C
Chana3812
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THAT IS FUCKING BULLSHIT!!!
.... it sure is :badmood:
.... it sure is :badmood:
A Fallen Hero - Video Inside
- Thread starter Gold9472
- Start date
Court Ruling May Stop 9/11 Air Quality Lawsuits
http://wcbstv.com/politics/local_story_110160127.html
4/20/2007
(CBS/AP) NEW YORK An appeals court ruling could spell trouble for New Yorkers suing the Environmental Protection Agency and its former chief for saying that sooty Lower Manhattan air was safe to breathe after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
A three judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declared this week that EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman and other agency officials can't be held constitutionally liable for making rosy declarations about air quality in the days following the World Trade Center's destruction.
The opinion, written by the court's chief judge, Dennis Jacobs, said opening EPA workers up to lawsuits for giving out bad information during a crisis could have a catastrophic side effect.
"Officials might default to silence in the face of the public's urgent need for information," Jacobs wrote.
The ruling, filed Thursday, applied only to a suit brought by five government employees who did rescue and cleanup work at ground zero, but it contained language suggesting that similar legal claims could face trouble.
It specifically mentioned a class action lawsuit brought by lower Manhattan residents who claim Whitman jeopardized their health by declaring that "the air is safe to breathe" at a time when, according to the EPA inspector general, a quarter of dust samples were recording unhealthy asbestos levels.
Last year, U.S. District Judge Deborah A. Batts, refused to dismiss that case, calling Whitman's statements "conscience-shocking."
That decision is now on appeal and has yet to be argued before the 2nd Circuit, but Jacobs indicated a reversal might be imminent, saying outright that the panel disagreed with Batts' reasoning.
Those developments brought a blunt assessment from attorney Stephen J. Riegel, who represented the national guardsman, deputy U.S. Marshal and three city emergency medical service workers who were the subject of Thursday's ruling.
"There is a prospect, essentially, that these people will get nothing through the court system," Riegel said.
Some preliminary scientific studies have indicated that as many as 400,000 people were exposed to toxic ground zero dust. Hundreds and perhaps thousands of people have fallen ill, and several have died from lung ailments blamed on inhaled Trade Center ash.
Thousands of people have sued various government entities over their exposure to the toxins.
Riegel said his own clients, who worked without respirators as the dust still swirled because they had heard EPA statements that the air was safe, had decided not to appeal.
More important decisions are pending: The 2nd Circuit recently announced it would hear a rare mid-case appeal of lawsuits against the City of New York, alleging it didn't do enough to protect rescue and cleanup workers from airborne dust.
Plaintiffs trying to hold government entities accountable for their injuries have some tough legal hurdles to overcome.
The law generally doesn't allow citizens to sue the government for mere incompetence, or failing to prevent someone from being injured; To win, plaintiffs must often prove that government employees actually created a danger themselves, through actions "so egregious, so outrageous," that they "shock the contemporary conscience."
Jacobs said Whitman and other EPA officials fell short of violating that standard, even if they had acted with deliberate indifference.
.
"A poor choice made by an executive official ... is not conscience shocking merely because for some persons it resulted in grave consequences that a correct decision could have avoided," he wrote.
"These principles apply," he added, "notwithstanding the great service rendered by those who repaired New York, the heroism of those who entered the site when it was unstable and on fire, and the serious health consequences that are plausibly alleged in the complaint."
An EPA spokesman did not immediately respond to a phone message Friday.
http://wcbstv.com/politics/local_story_110160127.html
4/20/2007
(CBS/AP) NEW YORK An appeals court ruling could spell trouble for New Yorkers suing the Environmental Protection Agency and its former chief for saying that sooty Lower Manhattan air was safe to breathe after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
A three judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declared this week that EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman and other agency officials can't be held constitutionally liable for making rosy declarations about air quality in the days following the World Trade Center's destruction.
The opinion, written by the court's chief judge, Dennis Jacobs, said opening EPA workers up to lawsuits for giving out bad information during a crisis could have a catastrophic side effect.
"Officials might default to silence in the face of the public's urgent need for information," Jacobs wrote.
The ruling, filed Thursday, applied only to a suit brought by five government employees who did rescue and cleanup work at ground zero, but it contained language suggesting that similar legal claims could face trouble.
It specifically mentioned a class action lawsuit brought by lower Manhattan residents who claim Whitman jeopardized their health by declaring that "the air is safe to breathe" at a time when, according to the EPA inspector general, a quarter of dust samples were recording unhealthy asbestos levels.
Last year, U.S. District Judge Deborah A. Batts, refused to dismiss that case, calling Whitman's statements "conscience-shocking."
That decision is now on appeal and has yet to be argued before the 2nd Circuit, but Jacobs indicated a reversal might be imminent, saying outright that the panel disagreed with Batts' reasoning.
Those developments brought a blunt assessment from attorney Stephen J. Riegel, who represented the national guardsman, deputy U.S. Marshal and three city emergency medical service workers who were the subject of Thursday's ruling.
"There is a prospect, essentially, that these people will get nothing through the court system," Riegel said.
Some preliminary scientific studies have indicated that as many as 400,000 people were exposed to toxic ground zero dust. Hundreds and perhaps thousands of people have fallen ill, and several have died from lung ailments blamed on inhaled Trade Center ash.
Thousands of people have sued various government entities over their exposure to the toxins.
Riegel said his own clients, who worked without respirators as the dust still swirled because they had heard EPA statements that the air was safe, had decided not to appeal.
More important decisions are pending: The 2nd Circuit recently announced it would hear a rare mid-case appeal of lawsuits against the City of New York, alleging it didn't do enough to protect rescue and cleanup workers from airborne dust.
Plaintiffs trying to hold government entities accountable for their injuries have some tough legal hurdles to overcome.
The law generally doesn't allow citizens to sue the government for mere incompetence, or failing to prevent someone from being injured; To win, plaintiffs must often prove that government employees actually created a danger themselves, through actions "so egregious, so outrageous," that they "shock the contemporary conscience."
Jacobs said Whitman and other EPA officials fell short of violating that standard, even if they had acted with deliberate indifference.
.
"A poor choice made by an executive official ... is not conscience shocking merely because for some persons it resulted in grave consequences that a correct decision could have avoided," he wrote.
"These principles apply," he added, "notwithstanding the great service rendered by those who repaired New York, the heroism of those who entered the site when it was unstable and on fire, and the serious health consequences that are plausibly alleged in the complaint."
An EPA spokesman did not immediately respond to a phone message Friday.
Outrage! Ruling Stings 9/11 First Responders
Court Says Whitman Wasn't Wrong To Say Air Quality Safe
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_110172106.html
Marcia Kramer
4/20/2007
(CBS) NEW YORK A major ruling could stop some ground zero workers and lower Manhattan residents suffering from 9/11-related illnesses from suing the city.
CBS 2 has learned the reasons why.
There was shock on Friday as city residents were stunned over a federal appeals court ruling that it was OK for the head of the Environmental Protection Agency to have reassured New Yorkers after 9/11 that the air was safe -- even if it was toxic.
"I’m horrified, not only for the residents down there, but also for the workers who got the worst of it," one resident said. "We can't have a government that lies to us."
Added another New Yorker: "It certainly wasn’t OK. People need to be protected."
"That was unethical to do because it disarmed the people and had people believe they were safe from fallout," said another.
The Second U.S. Circuit of Appeals in Manhattan saw it differently:
"When great harm is likely to befall someone no matter what a government official does, the allocation of risk may be a burden on the conscience of the one who must make such decisions, but does not shock the contemporary conscience...”
The court's decision to throw out a suit brought against then-EPA head Christie Whitman, infuriated lawyer David Worby, who represents thousands of first responders and construction workers who are suing the city.
"There was 400,000 pounds of asbestos, 91,000 liters of burning jet fuels, 125,000 gallons of burning Con Ed transformer oils with PCBs in it, 500,000 units of mercury 200,000 pounds of led, among other things," Worby said. "Should she be let off the hook for saying that was safe? I don't think so."
The decision will have varying effects. Residents who sued Whitman may not have a leg to stand on, but ground zero workers who have charged labor law violations still have a case -- at least for now.
Court Says Whitman Wasn't Wrong To Say Air Quality Safe
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_110172106.html
Marcia Kramer
4/20/2007
(CBS) NEW YORK A major ruling could stop some ground zero workers and lower Manhattan residents suffering from 9/11-related illnesses from suing the city.
CBS 2 has learned the reasons why.
There was shock on Friday as city residents were stunned over a federal appeals court ruling that it was OK for the head of the Environmental Protection Agency to have reassured New Yorkers after 9/11 that the air was safe -- even if it was toxic.
"I’m horrified, not only for the residents down there, but also for the workers who got the worst of it," one resident said. "We can't have a government that lies to us."
Added another New Yorker: "It certainly wasn’t OK. People need to be protected."
"That was unethical to do because it disarmed the people and had people believe they were safe from fallout," said another.
The Second U.S. Circuit of Appeals in Manhattan saw it differently:
"When great harm is likely to befall someone no matter what a government official does, the allocation of risk may be a burden on the conscience of the one who must make such decisions, but does not shock the contemporary conscience...”
The court's decision to throw out a suit brought against then-EPA head Christie Whitman, infuriated lawyer David Worby, who represents thousands of first responders and construction workers who are suing the city.
"There was 400,000 pounds of asbestos, 91,000 liters of burning jet fuels, 125,000 gallons of burning Con Ed transformer oils with PCBs in it, 500,000 units of mercury 200,000 pounds of led, among other things," Worby said. "Should she be let off the hook for saying that was safe? I don't think so."
The decision will have varying effects. Residents who sued Whitman may not have a leg to stand on, but ground zero workers who have charged labor law violations still have a case -- at least for now.
9/11 FIREFIGHTER LUNG AILMENTS ON THE RISE
http://www.nypost.com/seven/0422200...ts_on_the_rise_regionalnews_susan_edelman.htm
By SUSAN EDELMAN
April 22, 2007 -- Twenty-six firefighters who toiled at Ground Zero came down with sarcoidosis, an inflammatory illness that often attacks the lungs, in the five years after 9/11 - a significant increase, a new study has found.
The study has angered the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, which complains that the NYPD has refused to acknowledge that 9/11 caused sarcoidosis in cops.
Half the firefighter cases were diagnosed in the first year after 9/11 - a rate six times higher than the average for the Bravest in the 15 years before 9/11, according to a paper to be published in CHEST, a medical journal.
