related to their service. Their presence was both rebuke and de facto demand to the Bush administration.

"I want to hear him say, 'I'm sorry,'" Feal said. "I want to hear him say that he's going to leave a billion dollars or more for 9/11 responders when he leaves office."

But Feal, who has set up his own foundation to help ailing 9/11 workers, admitted he is not terribly optimistic.

Earlier in the day, he and other men who became ill after working at Ground Zero appeared at a news conference alongside New York lawmakers and labor leaders, demanding the administration explain why it last month halted plans for a health monitoring and treatment program for Ground Zero workers around the country. They also urged passage of a long-term program to monitor those exposed to toxins after the Twin Towers' collapse.

"This isn't a political issue," said Feal, who has developed lung problems in addition to having 11 surgeries on his feet. "This is a moral and human issue. This is about people dying."

Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton), praised Feal for the work of the Feal Good Foundation, but added, "he ought not have to do that. ... The public sector has the resources and it has the obligation."

Lt. James Riches of Brooklyn, an FDNY deputy chief who lost his firefighter son Jimmy that day, predicted that more people would eventually die from toxic exposure than were killed on 9/11. He has developed severe lung disease after search and recovery work

"When I was down there digging through the pile, there was a gigantic sign, 'Never forget 9/11.' We hope our politicians don't forget us now," he said.

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January 28, 2008 - WTC worker at State of the Union

As President George W. Bush gives his State of the Union speech today, there will be one man in the audience who plans to sit quietly and watch, his very presence a form of protest.

Joseph Libretti, 51, is sick. He has been diagnosed with chronic lung disease since volunteering after Sept. 11, 2001, to cut through steel to remove bodies from the gritty, smoking pile of detritus of the World Trade Center. Now, too weak to return to his job as an ironworker, he mostly keeps close to his Pennsylvania home.

He is among a group of responders demanding a coherent national program to provide local medical treatment for Ground Zero workers from outside New York City who rushed to the call to help after the terrorist attacks. An existing program was effectively halted last month, when the federal government canceled its search for a contractor to process medical reimbursements.

"The president should take care of the workers," Libretti said during a telephone interview in which he frequently lost his breath. "If he sees me and other first responders, he'll know we're there."

His protest was helped by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan), who has made medical care for Ground Zero workers her cause. "What kind of a nation are we?" she said. "What kind of a message are we sending to future responders? 'You are rushing into tragedy and we are not going to be there.'"

Right now, Libretti's son regularly drives him two hours to Manhattan to consult with a pulmonologist and a psychiatrist at Mount Sinai Medical Center, which runs a program providing comprehensive treatment to first responders who suffer from some common ailments: cough, asthma, headaches, nosebleeds, other respiratory ailments and post-traumatic stress disorder.

As Libretti and others watch and listen, the president will also look ahead to "unfinished business" that White House aides say can be completed with some goodwill from the Democratic-controlled Congress

Some of that business seems likely to remain unfinished. Bush has long wanted to make permanent the tax cuts approved early in his term, but Democrats appear to have little interest. The tax cuts are set to expire during the first term of the next president. It is also unclear how much leverage Bush will have to secure free-trade deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. The trade deals have been stalled in Congress over workers' rights and other Democratic concerns.

The president may be better positioned to win reauthorization of existing initiatives he will discuss, such as his program to permit wireless surveillance of suspected terrorists and his ambitious accountability system for the nation's public schools. Aides are also promising modest changes in areas such as housing, health care and the president's "faith-based" program to assist religious social service organizations, but they concede that the domestic reforms Bush once sought for immigration and Social Security are out of reach.

On the economy, Bush is seeking to steer the country away from recession and has accelerated his efforts to develop economic stimulus legislation. His speech will press Congress to complete work on the package, which features tax rebates and incentives for businesses to invest in facilities and equipment.

Allies and opponents predict that the president will be cautious in discussing Iraq, knowing that even continued security or political improvements this year would leave the country far short of the thriving beacon of Middle East democracy Bush once envisioned.

