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Legal Help for 9/11 World Trade Center Rescue Workers

On May 7, 2007, in the first clinical study to connect World Trade Center dust to serious and on occasion fatal diseases, doctors discovered that the number of New York City rescue and recovery workers with a rare type of lung-scarring condition soared in the year after the trade center collapsed. Doctors from the Fire Department and at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine found that 13 firefighters and emergency medical service workers developed sarcoidosis.

The authors of the study, which include Dr. David J. Prezant, deputy chief medical officer of the Fire Department and a member of the faculty at Albert Einstein calculated an incidence rate in the first year after the collapse of 86 cases per 100,000 workers. This finding is more than five times higher than the 15 per 100,000 rate (an average of two to four cases per year) for Firefighter Department workers in the 15 years before the trade center collapsed.

After the original rise in disease rates after 9/11, the number of cases of sarcoidosis and similar illnesses dropped, according to the study, but remained rather higher than normal for several more years, equivalent to a rate of 22 per 100,000 (with no more than four cases each year). In total, doctors found 26 cases of sarcoidosis in the five years after 9/11, an amount surpassing the combined total for the previous 15 years.

Several federal and local studies of the health impact of contact with to World Trade Center dust have shown that a high percentage of rescue and recovery workers developed persistent coughs and other respiratory problems. But until now, there has not been enough data available to say with certainty whether more serious illnesses might develop.

The new peer-reviewed study, released on May 7, 200, which can be found in the medical journal Chest, is considered to have a high degree of reliability because yearly checkups by department doctors make it possible to compare a firefighter’s condition before and after 9/11. Other clinical studies are usually based on conditions reported by rescue and recovery workers.

On average, the firefighters and emergency workers with sarcoidosis were 39 years old and had 10 years’ experience on the job. Of the 26 workers who have the illness, 24 said they never smoked tobacco, and the other two were described as ex-smokers.

When disaster struck on 9/11 brave emergency workers rushed to Ground Zero to help in anyway they could. Following 9/11 it is estimated that as many as 50,000 at Ground Zero wore little or no protective gear. Now these same workers who risked their lives to save others are plagued by chronic health problems and are not receiving the treatment and support they deserve. Many sick patients have been denied compensation because they cannot prove they were at Ground Zero or that their illnesses were the direct result of Ground Zero exposure. 

Many workers have developed health problems that have caused them to stop working, causing them not only to lose their salaries but also their health insurance. These heroes are suffering because they can no longer afford medication and treatment. But as the debate continues the number of illnesses and deaths increases. Emergency workers have experienced a wide array of medical problems including a persistent cough, now labeled "World trade center cough" and black lung disease.

The administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency at the time, Christie Whitman, assured New Yorkers their air was "safe to breathe". Several groups have since filed class action lawsuits against her and her agency, and a federal judge called her statements "conscience-shocking." Even the EPA's own inspector general has criticized the agency's handling of the crisis. A 2003 report found that on the basis of early tests for asbestos, which had been reassuring, the EPA made misleading pronouncements about air quality. And the White House, the report said, removed cautionary language from the agency's press releases.

A further study by the US general accounting office in 2004 found that the federal government had taken no comprehensive actions to study the health effects of 9/11 pollution and "the full health impact of the attack is unknown". This is what concerns doctors the most. Dr. Moline who is running a screening program for these workers at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York said "that diseases could take years to develop. Her concerns start with cancer, but extend to potential effects on the heart and a variety of lung and respiratory problems. She advises screening exposed workers every 18 months for at least 20 years.