The results "strongly argue for improved respiratory protection" at future fires, disasters and toxic sites, says the report, whose authors include FDNY top doctors David Prezant and Kerry Kelly.
The PBA, which has its own registry of ailing WTC responders, counts 19 cops with sarcoidosis.
Unlike the FDNY, the NYPD has been reluctant to link the disease to 9/11.
The NYPD has also rejected some cops' medical bills for sarcoidosis.
"First they denied any connection between the WTC and sarcoidosis. Now that there's scientific evidence, they refuse to accept it," PBA president Patrick Lynch told The Post.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said Commissioner Ray Kelly welcomed line-of-duty death benefits recently given the daughter of detective James Zadroga, 34, a 9/11 responder who died of respiratory illness.
"The department hasn't refused to acknowledge a link. The medical division is reviewing the cases," Browne said.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/0422200...ts_on_the_rise_regionalnews_susan_edelman.htm
By SUSAN EDELMAN
April 22, 2007 -- Twenty-six firefighters who toiled at Ground Zero came down with sarcoidosis, an inflammatory illness that often attacks the lungs, in the five years after 9/11 - a significant increase, a new study has found.
The study has angered the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, which complains that the NYPD has refused to acknowledge that 9/11 caused sarcoidosis in cops.
Half the firefighter cases were diagnosed in the first year after 9/11 - a rate six times higher than the average for the Bravest in the 15 years before 9/11, according to a paper to be published in CHEST, a medical journal.
The results "strongly argue for improved respiratory protection" at future fires, disasters and toxic sites, says the report, whose authors include FDNY top doctors David Prezant and Kerry Kelly.
The PBA, which has its own registry of ailing WTC responders, counts 19 cops with sarcoidosis.
Unlike the FDNY, the NYPD has been reluctant to link the disease to 9/11.
The NYPD has also rejected some cops' medical bills for sarcoidosis.
"First they denied any connection between the WTC and sarcoidosis. Now that there's scientific evidence, they refuse to accept it," PBA president Patrick Lynch told The Post.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said Commissioner Ray Kelly welcomed line-of-duty death benefits recently given the daughter of detective James Zadroga, 34, a 9/11 responder who died of respiratory illness.
"The department hasn't refused to acknowledge a link. The medical division is reviewing the cases," Browne said.
CANCER CLAIMS 9/11 COP
http://www.nypost.com/seven/0508200...alnews_perry_chiaramonte_and_murray_weiss.htm
By PERRY CHIARAMONTE and MURRAY WEISS
May 8, 2007 -- A detective on Mayor Bloomberg's security detail died yesterday of cancer - an illness his family and union officials believe can be traced to his work in the toxic debris at Ground Zero after 9/11.
Detective Kevin Hawkins, 42, died at 2 a.m. at the hospice unit of Calvary Hospital in The Bronx, said Vic Cipulla, vice president of the Detectives Endowment Association.
He'd been diagnosed with kidney cancer in September.
Cipulla said Hawkins and his family had filed a claim that would seek verification that his illness was in the line of duty, making him eligible for a disability pension.
"Members have come down with various forms of cancer and there are many still to come," he said.
The claim was prompted by a law - passed in 2005 and named after Detective James Zadroga, who died of lung disease after his work at Ground Zero - that ensures public workers can get a disability pension if their illness is traced to the recovery effort.
Hawkins worked at Ground Zero for two months.
"Kevin brought a quiet reserve and a sense of duty to everything he did," a statement from Bloomberg said. "He fought this disease with the same integrity and strength that he displayed serving our country and our city."
Hawkins, who joined the department in 1987, also served two tours of duty in the Gulf War in 1990.
"He was a member of the United States Marine Corps who served his nation in war, as he did the Police Department, with pride and dedication," Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.
Hawkins is survived by his wife Marie, and three children.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/0508200...alnews_perry_chiaramonte_and_murray_weiss.htm
By PERRY CHIARAMONTE and MURRAY WEISS
May 8, 2007 -- A detective on Mayor Bloomberg's security detail died yesterday of cancer - an illness his family and union officials believe can be traced to his work in the toxic debris at Ground Zero after 9/11.
Detective Kevin Hawkins, 42, died at 2 a.m. at the hospice unit of Calvary Hospital in The Bronx, said Vic Cipulla, vice president of the Detectives Endowment Association.
He'd been diagnosed with kidney cancer in September.
Cipulla said Hawkins and his family had filed a claim that would seek verification that his illness was in the line of duty, making him eligible for a disability pension.
"Members have come down with various forms of cancer and there are many still to come," he said.
The claim was prompted by a law - passed in 2005 and named after Detective James Zadroga, who died of lung disease after his work at Ground Zero - that ensures public workers can get a disability pension if their illness is traced to the recovery effort.
Hawkins worked at Ground Zero for two months.
"Kevin brought a quiet reserve and a sense of duty to everything he did," a statement from Bloomberg said. "He fought this disease with the same integrity and strength that he displayed serving our country and our city."
Hawkins, who joined the department in 1987, also served two tours of duty in the Gulf War in 1990.
"He was a member of the United States Marine Corps who served his nation in war, as he did the Police Department, with pride and dedication," Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.
Hawkins is survived by his wife Marie, and three children.
Study Links Lung Scarring Disease To Post 9/11 WTC Work
http://www.wnbc.com/news/13280692/detail.html
POSTED: 5:55 pm EDT May 8, 2007
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Rescue workers and firefighters contracted a serious lung-scarring disease called sarcoidosis at a much higher rate after the Sept. 11 attacks than before, said a study that is the first to link the disease to exposure to toxic dust at ground zero.
The study, published by nine doctors including the medical officer monitoring city firefighters, Dr. David Prezant, found that firefighters and rescue workers contracted sarcoidosis in the year after Sept. 11, 2001, at a rate five times higher than the years before the attacks.
Sarcoidosis, which can be life-threatening, causes an inflammation in the lungs that deposits tiny cells in the organs, leaving scar tissues that damage them. Some rescue workers and others who were exposed to the dust cloud that enveloped lower Manhattan after the World Trade Center collapsed say they contracted the disease from their work at ground zero.
The study compared the rates of contracting sarcoidosis among fire department employees for 15 years before Sept. 11 and for five years after it. It said firefighters who showed symptoms of the disease on chest X-rays underwent more intensive exams.
After the trade center attack, 26 firefighters were diagnosed with sarcoidosis, the study found. Thirteen were diagnosed in the first year after the attacks, which represents a rate of 86 per 100,000. In the 15 years before the attack, the rate of sarcoidosis was 15 per 100,0000, the study found.
None of the 26 rescue workers, who are in their 30s and 40s, has died of the disease, and about 10 have improved or recovered since their diagnoses, the study found. Two of the firefighters were former smokers, the study found.
Dr. Jacqueline Moline, who directs the largest monitoring program for ground zero workers, which has screened more than 20,000 people at Mount Sinai Medical Center, said several patients in her program have been diagnosed with sarcoidosis.
Mount Sinai plans to publish its own research in the next few months on the rate associated with ground zero work. Last fall, it published a study concluding that 70 percent of ground zero workers suffered from different respiratory illnesses after the attacks.
"We're all looking to see various diseases that might develop as a result of 9/11 exposure," Moline said. "We have to be vigilant."
The study was published this week in the May issue of CHEST Physician, a journal published by the American College of Chest Physicians.
http://www.wnbc.com/news/13280692/detail.html
POSTED: 5:55 pm EDT May 8, 2007
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Rescue workers and firefighters contracted a serious lung-scarring disease called sarcoidosis at a much higher rate after the Sept. 11 attacks than before, said a study that is the first to link the disease to exposure to toxic dust at ground zero.
The study, published by nine doctors including the medical officer monitoring city firefighters, Dr. David Prezant, found that firefighters and rescue workers contracted sarcoidosis in the year after Sept. 11, 2001, at a rate five times higher than the years before the attacks.
Sarcoidosis, which can be life-threatening, causes an inflammation in the lungs that deposits tiny cells in the organs, leaving scar tissues that damage them. Some rescue workers and others who were exposed to the dust cloud that enveloped lower Manhattan after the World Trade Center collapsed say they contracted the disease from their work at ground zero.
The study compared the rates of contracting sarcoidosis among fire department employees for 15 years before Sept. 11 and for five years after it. It said firefighters who showed symptoms of the disease on chest X-rays underwent more intensive exams.
After the trade center attack, 26 firefighters were diagnosed with sarcoidosis, the study found. Thirteen were diagnosed in the first year after the attacks, which represents a rate of 86 per 100,000. In the 15 years before the attack, the rate of sarcoidosis was 15 per 100,0000, the study found.
None of the 26 rescue workers, who are in their 30s and 40s, has died of the disease, and about 10 have improved or recovered since their diagnoses, the study found. Two of the firefighters were former smokers, the study found.
Dr. Jacqueline Moline, who directs the largest monitoring program for ground zero workers, which has screened more than 20,000 people at Mount Sinai Medical Center, said several patients in her program have been diagnosed with sarcoidosis.
Mount Sinai plans to publish its own research in the next few months on the rate associated with ground zero work. Last fall, it published a study concluding that 70 percent of ground zero workers suffered from different respiratory illnesses after the attacks.
"We're all looking to see various diseases that might develop as a result of 9/11 exposure," Moline said. "We have to be vigilant."
The study was published this week in the May issue of CHEST Physician, a journal published by the American College of Chest Physicians.
9/11 Rescuers At Risk for Sarcoidosis
http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/PublicHealth/tb/5612
By Neil Osterweil, Senior Associate Editor, MedPage Today
Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
May 09, 2007
NEW YORK, May 9 -- World Trade Center rescue workers exposed to airborne debris in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks are at an increased risk for pulmonary sarcoidosis or a related disorder, investigators here have found.
Action Points
* Explain to patients who ask that the etiology of sarcoidosis, a multisystem noncaseating granulomatous disease, is not understood but it is thought that multiple environmental/occupational sources of exposure may interact with genetic factors to initiate the granulomatous response.
* Point out that this study demonstrates an increased incidence of "sarcoid-like" granulomatous pulmonary disease in New York firefighters and rescue workers exposed to airborne debris.
Twenty-six New York City firefighters and emergency medical service workers who were at ground zero have since developed evidence of a sarcoid-like granulomatous pulmonary disease, reported David J. Prezant, M.D., of the Fire Department of New York, and colleagues, in the May issue of Chest.