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January 27,2008 - NYC lawmakers call on Bush to fund 9/11 health programs

NEW YORK - Lawmakers and World Trade Center health advocates said that President Bush should promise in his State of the Union Address on Monday night to fund programs to treat sick ground zero workers.

"We know the president is going to talk about homeland security," Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a Manhattan Democrat, said on Sunday. "He's going to talk about the war against terror. But let me tell you something he's not probably going to say. He's not going to say that he's going to provide health care to the men and women who rushed in to save the lives of others."

The advocates were angered last month when the government halted an attempt to organize health monitoring for ground zero workers spread across the country, saying the program could cost far more money than Congress has provided.

The Department of Health and Human Services canceled the effort to hire a company to create a "processing center" for medical screening of those who worked on the toxic rubble of the trade center after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

"I'm outraged that we have to be here today to say yet again that the Bush administration is yet again betraying the heroes of 9/11," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat whose district includes the trade center site. "I am outraged that they suddenly canceled a request for proposals to provide medical care to the thousands of brave Americans who came to ground zero from all across the country after the collapse of the World Trade Center."

Sean Kevelighan, a spokesman for the White House budget office, said, "The president's final budget will be released a week from Monday and it will reflect his continued commitment to World Trade Center workers."

He said he could not provide details.

Marvin Bethea, a paramedic who rushed to the trade center site and now suffers from a range of afflictions including post-traumatic stress disorder and asthma, said he would attend his third State of the Union speech on Monday.

"Sit down and meet with myself or some of the responders when we're there tomorrow," said Bethea, who joined Maloney, Nadler and other ground zero workers across the street from the trade center site. "We went from being called heroes to now they treat us like zero."

John Feal, a demolition supervisor who lost part of a foot at ground zero, said, "I am sick and I am disgusted that we're out here in the cold begging for help."

The canceled contract had aimed to organize and improve various Sept. 11 health programs and provide pharmacy benefits. Health officials feared the work could cost as much as $165 million, compared to the $52 million Congress provided

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January 25, 2008 - Lawmakers Call On President To Re-Think Scrapping 9/11 Health Program

Members of the city's congressional delegation held a hearing today into the cancellation of a program to help sick September 11th workers who live outside the tri-state area. The Bush administration says the program would cost too much; congress members, most of them Democrats, say they disagree. NY1's Amanda Farinacci filed the following report.

Of the more than 70,000 people who signed up for the World Trade Center Health Registry -- the federally funded program created in 2003 to monitor the health of those who worked at the World Trade Center site after the September 11th terrorist attacks -- about 10,000 live outside the tri-state area.

Last month, the Bush administration scrapped a plan to help those workers who came from all over the country to help with the recovery at the WTC site. On Tuesday members of the city's congressional delegation held an oversight hearing to ask why the Bush administration is getting rid of the program.

"We need a national program that will provide first responders who came to New York and were exposed to toxins at Ground Zero the medical monitoring and treatment we need," said recovery worker Frank Fraone. "It is disheartening to hear that the administration seems to be standing in the way of delivering and not working to get us the help we need."

The plan would have created a national program to offer care to those with 9/11-related illnesses but who don't live in the New York area. Iron worker Joseph Libretti, who worked at the site after the attacks, suffers from chronic lung disease and lives in Pennsylvania. He travels hours to be treated by New York doctors.

"I took a bus, I started out at 4 o'clock, bus was packed, I waited for the next one," said Libretti. "I had a ticket, no seats. Finally got on a bus at 7:30 and I stood to come here. We got into Manhattan at 10:30. There are days I have a medical appointment and I get up and I don't want to go through that."

Congress set aside an estimated $108 million to start the program, which was designed to streamline the delivery of services to responders who became ill -- but the Bush administration said it would do just the opposite. Federal officials have said the program was canceled because bidders were confused and cost estimates had ballooned, excuses panel members simply don't buy.

No one from the Bush administration attended the hearing. Calls to the United States Health and Human Services Department about why no one appeared were not returned.

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January 25, 2008 - Father heads to Capitol for 9/11 responders

LITTLE EGG HARBOR — A promise to his dying son is why Joseph Zadroga will be present for President Bush's State of the Union Address Monday: to remind Capitol Hill of the importance of continuing health care and compensation for responders exposed to ground zero toxins.