The condition, which the investigators call World Trade Center sarcoid-like granulomatous pulmonary disease, consists of abnormalities in the pulmonary parenchyma, hilar and/or mediastinal adenopathies, clinical features resembling asthma, and, in some cases, involvement of extrathoracic sites, such as the bones, joints, skin, or spleen.
The investigators had previously shown that even before 9/11, New York City firefighters and rescue personnel had an elevated incidence of sarcoidosis or sarcoid-like granulomatous disease. The conditions are linked to occupational or environmental exposures to organic dusts, metals, chemical dust, silica, and wood dust or smoke.
"We report here that the incidence of sarcoidosis or sarcoid-like granulomatous pulmonary disease among Fire Department of New York World Trade Center rescue workers (firefighters and EMS workers) was significantly increased when compared to the years before World Trade Center dust exposure," the investigators wrote. "This was especially true during the first 12 months after World Trade Center dust exposure."
To determine whether prolonged, repeated exposure to airborne particulates might increase the risk of sarcoidosis or sarcoid-like granulomatous pulmonary disease in a population already at risk, the investigators followed fire department employees who were enrolled in a monitoring program.
Those who had chest radiograph findings suggestive of sarcoidosis underwent additional evaluation, including chest CT imaging, pulmonary function tests, airway challenge tests, and biopsies.
The investigators calculated an annual incidence rate of sarcoidosis or the sarcoid-like condition and compared it with the 15 years before the World Trade Center attacks.
They found that 26 patients, all at the World Trade Center site within 72 hours of the collapse of the towers, when particulate levels were highest, had pathologic evidence consistent with new-onset sarcoidosis. All patients had intrathoracic adenopathy, and six (23%) had extrathoracic disease, involving the spleen, abdominal and pelvic lymph nodes, bones, joints, skin, and, in one case, hematuria.
Half the patients were identified within a year of their first exposure to the site debris, translating into an annual incidence rate of 86 per 100,000. The remaining 13 patients were identified with sarcoidosis or the sarcoid-like granulomatosis in the second through fifth years following the disaster, an annual incidence rate of 22 per 100,000.
In contrast, the average annual incidence rate of sarcoidosis among firefighters during the 15 years before the World Trade Center attacks was 15/100,000, and among controls (rescue personnel without exposure to fire conditions) the rate was 12.9/100,000.
Eighteen of the 26 patients (69%) had findings that were consistent with asthma, and fifteen of these patients had clinical symptoms: cough, dyspnea, and/or wheeze exacerbated by exercise and/or irritant exposure, or improved by the use of bronchodilators.
Of the 21 patients who agreed to undergo a provocative airway challenge with methacholine or cold-air exercise, eight had evidence of airway hyperreactivity, which had not been seen among fire department personnel with sarcoidosis before 2001.
"This new information about the early onset of World Trade Center sarcoid-like granulomatous pulmonary disease and its association with asthma/airway hyperreactivity has important public health consequences for disease prevention, early detection, and treatment following environmental -occupational exposures," the authors wrote.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/PublicHealth/tb/5612
By Neil Osterweil, Senior Associate Editor, MedPage Today
Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
May 09, 2007
NEW YORK, May 9 -- World Trade Center rescue workers exposed to airborne debris in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks are at an increased risk for pulmonary sarcoidosis or a related disorder, investigators here have found.
Action Points
* Explain to patients who ask that the etiology of sarcoidosis, a multisystem noncaseating granulomatous disease, is not understood but it is thought that multiple environmental/occupational sources of exposure may interact with genetic factors to initiate the granulomatous response.
* Point out that this study demonstrates an increased incidence of "sarcoid-like" granulomatous pulmonary disease in New York firefighters and rescue workers exposed to airborne debris.
Twenty-six New York City firefighters and emergency medical service workers who were at ground zero have since developed evidence of a sarcoid-like granulomatous pulmonary disease, reported David J. Prezant, M.D., of the Fire Department of New York, and colleagues, in the May issue of Chest.
The condition, which the investigators call World Trade Center sarcoid-like granulomatous pulmonary disease, consists of abnormalities in the pulmonary parenchyma, hilar and/or mediastinal adenopathies, clinical features resembling asthma, and, in some cases, involvement of extrathoracic sites, such as the bones, joints, skin, or spleen.
The investigators had previously shown that even before 9/11, New York City firefighters and rescue personnel had an elevated incidence of sarcoidosis or sarcoid-like granulomatous disease. The conditions are linked to occupational or environmental exposures to organic dusts, metals, chemical dust, silica, and wood dust or smoke.
"We report here that the incidence of sarcoidosis or sarcoid-like granulomatous pulmonary disease among Fire Department of New York World Trade Center rescue workers (firefighters and EMS workers) was significantly increased when compared to the years before World Trade Center dust exposure," the investigators wrote. "This was especially true during the first 12 months after World Trade Center dust exposure."
To determine whether prolonged, repeated exposure to airborne particulates might increase the risk of sarcoidosis or sarcoid-like granulomatous pulmonary disease in a population already at risk, the investigators followed fire department employees who were enrolled in a monitoring program.
Those who had chest radiograph findings suggestive of sarcoidosis underwent additional evaluation, including chest CT imaging, pulmonary function tests, airway challenge tests, and biopsies.
The investigators calculated an annual incidence rate of sarcoidosis or the sarcoid-like condition and compared it with the 15 years before the World Trade Center attacks.
They found that 26 patients, all at the World Trade Center site within 72 hours of the collapse of the towers, when particulate levels were highest, had pathologic evidence consistent with new-onset sarcoidosis. All patients had intrathoracic adenopathy, and six (23%) had extrathoracic disease, involving the spleen, abdominal and pelvic lymph nodes, bones, joints, skin, and, in one case, hematuria.
Half the patients were identified within a year of their first exposure to the site debris, translating into an annual incidence rate of 86 per 100,000. The remaining 13 patients were identified with sarcoidosis or the sarcoid-like granulomatosis in the second through fifth years following the disaster, an annual incidence rate of 22 per 100,000.
In contrast, the average annual incidence rate of sarcoidosis among firefighters during the 15 years before the World Trade Center attacks was 15/100,000, and among controls (rescue personnel without exposure to fire conditions) the rate was 12.9/100,000.
Eighteen of the 26 patients (69%) had findings that were consistent with asthma, and fifteen of these patients had clinical symptoms: cough, dyspnea, and/or wheeze exacerbated by exercise and/or irritant exposure, or improved by the use of bronchodilators.
Of the 21 patients who agreed to undergo a provocative airway challenge with methacholine or cold-air exercise, eight had evidence of airway hyperreactivity, which had not been seen among fire department personnel with sarcoidosis before 2001.
"This new information about the early onset of World Trade Center sarcoid-like granulomatous pulmonary disease and its association with asthma/airway hyperreactivity has important public health consequences for disease prevention, early detection, and treatment following environmental -occupational exposures," the authors wrote.
CANCER KILLS 9/11 COP, 46
http://www.nypost.com/seven/05142007/news/regionalnews/cancer_kills_9_11_cop__46_regionalnews_jamie_schram.htm
By JAMIE SCHRAM
May 14, 2007 -- A retired NYPD detective who worked for the elite Emergency Service Unit died early yesterday of pancreatic and lung cancer believed to be related to his work at Ground Zero.
Retired Detective Robert Williamson, 45, died at his Orange County home with family around him, said Detectives Endowment Association head Michael Palladino.
"Unfortunately, I knew this day was going to come for a long time," Palladino said. "We are just now starting to see the long-term health affects of 9/11 on first responders."
Williamson was the third NYPD cop to succumb to cancers believed related to their post-9/11 service.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/05142007/news/regionalnews/cancer_kills_9_11_cop__46_regionalnews_jamie_schram.htm
By JAMIE SCHRAM
May 14, 2007 -- A retired NYPD detective who worked for the elite Emergency Service Unit died early yesterday of pancreatic and lung cancer believed to be related to his work at Ground Zero.
Retired Detective Robert Williamson, 45, died at his Orange County home with family around him, said Detectives Endowment Association head Michael Palladino.
"Unfortunately, I knew this day was going to come for a long time," Palladino said. "We are just now starting to see the long-term health affects of 9/11 on first responders."
Williamson was the third NYPD cop to succumb to cancers believed related to their post-9/11 service.
Clinton, Nadler to investigate post-9/11 environmental cleanup
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Clinton_Nadler_to_investigate_post911_environmental_0515.html
Nick Juliano
Published: Tuesday May 15, 2007
Sen. Hillary Clinton announced today that, along with a New York Congressman, she will chair a probe looking into the federal government's response and environmental clean-up efforts in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"We need to examine what went wrong and assess whether the federal government is better prepared to respond to environmental hazards in future disasters," Clinton said in a news release. "I also remain concerned about potential indoor contamination resulting from the collapse of the World Trade Center and want to take a close look at the EPA's inadequate program to test and clean residential areas in Manhattan."
Leading the investigation in the House will be Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-NY, who chairs House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. Clinton and Nadler have criticized the government's failure to properly test and clean buildings contaminated by toxins released from the crumbling World Trade Center.
"Finally, we have an opportunity to hear, on the record and first hand, who in the federal government was really responsible for key decisions about the handling of post-9/11 air quality," Nadler said in the release. "And from there we can finally learn why those decisions were made -- decisions that are still having an impact on 9/11 victims today."
Nadler will convene the first hearing on the post-9/11 cleanup next Tuesday. Among the witnesses he invited is former Environmental Protection Agency head Christine Todd Whitman. Clinton has Senate hearings tentatively scheduled for the end of next month.
Full transcript of press release follows:
#
Washington, DC - Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY), Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Superfund and Environmental Health, and Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-08), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, announced today that they will conduct companion hearings into the failures of the Federal government in responding to the environmental crisis that resulted from the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks. For over five years, Clinton and Nadler have staunchly criticized the Administration's misleading public statements about post-9/11 air quality, as well as its continued failure to provide a proper testing and cleaning of indoor spaces contaminated by WTC toxins and its lack of provision of health care for the thousands of people who are ill as a result of exposure to the pollutants.
These hearings represent the first comprehensive Congressional oversight investigations into these environmental matters since the immediate aftermath of the attacks. While in the Majority, Republican House leadership steadfastly refused to hold a single hearing on this matter, or even respond to a written request made in September 2003 by Nadler, then-Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and then-Ranking Members John Conyers, John Dingell, George Miller, and Henry Waxman. (See http://www.house.gov/nadler/archive108/EPA_091703.htm ).
"We need to examine what went wrong and assess whether the federal government is better prepared to respond to environmental hazards in future disasters," said Senator Clinton. "I also remain concerned about potential indoor contamination resulting from the collapse of the World Trade Center and want to take a close look at the EPA's inadequate program to test and clean residential areas in Manhattan."
"Finally, we have an opportunity to hear, on the record and first hand, who in the federal government was really responsible for key decisions about the handling of post-9/11 air quality. And from there we can finally learn why those decisions were made -- decisions that are still having an impact on 9/11 victims today," said Nadler. "The lack of thorough Congressional oversight thus far has allowed for years finger-pointing and evading of responsibility on the part of the Federal government, but now is time for the truth. We must, at long last, get to the bottom of these matters, so we can do what is right for the heroes of 9/11, and ensure that we prevent anything like this from ever happening again." he added.
The House hearing is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, May 22, 2007, at 10:00 A.M, in Room 2141 of the Rayburn House Office Building, and will examine the federal post-9/11 environmental response and related possible violations of the "substantive due process rights" of individuals living and working in the vicinity of the World Trade Center on, or after, September 11, 2001. In a recent decision, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York found that former EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman's falsely reassuring and misleading statements of safety after the September 11, 2001 attacks were "without question conscience-shocking." The court also found the facts "support an allegation of a violation of the substantive due process right to be free from official government policies that increase the risk of bodily harm" by Whitman's misstatements regarding the air quality of the affected area. An EPA Inspector General review reached similar conclusions. Invited to testify are:
Christine Todd Whitman, Former Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [invited];
John Henshaw, Former Administrator, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OHSA) [invited];
Samuel Thernstrum, Former Member, White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) [confirmed];
Tina Kreisher, Former Associate Administrator for Communications, Education and Media Relations, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [invited];
Suzanne Mattei, Former New York City Executive of the Sierra Club and Author of Pollution and Deception at Ground Zero [confirmed];
David Newman, New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health and Former Member, World Trade Center Technical Review Panel [confirmed];
Paul Harris, Shook, Hardy & Bacon [confirmed] (minority witness);
Other minority witness to be determined
The Senate hearing is tentatively scheduled for June 20th, 2007 and will examine the federal response to 9-11, including risk communication and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency programs to test and clean indoor spaces in lower Manhattan. The hearing will also examine lessons learned from 9-11 and federal readiness to respond to releases of hazardous substances in future emergencies. The hearing is expected to include testimony from EPA and CEQ officials, as well as affected New Yorkers and scientific experts.
#
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Clinton_Nadler_to_investigate_post911_environmental_0515.html
Nick Juliano
Published: Tuesday May 15, 2007
Sen. Hillary Clinton announced today that, along with a New York Congressman, she will chair a probe looking into the federal government's response and environmental clean-up efforts in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"We need to examine what went wrong and assess whether the federal government is better prepared to respond to environmental hazards in future disasters," Clinton said in a news release. "I also remain concerned about potential indoor contamination resulting from the collapse of the World Trade Center and want to take a close look at the EPA's inadequate program to test and clean residential areas in Manhattan."
Leading the investigation in the House will be Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-NY, who chairs House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. Clinton and Nadler have criticized the government's failure to properly test and clean buildings contaminated by toxins released from the crumbling World Trade Center.
"Finally, we have an opportunity to hear, on the record and first hand, who in the federal government was really responsible for key decisions about the handling of post-9/11 air quality," Nadler said in the release. "And from there we can finally learn why those decisions were made -- decisions that are still having an impact on 9/11 victims today."
Nadler will convene the first hearing on the post-9/11 cleanup next Tuesday. Among the witnesses he invited is former Environmental Protection Agency head Christine Todd Whitman. Clinton has Senate hearings tentatively scheduled for the end of next month.
Full transcript of press release follows:
#
Washington, DC - Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY), Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Superfund and Environmental Health, and Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-08), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, announced today that they will conduct companion hearings into the failures of the Federal government in responding to the environmental crisis that resulted from the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks. For over five years, Clinton and Nadler have staunchly criticized the Administration's misleading public statements about post-9/11 air quality, as well as its continued failure to provide a proper testing and cleaning of indoor spaces contaminated by WTC toxins and its lack of provision of health care for the thousands of people who are ill as a result of exposure to the pollutants.
These hearings represent the first comprehensive Congressional oversight investigations into these environmental matters since the immediate aftermath of the attacks. While in the Majority, Republican House leadership steadfastly refused to hold a single hearing on this matter, or even respond to a written request made in September 2003 by Nadler, then-Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and then-Ranking Members John Conyers, John Dingell, George Miller, and Henry Waxman. (See http://www.house.gov/nadler/archive108/EPA_091703.htm ).
"We need to examine what went wrong and assess whether the federal government is better prepared to respond to environmental hazards in future disasters," said Senator Clinton. "I also remain concerned about potential indoor contamination resulting from the collapse of the World Trade Center and want to take a close look at the EPA's inadequate program to test and clean residential areas in Manhattan."
"Finally, we have an opportunity to hear, on the record and first hand, who in the federal government was really responsible for key decisions about the handling of post-9/11 air quality. And from there we can finally learn why those decisions were made -- decisions that are still having an impact on 9/11 victims today," said Nadler. "The lack of thorough Congressional oversight thus far has allowed for years finger-pointing and evading of responsibility on the part of the Federal government, but now is time for the truth. We must, at long last, get to the bottom of these matters, so we can do what is right for the heroes of 9/11, and ensure that we prevent anything like this from ever happening again." he added.
The House hearing is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, May 22, 2007, at 10:00 A.M, in Room 2141 of the Rayburn House Office Building, and will examine the federal post-9/11 environmental response and related possible violations of the "substantive due process rights" of individuals living and working in the vicinity of the World Trade Center on, or after, September 11, 2001. In a recent decision, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York found that former EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman's falsely reassuring and misleading statements of safety after the September 11, 2001 attacks were "without question conscience-shocking." The court also found the facts "support an allegation of a violation of the substantive due process right to be free from official government policies that increase the risk of bodily harm" by Whitman's misstatements regarding the air quality of the affected area. An EPA Inspector General review reached similar conclusions. Invited to testify are:
Christine Todd Whitman, Former Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [invited];
John Henshaw, Former Administrator, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OHSA) [invited];
Samuel Thernstrum, Former Member, White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) [confirmed];
Tina Kreisher, Former Associate Administrator for Communications, Education and Media Relations, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [invited];
Suzanne Mattei, Former New York City Executive of the Sierra Club and Author of Pollution and Deception at Ground Zero [confirmed];
David Newman, New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health and Former Member, World Trade Center Technical Review Panel [confirmed];
Paul Harris, Shook, Hardy & Bacon [confirmed] (minority witness);
Other minority witness to be determined
The Senate hearing is tentatively scheduled for June 20th, 2007 and will examine the federal response to 9-11, including risk communication and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency programs to test and clean indoor spaces in lower Manhattan. The hearing will also examine lessons learned from 9-11 and federal readiness to respond to releases of hazardous substances in future emergencies. The hearing is expected to include testimony from EPA and CEQ officials, as well as affected New Yorkers and scientific experts.
#
Former EPA Chief Refuses To Testify At 9/11 Hearing
http://www.nysun.com/article/54612
By RUSSELL BERMAN
Staff Reporter of the Sun
May 16, 2007
WASHINGTON — The former head of the Environmental Protection Agency is balking at a request by Rep. Jerrold Nadler that she testify before a congressional hearing on the federal response to the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Christine Todd Whitman, the EPA administrator at the time, has declined an invitation to appear before a House subcommittee that Mr. Nadler chairs, an aide to the congressman said yesterday. Mr. Nadler, whose district includes ground zero, is expected to ask Ms. Whitman again before considering whether to seek to compel her testimony with a subpoena, the aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.
Mr. Nadler and Senator Clinton yesterday announced companion hearings to investigate what they say was the government's failure to respond adequately to the environmental crisis in Lower Manhattan that resulted from the attack on the World Trade Center. Mr. Nadler's hearing is scheduled for May 22; Mrs. Clinton's is set for June 20.
Ms. Whitman has come under fire from lawmakers over the years for saying the air near ground zero was safe to breathe in the weeks following September 11. Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Nadler have also faulted the EPA for insufficiently testing and cleaning buildings near ground zero after the attack.
A federal appellate court last month threw out a lawsuit against Ms. Whitman, ruling that her statements about the air quality in New York were not "conscience-shocking." Ms. Whitman has repeatedly denied misleading the public about the air quality; attempts to reach her late yesterday were unsuccessful.
One person who will not be asked to testify in Congress is Mayor Giuliani, who has drawn criticism in some quarters for not insisting more forcefully that workers at ground zero wear facemasks at the site. Many workers have since come down with respiratory illnesses, which studies indicate may be linked to the toxic dust at ground zero. An aide to Mrs. Clinton said yesterday that she was focusing on the federal response.
Mrs. Clinton may be leery of a congressional showdown with Mr. Giuliani, as it would likely be viewed through a political lens now that both are running for president.
http://www.nysun.com/article/54612
By RUSSELL BERMAN
Staff Reporter of the Sun
May 16, 2007
WASHINGTON — The former head of the Environmental Protection Agency is balking at a request by Rep. Jerrold Nadler that she testify before a congressional hearing on the federal response to the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Christine Todd Whitman, the EPA administrator at the time, has declined an invitation to appear before a House subcommittee that Mr. Nadler chairs, an aide to the congressman said yesterday. Mr. Nadler, whose district includes ground zero, is expected to ask Ms. Whitman again before considering whether to seek to compel her testimony with a subpoena, the aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.
Mr. Nadler and Senator Clinton yesterday announced companion hearings to investigate what they say was the government's failure to respond adequately to the environmental crisis in Lower Manhattan that resulted from the attack on the World Trade Center. Mr. Nadler's hearing is scheduled for May 22; Mrs. Clinton's is set for June 20.
Ms. Whitman has come under fire from lawmakers over the years for saying the air near ground zero was safe to breathe in the weeks following September 11. Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Nadler have also faulted the EPA for insufficiently testing and cleaning buildings near ground zero after the attack.
A federal appellate court last month threw out a lawsuit against Ms. Whitman, ruling that her statements about the air quality in New York were not "conscience-shocking." Ms. Whitman has repeatedly denied misleading the public about the air quality; attempts to reach her late yesterday were unsuccessful.