The death of James Zadroga, a New York City detective who responded to the World Trade Center after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, has gained national attention. Two pathologists agreed that his death Jan. 5, 2006, resulted from pulmonary fibrosis, which they linked to ground zero contaminants.

Joseph Zadroga said he was invited by Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.Y., to the House chamber Monday night for President Bush's State of the Union Address. Maloney is the sponsor of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health Compensation Act to continue funding health programs for workers and residents exposed to the toxins at ground zero.

Joseph and Linda Zadroga sat in their home here Thursday talking candidly about how they believe the NYPD turned its back on their son, who served the city for 13 years and received more than 40 citations for bravery.

"He never told us about the citations," his father said. "His partner told us about them at his funeral."

His parents said that James Zadroga fought to stay alive as long as he could for his daughter, Tylerann, and wife, Rhonda, who died at age 29 from a heart ailment less than four months before his death.

Joseph and Linda Zadroga are convinced that the stress the NYPD placed on their son to continue to work while he was falling ill contributed to the death of Rhonda Zadroga, who they said begged James not to go to ground zero.

"When he was alive he told me one of the hardest things he ever had to do was back out of the driveway while she was crying for him to stay," Joseph Zadroga said.

Tylerann, now 6, is being raised by her grandparents. Her colorful toys are around the house, and a picture of her near the glass-encased NYPD badge 6663 show that James Zadroga remains a presence in the home.

Helicopters flying over his home and NYPD sergeants showing up at his door daily to ensure he was following house rest orders in compliance with his sick leave were all part of how James Zadroga lived while slowly dying.

James Zadroga's last wish was to have an NYPD honor guard at his funeral for Tylerann. But even that was a fight, said Joseph Zadroga. He said Michael Paladino, president of the Detective Endowment Association, called the New York Daily News. The outcry from the resulting story was the only way his son received his dying request, he said.

According to the Zadrogas, New Jersey showed their son more respect than New York, with Jersey City and Bergen County police officers and firemen lifting fire ladders and playing the pipe and drums at his funeral.

"That was the catalyst that brought us into the public view," Joseph Zadroga said.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., is also a sponsor of the bill, he said.

"Even though she is campaigning, she still calls to see how we are doing," Linda Zadroga said.

The couple credits Clinton, Maloney and other members of Congress for enactment of previous legislation that provides Tylerann and other children of deceased 9/11 responders with their parents' full pensions until the children reach the age of 21.

The current New York City medical examiner contends that James Zadroga died because he injected crushed medications into his veins. That is untrue, the Zadrogas said, citing their son's pain management records, which do not show needle markings on his arms.

Though Tylerann won pension benefits, Joseph Zadroga continues to press for legislation benefiting the 9/11 responders.

"I promised Jimmy when he was dying, his death would not be useless and (I'd) see that everyone gets help," he said.

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January 17, 2008 - Worker, airline settle suit over 9/11 trauma

A former United Airlines flight attendant who narrowly missed being on one of the hijacked jets that crashed into the World Trade Center has settled a federal lawsuit that accused the airline of wrongfully firing her after she was unable to work because of posttraumatic stress disorder.

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Deborah Jackson of Plaistow, N.H., had worked for United Airlines out of Logan International Airport for 17 years when the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks occurred, according to the suit. She reached a settlement with the airline under terms that were not disclosed in papers filed yesterday in US District Court in Boston.

Her lawyer, Lora M. McSherry of Haverhill, would not discuss the settlement because of a confidentiality agreement with the airline, said an assistant to McSherry. A lawyer for United Airlines, Sarah N. Turner of Boston, also declined to comment.

Jackson was a regular flight attendant on United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston to Los Angeles and won praise from her employer and passengers, according to the suit. She said in a brief interview last night that she was scheduled to work on that flight the day after the attacks.

After Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower, killing many close friends and colleagues, Jackson "suffered extreme guilt, grief, and stress" and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, the suit said.