One person who will not be asked to testify in Congress is Mayor Giuliani, who has drawn criticism in some quarters for not insisting more forcefully that workers at ground zero wear facemasks at the site. Many workers have since come down with respiratory illnesses, which studies indicate may be linked to the toxic dust at ground zero. An aide to Mrs. Clinton said yesterday that she was focusing on the federal response.
Mrs. Clinton may be leery of a congressional showdown with Mr. Giuliani, as it would likely be viewed through a political lens now that both are running for president.
Update: Ex-EPA Chief Whitman Agrees to Testify
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/05/update_exepa_ch.html
Justin Rood and Maddy Sauer Report:
May 18, 2007 2:28 PM
Ex-EPA chief Christine Todd Whitman abruptly reversed herself Friday and agreed to testify before Congress on her agency's response to the environmental fallout of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Two days ago, Whitman's lawyer Joel Kobert had denied a request from a House panel chaired by Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., for his client to testify, noting she was named in two lawsuits related to the issue.
But today, Whitman herself told Nadler in a hand-delivered letter that she was willing to participate in a hearing "if you insist."
Nadler had originally invited Whitman to testify at a May 22 hearing. In a press release today announcing Whitman's decision, Nadler said he would reschedule Whitman's hearing to a date "in the near future."
On Sept. 18, 2001, then-EPA head Whitman released a statement declaring the results from air monitoring tests in New York showed "their air is safe to breathe."
Nearly two years after the attacks, the EPA's inspector general concluded that assurance and others were based on insufficient information. The report also said that EPA press releases were softened under pressure from the White House.
Multiple studies have documented health problems amongst 9/11 emergency responders and workers.
One study released last year by Mount Sinai Hospital in New York showed more than 70 percent of Ground Zero workers suffered health ailments or severe respiratory problems.
Whitman and the EPA face lawsuits from people who claim to have been harmed by air pollutants in the lower Manhattan area resulting from the attack. In her letter to Nadler, Whitman said she did not believe "it is appropriate for me to testify about matters that are currently pending in litigation."
An appeals court ruled last month that one lawsuit against Whitman, brought by a small number of government employees, could not go forward because the EPA chief could not be held constitutionally liable for her statements in the wake of the disaster.
"Officials might default to silence in the face of the public's urgent need for information," warned Judge Dennis Jacobs.
That recent ruling may also affect a class-action suit that has been brought against Whitman by residents of lower Manhattan.
In an e-mailed statement, Nadler expressed gratitude for Whitman's decision. "There are so many unanswered questions about why certain decisions were made," said the lawmaker, whose district includes lower Manhattan.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/05/update_exepa_ch.html
Justin Rood and Maddy Sauer Report:
May 18, 2007 2:28 PM
Ex-EPA chief Christine Todd Whitman abruptly reversed herself Friday and agreed to testify before Congress on her agency's response to the environmental fallout of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Two days ago, Whitman's lawyer Joel Kobert had denied a request from a House panel chaired by Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., for his client to testify, noting she was named in two lawsuits related to the issue.
But today, Whitman herself told Nadler in a hand-delivered letter that she was willing to participate in a hearing "if you insist."
Nadler had originally invited Whitman to testify at a May 22 hearing. In a press release today announcing Whitman's decision, Nadler said he would reschedule Whitman's hearing to a date "in the near future."
On Sept. 18, 2001, then-EPA head Whitman released a statement declaring the results from air monitoring tests in New York showed "their air is safe to breathe."
Nearly two years after the attacks, the EPA's inspector general concluded that assurance and others were based on insufficient information. The report also said that EPA press releases were softened under pressure from the White House.
Multiple studies have documented health problems amongst 9/11 emergency responders and workers.
One study released last year by Mount Sinai Hospital in New York showed more than 70 percent of Ground Zero workers suffered health ailments or severe respiratory problems.
Whitman and the EPA face lawsuits from people who claim to have been harmed by air pollutants in the lower Manhattan area resulting from the attack. In her letter to Nadler, Whitman said she did not believe "it is appropriate for me to testify about matters that are currently pending in litigation."
An appeals court ruled last month that one lawsuit against Whitman, brought by a small number of government employees, could not go forward because the EPA chief could not be held constitutionally liable for her statements in the wake of the disaster.
"Officials might default to silence in the face of the public's urgent need for information," warned Judge Dennis Jacobs.
That recent ruling may also affect a class-action suit that has been brought against Whitman by residents of lower Manhattan.
In an e-mailed statement, Nadler expressed gratitude for Whitman's decision. "There are so many unanswered questions about why certain decisions were made," said the lawmaker, whose district includes lower Manhattan.
NYC links first death to 9/11 toxic dust
Woman died of lung disease five months after World Trade Center attacks
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18831750/
NEW YORK - A woman who died of lung disease five months after Sept. 11 was added Wednesday to the medical examiner's list of attack victims, marking the first time the city has officially linked a death to the toxic dust caused by the World Trade Center's collapse.
Felicia Dunn-Jones, a 42-year-old attorney who was caught in the dust cloud while fleeing the collapsing towers on Sept. 11, 2001, died of sarcoidosis, a disease that causes inflammation and scarring in the lungs, on Feb. 10, 2002.
"Mrs. Dunn-Jones' exposure to World Trade Center dust on 9/11/01 contributed to her death, and it has been ruled a homicide," Chief Medical Examiner Charles Hirsch wrote.
The city said the Sept. 11 death toll at the trade center now stands at 2,750.
Dunn-Jones' family had asked last year that the medical examiner add her name to the death toll, but Hirsch wrote at the time that his office could not link her death to the exposure "with certainty beyond a reasonable doubt."
Since then, a doctor for the Fire Department of New York published a study that found firefighters who worked at ground zero contracted sarcoidosis at a much higher rate after the Sept. 11 attacks than before, linking the disease firmly to the dust exposure.
Previously, Dunn-Jones' estate received a $2.6 million death benefit from a federal fund to compensate victims' families.
Lawmakers say other ailments are connected
A class action lawsuit has claimed dozens of deaths have been caused by exposure to toxic trade center dust. A New Jersey medical examiner last year ruled that the January 2006 death of a retired police detective, 34-year-old James Zadroga, was "directly related" to his work at ground zero on and after Sept. 11.
New York lawmakers, some of whom urged the city to add Dunn-Jones to the death toll last year, said more people should be added in the future.
"Sadly, we have known that Felicia is not alone and that others have died from ailments caused by 9/11," said U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y. "I hope that the medical examiner is no longer in denial about the trade center dust. Dr. Hirsch must review the cases of other 9/11 heroes who, like Felicia, died in the prime of their lives."
Woman died of lung disease five months after World Trade Center attacks
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18831750/
NEW YORK - A woman who died of lung disease five months after Sept. 11 was added Wednesday to the medical examiner's list of attack victims, marking the first time the city has officially linked a death to the toxic dust caused by the World Trade Center's collapse.
Felicia Dunn-Jones, a 42-year-old attorney who was caught in the dust cloud while fleeing the collapsing towers on Sept. 11, 2001, died of sarcoidosis, a disease that causes inflammation and scarring in the lungs, on Feb. 10, 2002.
"Mrs. Dunn-Jones' exposure to World Trade Center dust on 9/11/01 contributed to her death, and it has been ruled a homicide," Chief Medical Examiner Charles Hirsch wrote.
The city said the Sept. 11 death toll at the trade center now stands at 2,750.
Dunn-Jones' family had asked last year that the medical examiner add her name to the death toll, but Hirsch wrote at the time that his office could not link her death to the exposure "with certainty beyond a reasonable doubt."
Since then, a doctor for the Fire Department of New York published a study that found firefighters who worked at ground zero contracted sarcoidosis at a much higher rate after the Sept. 11 attacks than before, linking the disease firmly to the dust exposure.
Previously, Dunn-Jones' estate received a $2.6 million death benefit from a federal fund to compensate victims' families.
Lawmakers say other ailments are connected
A class action lawsuit has claimed dozens of deaths have been caused by exposure to toxic trade center dust. A New Jersey medical examiner last year ruled that the January 2006 death of a retired police detective, 34-year-old James Zadroga, was "directly related" to his work at ground zero on and after Sept. 11.
New York lawmakers, some of whom urged the city to add Dunn-Jones to the death toll last year, said more people should be added in the future.
"Sadly, we have known that Felicia is not alone and that others have died from ailments caused by 9/11," said U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y. "I hope that the medical examiner is no longer in denial about the trade center dust. Dr. Hirsch must review the cases of other 9/11 heroes who, like Felicia, died in the prime of their lives."
Killed by Sept. 11 poison
Historic city ruling on Island woman's fatal lung disease
http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/1180008027184310.xml&coll=1&thispage=1
By TOM WROBLESKI and SALLY GOLDENBERG
Thursday, May 24, 2007
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A New Brighton woman's 2002 death was officially linked yesterday to the dust she inhaled at Ground Zero -- a historic determination by New York City, which has never before attributed a post-9/11 death to exposure to toxins at the World Trade Center.
Felicia Dunn-Jones, a 42-year-old married mother of two, died of a lung disease four months after being exposed to the dust on 9/11.
"It is likely, with certainty beyond a reasonable doubt, that exposure to WTC dust was harmful to [Ms. Dunn-Jones] ... and that exposure to World Trade Center Dust on 9/11/01 was contributory to her death," city medical examiner Dr. Charles Hirsch wrote in a letter to Richard H. Bennett, the family's attorney. "The manner of death will be changed from natural to homicide."
The medical examiner's determination raised the 9/11 death toll to 2,750, said Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner.
"You can't bring her back, that's the thing," said Ms. Dunn-Jones' mother, Carmen Dunn of West Brighton. "It's good that she was recognized. She was at the right place at the wrong time: She was at work, and you know what happened."
PLACE ON THE MEMORIAL
Ms. Dunn-Jones will be listed on the Sept. 11 memorial when it opens in 2009, a spokeswoman for the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation said. Her name already appears on the Staten Island 9/11 memorial.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Dunn-Jones family on this difficult day," said Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who chairs the 9/11 memorial foundation. "It is on their behalf and on behalf of all those affected by 9/11 that we are now building a memorial that remembers and honors the thousands of innocents that died."
Ms. Dunn-Jones was an attorney for the U.S. Department of Education and was trapped in the dust cloud caused by the collapse of the first World Trade Center tower. She did not return to Ground Zero and became ill shortly after the attacks. She died of sarcoidosis, a rare and debilitating condition that attacks the lungs and other vital organs, on Feb. 10, 2002.
"I'm happy she's going to be listed as a victim," said her sister, Sharyn Alvarez of Falls Church, Va. "We believe that she is [a victim]."