She accepted an offer of a furlough from the airline because it was too difficult to return to work, the suit said. On Aug. 31, 2005, United Airlines informed her that it was recalling her from the furlough, and she agreed to return.

But she immediately became "paralyzed with fear" and was unable to complete training courses and resume her duties, the suit said. Her conduct was "contrary to her outstanding performance" before Sept. 11 and illustrated how the disaster had affected her, according to the lawsuit.

Jackson repeatedly asked United Airlines to continue her furlough or make other accommodations for her, but the airline refused and wrongfully fired her in November 2005, the suit said.

The following year, she recovered from post-traumatic stress disorder and asked the airline to rehire her, but it would not, said the suit.

The suit, initially filed in Suffolk Superior Court in October and transferred to federal court the following month, sought at least $100,000 in damages.

United Airlines informed the federal court last month that it was in settlement talks with Jackson and asked for an extension to respond to the complaint. On Monday, lawyers for both sides told the court they had reached a settlement, according to court papers. The suit can be reopened within two months if the terms are not met.

After Sept. 11, there were numerous reports across the country of flight attendants suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. There was also other litigation.

In 2003, a New Jersey appellate court ruled that Kim Stroka could not receive workers' compensation for the emotional distress she said she suffered after trading shifts with a co-worker on United Airlines Flight 93, which terrorists hijacked after takeoff from Newark. The plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania, killing everyone aboard.

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January 16, 2008 - 9/11 responders left waiting by feds

If anyone deserves to be called “Hometown Heroes,” it’s Marvin Bethea and James Dobson - two Queens paramedics who responded on 9/11 and were stricken with disabling illnesses afterward - according to several New York Congressmembers.

However, neither paramedic has even received a response from the Federal Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) about their applications to the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) program. They sent the paperwork in more than a year ago along with applications of three other 9/11 responders - Michael Roberts and Bonnie Giebfried, both of who are living, and David Sullins, who is believed to have died at the site.

In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, five Congressmembers wrote, “Now, over a year after submitting their PSOB program applications, these five are still waiting for an answer. The heroes of 9/11 deserve better.”

The letter is much like one sent by four Congressmembers - Carolyn Maloney, Anthony Weiner, Vito Fossella and Peter King to then-U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez dated December 2006. A spokesperson for Maloney said that none of the legislators, recently joined by Jerrold Nadler, have received any response to their requests.

Nor have 48-year-old Kew Gardens resident Bethea and 55-year-old Middle Village resident Dobson, both of whom applied in December 2006, Bethea said. Bethea, who was diagnosed with World Trade Center (WTC) cough, sinusitis, asthma, depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), had to stop working in 2004, about the same time as his paramedic-partner Dobson had to quit his job because of similar afflictions.

“Here it is over a year now, and they still haven’t given us a decision one way or the other,” Bethea said, who said he has sought legal help but was told, “There is nothing they can do until we get a formal decision.”

Since filing their application, however, Bethea said he has heard about three other 9/11 responders who have been awarded benefits through the BJA program.

“At least tell us something. They could say, ‘We don’t feel you are qualified to receive something,’” Bethea said, adding, “You try to be diplomatic about it but how much longer are we supposed to wait?”

So Bethea is forced to wait as he makes repeated phone calls to inquire about his application. Several calls to the BJA from The Queens Courier were not also returned by press time.

In the meantime, Bethea hopes to enlist more elected officials when he travels to Washington, D.C. to attend the State of the Union address given by President George Bush on Monday, January 28. He is also considering calling a press conference to alert more media of his situation and that of the four other New York responders.

“Hopefully we will be able to get more politicians on board,” he said.

Bethea is also strongly encouraging elected officials to support a federal bill, named for 34-year-old New York Police Department (NYPD) Detective James Zadroga, whose death was the first officially linked to time spent at Ground Zero.

On the second anniversary of Zadroga’s death - January 5 - Maloney, Nadler and Fossella pledged to double their efforts to pass the bill, which would ensure that everyone exposed to the Ground Zero toxins have the chance to be medically monitored. Additionally, those who are sick as a result would have access to treatment, there would be an expansion of the “Centers of Excellence” medical care, and care would be increased to anyone including local residents, teachers and children who were exposed and compensation provided for economic damages by reopening the 9/11 Compensation Fund.