DEATH BENEFIT
Her family applied for a death benefit through the federal September 11 Victim Compensation Fund, and eventually received $2.6 million.
Ms. Dunn-Jones was the only victim who didn't die on Sept. 11 to receive a death benefit from the fund.
The family then asked the city to include Ms. Dunn-Jones on the official list of 9/11 victims. The medical examiner initially said her death could not be linked to Trade Center dust "with certainty beyond a reasonable doubt."
Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Vito Fossella, along with the family, had lobbied intensely for the reversal.
"The city medical examiner has now accepted what thousands of people with 9/11-related illnesses and their doctors have long understood: That Ground Zero dust was harmful and even deadly," said Ms. Maloney (D-Manhattan-Queens). "I hope that the medical examiner is no longer in denial about the Trade Center dust. Dr. Hirsch must review the cases of other 9/11 heroes who, like Felicia, died in the prime of their lives."
Ms. Borakove had no comment on Ms. Maloney's statement.
DECISION IS HAILED
"While it took time for the medical examiner and others to reach this conclusion, it demonstrates that the health of innocent people was negatively affected by Ground Zero air," said Fossella (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn).
He said the federal government should release a comprehensive plan to monitor and treat all those who are sick or injured as a result of 9/11.
West Brighton attorney John D'Amato, who handled a number of 9/11 victim compensation cases, said yesterday's decision "gives credence to the argument that the fund should be reopened to compensate those injured as a direct result of their exposure, the rescue workers and emergency responders."
While agreeing that the dust was harmful to Ms. Dunn-Jones, Dr. Hirsch also writes that he has "reasonable doubt" that exposure to the dust actually caused her illness.
However, because the dust has been found to cause sarcoidosis in some people, Dr. Hirsch wrote that it is "highly likely that the dust would have aggravated pre-existing sarcoidosis."
"My sister was in good health before 9/11," said Ms. Alvarez.
NEW JERSEY RULING
A New Jersey medical examiner ruled last year that the January 2006 death of a retired police detective, 34-year-old James Zadroga, was "directly related" to his work at Ground Zero on and after Sept. 11.
A construction worker who lost half his foot while working at Ground Zero and is suing the city said the reversal of Ms. Dunn-Jones' cause of death vindicates the rescue and recovery workers who have suffered since the attacks.
"We're not the little boys crying wolf anymore. It's a 'told you so.' This whole time we weren't just running around saying we're sick. We now have legitimate proof," said Long Island resident John Feal. "But the fact that it took five years is insulting. The federal government's lack of compassion in helping heroes is insulting."
Feal, who heads the not-for-profit Feal Good Foundation to call attention to the issue, is hoping this development helps the thousands of ongoing cases brought by rescue and construction workers against the city.
Historic city ruling on Island woman's fatal lung disease
http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/1180008027184310.xml&coll=1&thispage=1
By TOM WROBLESKI and SALLY GOLDENBERG
Thursday, May 24, 2007
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A New Brighton woman's 2002 death was officially linked yesterday to the dust she inhaled at Ground Zero -- a historic determination by New York City, which has never before attributed a post-9/11 death to exposure to toxins at the World Trade Center.
Felicia Dunn-Jones, a 42-year-old married mother of two, died of a lung disease four months after being exposed to the dust on 9/11.
"It is likely, with certainty beyond a reasonable doubt, that exposure to WTC dust was harmful to [Ms. Dunn-Jones] ... and that exposure to World Trade Center Dust on 9/11/01 was contributory to her death," city medical examiner Dr. Charles Hirsch wrote in a letter to Richard H. Bennett, the family's attorney. "The manner of death will be changed from natural to homicide."
The medical examiner's determination raised the 9/11 death toll to 2,750, said Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner.
"You can't bring her back, that's the thing," said Ms. Dunn-Jones' mother, Carmen Dunn of West Brighton. "It's good that she was recognized. She was at the right place at the wrong time: She was at work, and you know what happened."
PLACE ON THE MEMORIAL
Ms. Dunn-Jones will be listed on the Sept. 11 memorial when it opens in 2009, a spokeswoman for the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation said. Her name already appears on the Staten Island 9/11 memorial.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Dunn-Jones family on this difficult day," said Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who chairs the 9/11 memorial foundation. "It is on their behalf and on behalf of all those affected by 9/11 that we are now building a memorial that remembers and honors the thousands of innocents that died."
Ms. Dunn-Jones was an attorney for the U.S. Department of Education and was trapped in the dust cloud caused by the collapse of the first World Trade Center tower. She did not return to Ground Zero and became ill shortly after the attacks. She died of sarcoidosis, a rare and debilitating condition that attacks the lungs and other vital organs, on Feb. 10, 2002.
"I'm happy she's going to be listed as a victim," said her sister, Sharyn Alvarez of Falls Church, Va. "We believe that she is [a victim]."
DEATH BENEFIT
Her family applied for a death benefit through the federal September 11 Victim Compensation Fund, and eventually received $2.6 million.
Ms. Dunn-Jones was the only victim who didn't die on Sept. 11 to receive a death benefit from the fund.
The family then asked the city to include Ms. Dunn-Jones on the official list of 9/11 victims. The medical examiner initially said her death could not be linked to Trade Center dust "with certainty beyond a reasonable doubt."
Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Vito Fossella, along with the family, had lobbied intensely for the reversal.
"The city medical examiner has now accepted what thousands of people with 9/11-related illnesses and their doctors have long understood: That Ground Zero dust was harmful and even deadly," said Ms. Maloney (D-Manhattan-Queens). "I hope that the medical examiner is no longer in denial about the Trade Center dust. Dr. Hirsch must review the cases of other 9/11 heroes who, like Felicia, died in the prime of their lives."
Ms. Borakove had no comment on Ms. Maloney's statement.
DECISION IS HAILED
"While it took time for the medical examiner and others to reach this conclusion, it demonstrates that the health of innocent people was negatively affected by Ground Zero air," said Fossella (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn).
He said the federal government should release a comprehensive plan to monitor and treat all those who are sick or injured as a result of 9/11.
West Brighton attorney John D'Amato, who handled a number of 9/11 victim compensation cases, said yesterday's decision "gives credence to the argument that the fund should be reopened to compensate those injured as a direct result of their exposure, the rescue workers and emergency responders."
While agreeing that the dust was harmful to Ms. Dunn-Jones, Dr. Hirsch also writes that he has "reasonable doubt" that exposure to the dust actually caused her illness.
However, because the dust has been found to cause sarcoidosis in some people, Dr. Hirsch wrote that it is "highly likely that the dust would have aggravated pre-existing sarcoidosis."
"My sister was in good health before 9/11," said Ms. Alvarez.
NEW JERSEY RULING
A New Jersey medical examiner ruled last year that the January 2006 death of a retired police detective, 34-year-old James Zadroga, was "directly related" to his work at Ground Zero on and after Sept. 11.
A construction worker who lost half his foot while working at Ground Zero and is suing the city said the reversal of Ms. Dunn-Jones' cause of death vindicates the rescue and recovery workers who have suffered since the attacks.
"We're not the little boys crying wolf anymore. It's a 'told you so.' This whole time we weren't just running around saying we're sick. We now have legitimate proof," said Long Island resident John Feal. "But the fact that it took five years is insulting. The federal government's lack of compassion in helping heroes is insulting."
Feal, who heads the not-for-profit Feal Good Foundation to call attention to the issue, is hoping this development helps the thousands of ongoing cases brought by rescue and construction workers against the city.
Calls for city to reexamine some post '9/11' deaths
Push came after first death is linked to toxic dust at Ground Zero
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=9_11&id=5337691
By Lisa Colagrossi
(New York -WABC, May 25, 2007) - There is renewed demand to reexamine the medical records in the deaths of at least eight responders at Ground Zero on "9/11". The city medical examiner's decision to link the toxic dust cloud to the death of a woman may be just the first step.
Eyewitness News reporter Lisa Colagrossi is live in Lower Manhattan with the story.
Activists, politicians and those suffering from 9/11 illnesses will gather at Ground Zero for a rally at 11:30 a.m. Their goal is to get the victim's compensation fund to reopen.
"About a month ago they had to rush me to the hospital because I couldn't breathe," said Marvin Bethea,
Marvin Bethea got a chestful of that 9/11 smoke. The cloud from more than a million tons of pulverized concrete, computers, glass, asbestos, lead and toxic chemicals.
He's gone from an athlete, to two pills a day, to 15 medications.
"Now that's very frustrating. My career got cut short..the fact that I cannot go up three flights of stairs right now. I'm 47 years old," said Bethea.
Bethea, and those organizing today's gathering, want the government to reopen the victim's compensation fund.
They want the money to be available to bystanders and first responders, still getting sick and sometimes dying from exposure to that toxic cloud.
"I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. We did what we were supposed to do and yet we have to fight for everything. It's just simply not right.
The call for a reexamination of old cases, got a big push when the city medical examiner agreed this week that attorney Felicia Dunn-Jones died from lung disease brought on by her exposure to the plume of dust and smoke on 9/11.
"The fact that so many are sick now and the government for the longest has been in denial is just simply not right," said Bethea.
The family of Felicia Dunn-Jones did receive money from the 9/11 victim's compensation fund, but many people have not.
Push came after first death is linked to toxic dust at Ground Zero
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=9_11&id=5337691
By Lisa Colagrossi
(New York -WABC, May 25, 2007) - There is renewed demand to reexamine the medical records in the deaths of at least eight responders at Ground Zero on "9/11". The city medical examiner's decision to link the toxic dust cloud to the death of a woman may be just the first step.
Eyewitness News reporter Lisa Colagrossi is live in Lower Manhattan with the story.
Activists, politicians and those suffering from 9/11 illnesses will gather at Ground Zero for a rally at 11:30 a.m. Their goal is to get the victim's compensation fund to reopen.
"About a month ago they had to rush me to the hospital because I couldn't breathe," said Marvin Bethea,
Marvin Bethea got a chestful of that 9/11 smoke. The cloud from more than a million tons of pulverized concrete, computers, glass, asbestos, lead and toxic chemicals.
He's gone from an athlete, to two pills a day, to 15 medications.
"Now that's very frustrating. My career got cut short..the fact that I cannot go up three flights of stairs right now. I'm 47 years old," said Bethea.
Bethea, and those organizing today's gathering, want the government to reopen the victim's compensation fund.
They want the money to be available to bystanders and first responders, still getting sick and sometimes dying from exposure to that toxic cloud.
"I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. We did what we were supposed to do and yet we have to fight for everything. It's just simply not right.
The call for a reexamination of old cases, got a big push when the city medical examiner agreed this week that attorney Felicia Dunn-Jones died from lung disease brought on by her exposure to the plume of dust and smoke on 9/11.
"The fact that so many are sick now and the government for the longest has been in denial is just simply not right," said Bethea.
The family of Felicia Dunn-Jones did receive money from the 9/11 victim's compensation fund, but many people have not.
Higher 9-11 death toll raises questions
http://www.kansascity.com/440/story/121732.html
By AMY WESTFELDT
Associated Press Writer
5/25/2007
Family members of ground zero workers who died after breathing in toxic dust from the collapsed World Trade Center say they want their relatives officially recognized as victims of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The official list of victims grew by one this week after the city agreed to include a New York attorney who died of lung disease months after the attack, confusing Sept. 11 family members about what distinguished this death from the scores of others attributed to the aftermath.
The city medical examiner's office said Thursday that Felicia Dunn-Jones' death was the only Sept. 11-related fatality it has been asked to review and definitively link to the twin towers' collapse. In the future, spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said, the medical examiner will review any case if a family makes such a request.
"We certainly never turn anybody down," she said.
That raises the prospect of an ever-increasing death toll nearly six years after the attacks. The count now stands at 2,750 after the inclusion of Dunn-Jones. It's up to Chief Medical Examiner Charles Hirsch to decide whether to reclassify any deaths.
"It's his definition that we will follow in this city," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
A police union leader said first responders who became ill and died after working at ground zero should also be added to the city's official victim list.
"First responders who expired as a result of their 9/11-related injuries should in fact be given that same honor," said Michael Palladino, president of the Detectives Endowment Association.
Those responders would include 34-year-old James Zadroga, a police detective who became sick and died of respiratory disease after working hundreds of hours in the ground zero cleanup. A New Jersey medical examiner has ruled his 2006 death was "directly related" to his work at ground zero and exposure to trade center dust.
Zadroga's father said he wanted the city to review his son's case.
"I'm going to go through the process, definitely," Zadroga said. "All these guys were heroes there. They're all dying."
David Reeve, whose wife, Deborah, died last year of an asbestos-related cancer after working for months around ground zero and at the morgue, said he would like her to be recognized as an attack victim.
Attorneys wondered whether the official listing of Dunn-Jones, a 42-year-old civil rights attorney who fled the collapsing towers from her office a block away, would make a difference in lawsuits accusing the city of negligence for failing to protect workers and residents from toxic air at the site.
"I have clients who are starting to call saying, should we dig up the bodies and have autopsies and have tissue samples," said David Worby, who represents 10,000 plaintiffs in a negligence lawsuit against the city. He said at least five of his clients recently died of sarcoidosis, the same disease that killed Dunn-Jones.
Bloomberg said that Dunn-Jones' case is different from those of workers who toiled for months at the site.
"This one case ... the woman was killed as a result of being there at the time of the attack," he said. "Think of it as though somebody had gotten - had a beam fall on them and it just took a little while for them to succumb to their injury. Not somebody who was injured the next day if a beam fell on them during the cleanup. That's a very different situation."
http://www.kansascity.com/440/story/121732.html
By AMY WESTFELDT
Associated Press Writer
5/25/2007
Family members of ground zero workers who died after breathing in toxic dust from the collapsed World Trade Center say they want their relatives officially recognized as victims of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The official list of victims grew by one this week after the city agreed to include a New York attorney who died of lung disease months after the attack, confusing Sept. 11 family members about what distinguished this death from the scores of others attributed to the aftermath.
The city medical examiner's office said Thursday that Felicia Dunn-Jones' death was the only Sept. 11-related fatality it has been asked to review and definitively link to the twin towers' collapse. In the future, spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said, the medical examiner will review any case if a family makes such a request.
"We certainly never turn anybody down," she said.
That raises the prospect of an ever-increasing death toll nearly six years after the attacks. The count now stands at 2,750 after the inclusion of Dunn-Jones. It's up to Chief Medical Examiner Charles Hirsch to decide whether to reclassify any deaths.
"It's his definition that we will follow in this city," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
A police union leader said first responders who became ill and died after working at ground zero should also be added to the city's official victim list.
"First responders who expired as a result of their 9/11-related injuries should in fact be given that same honor," said Michael Palladino, president of the Detectives Endowment Association.
Those responders would include 34-year-old James Zadroga, a police detective who became sick and died of respiratory disease after working hundreds of hours in the ground zero cleanup. A New Jersey medical examiner has ruled his 2006 death was "directly related" to his work at ground zero and exposure to trade center dust.
Zadroga's father said he wanted the city to review his son's case.
"I'm going to go through the process, definitely," Zadroga said. "All these guys were heroes there. They're all dying."
David Reeve, whose wife, Deborah, died last year of an asbestos-related cancer after working for months around ground zero and at the morgue, said he would like her to be recognized as an attack victim.
Attorneys wondered whether the official listing of Dunn-Jones, a 42-year-old civil rights attorney who fled the collapsing towers from her office a block away, would make a difference in lawsuits accusing the city of negligence for failing to protect workers and residents from toxic air at the site.
"I have clients who are starting to call saying, should we dig up the bodies and have autopsies and have tissue samples," said David Worby, who represents 10,000 plaintiffs in a negligence lawsuit against the city. He said at least five of his clients recently died of sarcoidosis, the same disease that killed Dunn-Jones.
Bloomberg said that Dunn-Jones' case is different from those of workers who toiled for months at the site.
"This one case ... the woman was killed as a result of being there at the time of the attack," he said. "Think of it as though somebody had gotten - had a beam fall on them and it just took a little while for them to succumb to their injury. Not somebody who was injured the next day if a beam fell on them during the cleanup. That's a very different situation."
Politicians: 9/11 Responder Deaths Are Homicides
Dunn-Jones May Not Be Only One Added To Memorial
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_145185817.html
Marcia Kramer
5/28/2007
(CBS) NEW YORK Pressure is mounting on officials to declare the deaths of more than 100 9/11 responders as homicides.
There are also new calls for the victims' names to be added to the 9/11 Memorial.
Joseph Jones wears his wife Felicia Dunn-Jones' wedding rings around his neck, a poignant reminder of the woman whose death from lung disease in 2002 is now the first to officially be linked to the toxic dust from the World Trade Center attacks.
"She didn't die that day, but she died from wounds she suffered that day," Jones said. "Felicia was a casualty of an act of war."
Jones and his 15-year-old daughter, Rebecca, joined politicians at ground zero on Friday to demand the city Medical Examiner probe the deaths of others at ground zero to see if they are linked to the toxic cloud of dust from the attack.
"Thousands of people with 9/11 related illnesses, and the doctors have long understood that the ground zero dust was harmful and even deadly," Rep. Carolyn Maloney said.
First responders say its well past time for officials to admit they got sick from working on the pile.
"I applaud the medical examiner for making this direct link, but its six years late and we need more doctors to come forward and say these brave souls are sick because of the aftermath of 9-11," responder John Feal said.
Attorney David Worby represents thousands of 9/11 victims
"We have over 100 people who have died," Worby said. "What this case points out is that toxicity the woman was exposed to on one day killed her. We have people who were there for six months, thousands of hours, every day breathing it, ingesting it."
There was at least some good news for 9/11 responders on Friday. On Thursday night, Congress appropriated an additional $50 million for their health care needs.
Dunn-Jones' name will now be listed on the 9/11 Memorial at ground zero as an official casualty of the attack. Officials feel that others who have died from 9/11 illnesses should be given the same honor.
Dunn-Jones May Not Be Only One Added To Memorial
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_145185817.html
Marcia Kramer
5/28/2007
(CBS) NEW YORK Pressure is mounting on officials to declare the deaths of more than 100 9/11 responders as homicides.
There are also new calls for the victims' names to be added to the 9/11 Memorial.
Joseph Jones wears his wife Felicia Dunn-Jones' wedding rings around his neck, a poignant reminder of the woman whose death from lung disease in 2002 is now the first to officially be linked to the toxic dust from the World Trade Center attacks.
"She didn't die that day, but she died from wounds she suffered that day," Jones said. "Felicia was a casualty of an act of war."
Jones and his 15-year-old daughter, Rebecca, joined politicians at ground zero on Friday to demand the city Medical Examiner probe the deaths of others at ground zero to see if they are linked to the toxic cloud of dust from the attack.
"Thousands of people with 9/11 related illnesses, and the doctors have long understood that the ground zero dust was harmful and even deadly," Rep. Carolyn Maloney said.
First responders say its well past time for officials to admit they got sick from working on the pile.
"I applaud the medical examiner for making this direct link, but its six years late and we need more doctors to come forward and say these brave souls are sick because of the aftermath of 9-11," responder John Feal said.
Attorney David Worby represents thousands of 9/11 victims
"We have over 100 people who have died," Worby said. "What this case points out is that toxicity the woman was exposed to on one day killed her. We have people who were there for six months, thousands of hours, every day breathing it, ingesting it."
There was at least some good news for 9/11 responders on Friday. On Thursday night, Congress appropriated an additional $50 million for their health care needs.
Dunn-Jones' name will now be listed on the 9/11 Memorial at ground zero as an official casualty of the attack. Officials feel that others who have died from 9/11 illnesses should be given the same honor.
THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH ABOUT THE 9/11 PLUME
http://www.nypost.com/seven/05292007/postopinion/editorials/the_search_for_truth_about_the_9_11_plume_editorials_.htm
May 29, 2007 -- Chief Medical Examiner Charles Hirsch this month officially tied the 2002 death of a bystander, Felicia Dunn-Jones, to Ground Zero dust - and thereby heightened fears over the health fallout from the 9/11 attack.
Yes, the ruling provided relief to folks like Dunn-Jones' husband. He had lobbied hard for the designation, and saw it as justice being served.
Others, like Mayor Bloomberg, understandably are concerned that such linkage might unfairly tilt lawsuits filed against City Hall by rescue workers who seek compensation for injuries both real and, sometimes, exaggerated. Ultimately, such cases could cost the city a fortune.
Mayor Mike last week rightly noted one important distinction - between ill workers and folks injured on 9/11 as a direct result of the attacks.
Meanwhile, because Dunn-Jones was exposed to the plume only briefly as she fled the area, the M.E.'s ruling is sparking fears that countless others who breathed the air that day also may have been harmed - and may not even know it.