“On this sad occasion, we honor Detective Zadroga’s sacrifice and we applaud his family’s tireless efforts to ensure that our country will finally do right by the heroes of 9/11,” Maloney said in a statement released on Friday, January 4.

Still, Bethea counts a law signed into effect by Governor Eliot Spitzer in October 2007 as a big victory for 9/11 responders.

The law amended the Workers’ Compensation Law to raise benefits for paramedics and EMTs from private hospitals who died or were left permanently or temporarily disabled after responding to the attacks on the World Trade Center. Until last year, responders like Bethea whose jobs were contracted through private institutions, received much less than their city-employed counterparts, even though both were required to respond to the World Trade Center attacks.

“New York State has recognized us as being part of the system,” Bethea said, later adding, “Now we are getting abandoned by the Justice Department.”

Despite the setbacks, Bethea said that he continues to advocate for responders so that their actions are not forgotten.

“People tell me, ‘Marvin, you are always in the news,’ but everyone else is either sick or not with us anymore,” he said.

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January 16, 2007 - Family of 9/11 Rescuer Wins Case for Benefit

After a five-year battle, the United States government has dropped its effort to prevent a volunteer firefighter killed at the World Trade Center from receiving a death benefit for public safety officers who die on the job.

The firefighter, Glenn J. Winuk, was a longtime member of the Jericho Volunteer Fire Department who rushed to the burning towers on Sept. 11, 2001.

Mr. Winuk, 40, died when the skyscrapers collapsed, but for years, the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance declined to award his family a $250,000 payment.

The agency contended that the benefit was intended for active-duty public safety officers, and Mr. Winuk had not been on regular duty since 1998.

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January 8, 2008 - Heart ailments linked to terror worries, UC Irvine researchers find

Stress and fear about terrorism after 9/11 are giving Americans heart problems, even if they had no personal connection to the attacks, according to a UC Irvine study released Monday.

UCI researchers linked psychological stress responses to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon to a 53% increase in heart problems -- including high blood pressure and stroke -- in the three years after Sept. 11, 2001.

It is the first study to show the effect of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on cardiac health.

Most of those surveyed had watched the attacks on live television, and one-third had no personal connection to them.

Most of them had no preexisting heart problems, and the results persisted even when risk factors such as high cholesterol, smoking and obesity were taken into account.

"It seems that the 9/11 attacks were so potent that media exposure helped to convey enough stress that people responded in a way that contributed to their cardiovascular problems," said Alison Holman, an assistant professor of nursing science at UCI and the study's lead researcher.

The three-year study took a random, nationwide survey of more than 1,500 adults whose health information had been recorded before the terror at- tacks.

Researchers then asked participants about their stress responses in the weeks after the attacks and issued yearly follow-up questions ending in late 2004.

Participants were asked in the online surveys to report doctor-diagnosed ailments and assess their fear of terrorism by rating on a scale how much they agreed with such statements as "I worry that an act of terrorism will personally affect me or someone in my family in the future."

The study was written by six researchers and published in the January edition of Archives of General Psychiatry.

Chronic worriers -- those who continued to fear terrorism for several years after the attacks -- were the most at risk of heart problems.

They were three to four times more likely to report a doctor-diagnosed heart problem two to three years after the terror attacks.

Those who reported high levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms nine to 14 days after the attacks were more than twice as likely to report heart problems up to three years later.

Previous research has found that rescue and recovery workers who helped with the months-long cleanup at the World Trade Center had a higher incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder than the national population.

But this study shows that even people with no direct experience with the attacks may be psychologically and physically affected by potentially serious health problems, Holman said.

In a study released in 2002, the same UCI researchers found that 17% of the U.S. population outside New York City reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder two months after the 2001 attacks.

Some of the most common triggers of terrorism-related stress have been images and videos of the Sept. 11 attacks, the rise and fall of the terrorism alert levels issued by the Department of Homeland Security, and reports of terrorism in other countries, researchers said.

"There have been a variety of events since 9/11 that have continued to reactivate concerns about terrorism, and people that worry are at the greatest risk" of developing a heart condition, said Roxane Cohen Silver, one of the study's authors and a professor of psychology and social behavior and medicine at UCI.

Researchers say the findings may help medical and mental health workers predict within several weeks of a terrorist attack when a patient's psychological response is likely to translate to a physical ailment.

"Now you don't have to wait months to find out if a person has post-traumatic stress disorder to find out if they're vulnerable to later heart conditions," Holman said.

"If I know I have a patient who is having an acute stress reaction, I may want to intervene."

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January 6, 2008 - Charting post-9/11 Deaths

January 6, 2008 -- At least 204 Ground Zero rescue and recovery workers have died since 9/11 - succumbing to a range of cancers and other ailments, according to preliminary results of a state Health Department study.

Researchers have confirmed 98 fatalities so far with death certificates. They show that 77 died of illnesses, including 55 from lung and various other cancers, the lead researcher told The Post.

Traumatic injuries, such as from car crashes or gunshots, killed the other 21, including three suicides. Five deaths were homicides - four of them cops in the line of duty.

"We're not saying they are all World Trade Center related; we're just saying this is what people are dying from," said Dr. Kitty Gelberg, the state Bureau of Occupational Health's chief epidemiologist.

The WTC Fatalities study, launched a year ago, expects to collect many more names of deceased 9/11 responders over the next 18 months.

"I think it's underreported right now," Gelberg said of the 204 figure. "We want to know about anyone who worked there and died."

Of those deaths, about a third occurred in New York City, a third in Long Island or upstate, and the rest in 15 other states.

The FDNY, the NYPD, the WTC Medical Monitoring Program at Mount Sinai Hospital, and the city's WTC Health Registry have yet to share their data, pending negotiations on patient confidentiality, Gelberg said.

Lawyers for 10,000 WTC responders or their families who have filed toxic-injury suits have turned over names on the condition that the next of kin not be contacted, she said.

The study received a $165,000 federal grant and authority to obtain medical records, autopsies and death certificates. Researchers are also interviewing relatives but will not release any names, Gelberg said.

Several of the 55 responders who died of cancer had the disease before 9/11, but the majority developed it afterward, Gelberg said. After 19 cases of lung cancers, the second-largest cause of death was heart disease, including 10 heart attacks.

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January 3, 2008 - Millstone businessman supports 9/11 workers

Peter Grandich urges community to help sick, dying responders

MILLSTONE - Around the holidays, it's not unusual for people to get the urge to give to a worthy cause.

When Millstone's Peter Grandich took a few moments this holiday season to reflect on all he has been blessed with, he, too, felt the desire to help others who are less fortunate.

During his search to find a cause he could dedicate himself to, Grandich came across a group of people who gave of themselves to help others only to face sickness and death as a result - the Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center first responders. Grandich learned of their plight from the Long Island-based FealGood Foundation, and immediately wanted to help.

"It's an American tragedy that has gripped my heart," Grandich said. "Of the 40,000 people who responded to Ground Zero after the attacks, 70 percent, or 33,000, are sick or dying as a result of their service."

He continued, "We are talking about thousands of EMTs [Emergency Medical Technicians], EMS [Emergency Medical Service] workers, police, fire, military, construction workers and volunteers from all over the country who now suffer from breathing and lung ailments, post-traumatic stress disorder, organ failure and other horrific physical and mental illnesses."

Grandich pointed out that many of these first responders can no longer work, cannot pay medical bills, and are at risk of losing everything at a time when their primary concern should be staying alive.

John Feal, founder of the FealGood Foundation, said, "These people risked their lives without prejudice. There is no money in the world that is going to save their lives, but we can give them a little compassion and respect. We give them a safety and support system and give them hope."

Feal is a 9/11 first responder. He is one of the many injured at what he calls "The Pile." Feal has had to have his foot amputated and underwent months and months of therapy to recover from the ordeal. Like many 9/11 responders, he also suffers from breathing ailments as a result of his work at the site and can no longer work. Yet, i