The question of 9/11's impact on public health is far too important to be decided on the basis of fears, well-meaning sympathy for those who become ill or the financial ramifications of compensating victims.
For New York City and the nation, it is crucial to establish the precise extent of the damage inflicted by the terrorists on that awful day. And to do so solely on the basis of solid evidence - and conclusions that emerge from rigorous, dispassionate scientific inquiry.
This, after all, is a matter of great historical and political import; accuracy and precision count. And neither overstating nor understating the consequences serves the city or the nation.
Alas, emotion and monetary considerations seem to play an increasingly large role in the shaping of this story.
Politicians (no surprise), their minds made up long before any serious investigation ever began, have fueled the trend.
"The city medical examiner has now accepted what thousands of people with 9/11-related illnesses and their doctors have long understood: that Ground Zero dust was harmful and even deadly," Rep. Carolyn Maloney said last week of Hirsch's decision.
Added New York's junior senator and presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton: "This ruling is an important step toward acknowledging . . . the devastating and growing health impact of 9/11."
Who needs an examination of evidence or serious medical probing, in other words? Everyone's long "known" that 9/11 dust sickened countless people. The only thing research can do, they believe, is confirm conclusions that folks like Maloney, Clinton and Rep. Vito Fossella have espoused all along.
Indeed, Maloney and Fossella lobbied Hirsch to link Dunn-Jones' death to 9/11 dust long ago. They challenged him when he ruled in 2004 that there was insufficient proof of any connection.
Last Friday, they - along with Rep. Jerrold Nadler - urged him to review several other cases of people who died after working at Ground Zero.
This may play well politically, of course. But it does truth a big disservice.
Recall the case of Police Officer Cesar Borja. News reports brazenly attributed his death from lung disease to his service as a first-responder at Ground Zero.
This story buoyed those who blamed 9/11 dust for a widespread health crisis. Clinton invited Borja's son to attend the president's State of the Union Address. President Bush had him to the White House.
But later, The New York Times disclosed that, in fact, Borja never worked downtown until Dec. 24, 2001 - well after the plume had cleared. And that he only worked near the World Trade Center, not directly at the pile of rubble.
Now the question is: What made Hirsch suddenly change his opinion in the Dunn-Jones case?
Hirsch says mounting research convinced him. In a letter this month, he wrote that "accumulating evidence indicates that in some persons exposure to World Trade Center dust can cause or contribute to sarcoidosis with cardiac involvement."
That disease, a lung tissue-scarring illness, had earlier been cited as the cause of death in the Dunn-Jones case.
Hirsch said that, based on new research, he "concluded that Mrs. Dunn-Jones' exposure to World Trade Center dust on 9/11/01 contributed to her death and it has been ruled a homicide."
Yet, as it turns out, Dunn-Jones had sarcoidosis before 9/11. Hirsch cited the air as a possible contributing factor because experts believe exposure to dust can cause the disease to flare up - and that could have been what precipitated her death.
But how can anyone be sure it was exposure to 9/11 dust, and not some other factor, that aggravated the disease?
And even if it were the air, isn't it likely that some other irritant eventually might have set it off anyway, even if she'd managed to avoid the 9/11 plume?
The fact is, the underlying cause of death was her pre-existing sarcoidosis.
Did Hirsch succumb to pressure?
Maybe - or maybe not.
But in an emotion-driven, politically fueled climate, New Yorkers can't be sure.
And that does no one any good.
Let's be clear: Felicia Dunn-Jones' death was a tragedy, and our hearts go out to her family.
Rescue workers, too, can only be viewed as true heroes - if for no more than their willingness to risk the consequences and search for survivors.
And should sound research find post-9/11 air to be the primary cause of any illness, New York, and the nation, have a duty to respond to anyone affected.
In that case, the M.E. must establish causal links to determine each case. And he must resist the efforts of politicians and others - some perhaps searching for grounds for a lawsuit - to influence his decisions.
But Dunn-Jones' death simply was not persuasively linked to 9/11 - at least as the medical examiner explained it.
Politics and science rarely mix well.
This finding sets an unhappy precedent; it may serve the interests of the tort bar and like-minded advantage-seekers.
But it does not serve justice.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/05292007/postopinion/editorials/the_search_for_truth_about_the_9_11_plume_editorials_.htm
May 29, 2007 -- Chief Medical Examiner Charles Hirsch this month officially tied the 2002 death of a bystander, Felicia Dunn-Jones, to Ground Zero dust - and thereby heightened fears over the health fallout from the 9/11 attack.
Yes, the ruling provided relief to folks like Dunn-Jones' husband. He had lobbied hard for the designation, and saw it as justice being served.
Others, like Mayor Bloomberg, understandably are concerned that such linkage might unfairly tilt lawsuits filed against City Hall by rescue workers who seek compensation for injuries both real and, sometimes, exaggerated. Ultimately, such cases could cost the city a fortune.
Mayor Mike last week rightly noted one important distinction - between ill workers and folks injured on 9/11 as a direct result of the attacks.
Meanwhile, because Dunn-Jones was exposed to the plume only briefly as she fled the area, the M.E.'s ruling is sparking fears that countless others who breathed the air that day also may have been harmed - and may not even know it.
The question of 9/11's impact on public health is far too important to be decided on the basis of fears, well-meaning sympathy for those who become ill or the financial ramifications of compensating victims.
For New York City and the nation, it is crucial to establish the precise extent of the damage inflicted by the terrorists on that awful day. And to do so solely on the basis of solid evidence - and conclusions that emerge from rigorous, dispassionate scientific inquiry.
This, after all, is a matter of great historical and political import; accuracy and precision count. And neither overstating nor understating the consequences serves the city or the nation.
Alas, emotion and monetary considerations seem to play an increasingly large role in the shaping of this story.
Politicians (no surprise), their minds made up long before any serious investigation ever began, have fueled the trend.
"The city medical examiner has now accepted what thousands of people with 9/11-related illnesses and their doctors have long understood: that Ground Zero dust was harmful and even deadly," Rep. Carolyn Maloney said last week of Hirsch's decision.
Added New York's junior senator and presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton: "This ruling is an important step toward acknowledging . . . the devastating and growing health impact of 9/11."
Who needs an examination of evidence or serious medical probing, in other words? Everyone's long "known" that 9/11 dust sickened countless people. The only thing research can do, they believe, is confirm conclusions that folks like Maloney, Clinton and Rep. Vito Fossella have espoused all along.
Indeed, Maloney and Fossella lobbied Hirsch to link Dunn-Jones' death to 9/11 dust long ago. They challenged him when he ruled in 2004 that there was insufficient proof of any connection.
Last Friday, they - along with Rep. Jerrold Nadler - urged him to review several other cases of people who died after working at Ground Zero.
This may play well politically, of course. But it does truth a big disservice.
Recall the case of Police Officer Cesar Borja. News reports brazenly attributed his death from lung disease to his service as a first-responder at Ground Zero.
This story buoyed those who blamed 9/11 dust for a widespread health crisis. Clinton invited Borja's son to attend the president's State of the Union Address. President Bush had him to the White House.
But later, The New York Times disclosed that, in fact, Borja never worked downtown until Dec. 24, 2001 - well after the plume had cleared. And that he only worked near the World Trade Center, not directly at the pile of rubble.
Now the question is: What made Hirsch suddenly change his opinion in the Dunn-Jones case?
Hirsch says mounting research convinced him. In a letter this month, he wrote that "accumulating evidence indicates that in some persons exposure to World Trade Center dust can cause or contribute to sarcoidosis with cardiac involvement."
That disease, a lung tissue-scarring illness, had earlier been cited as the cause of death in the Dunn-Jones case.
Hirsch said that, based on new research, he "concluded that Mrs. Dunn-Jones' exposure to World Trade Center dust on 9/11/01 contributed to her death and it has been ruled a homicide."
Yet, as it turns out, Dunn-Jones had sarcoidosis before 9/11. Hirsch cited the air as a possible contributing factor because experts believe exposure to dust can cause the disease to flare up - and that could have been what precipitated her death.
But how can anyone be sure it was exposure to 9/11 dust, and not some other factor, that aggravated the disease?
And even if it were the air, isn't it likely that some other irritant eventually might have set it off anyway, even if she'd managed to avoid the 9/11 plume?
The fact is, the underlying cause of death was her pre-existing sarcoidosis.
Did Hirsch succumb to pressure?
Maybe - or maybe not.
But in an emotion-driven, politically fueled climate, New Yorkers can't be sure.
And that does no one any good.
Let's be clear: Felicia Dunn-Jones' death was a tragedy, and our hearts go out to her family.
Rescue workers, too, can only be viewed as true heroes - if for no more than their willingness to risk the consequences and search for survivors.
And should sound research find post-9/11 air to be the primary cause of any illness, New York, and the nation, have a duty to respond to anyone affected.
In that case, the M.E. must establish causal links to determine each case. And he must resist the efforts of politicians and others - some perhaps searching for grounds for a lawsuit - to influence his decisions.
But Dunn-Jones' death simply was not persuasively linked to 9/11 - at least as the medical examiner explained it.
Politics and science rarely mix well.
This finding sets an unhappy precedent; it may serve the interests of the tort bar and like-minded advantage-seekers.
But it does not serve justice.
New cancer concerns for 9/11 responders
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=9_11&id=5356926
Eyewitness News
(New York - WABC, May 31, 2007) - There are new health concerns surrounding 9/11 responders.
Doctors say the responders are getting blood cancers at unusually young ages, and they blame toxins at ground zero.
Eyewitness News reporter Joe Torres is in Lower Manhattan with the story.
Doctors diagnosed 42-year-old former NYPD detective Ernie Vallebuona with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in October of 2004. Forty two-year-old John Walcott, also a former city detective, learned he had leukemia in May of 2003.
"Maybe if someone took us serious four years ago, more people would've been tested. We wouldn't be talking about autopsies, this and that. More people would've gotten tested," Walcott said.
"I've been on a crazy ride ever since ... chemotherapy, radiation, stem-cell transfer, all types of treatment. It's been tough," Vallebuona said.
According to researchers, more and more relatively young 9/11 first responders now show signs of cancer -- cancer conditions seemingly triggered by their exposure to a wide range of chemicals and carcinogens at ground zero.
"We know we have a handful of cases of multiple myloma in very young individuals and multiple myloma is a condition that almost always presents later in life," said Dr. Robin Herbert of Mt. Sinai Medical Center.
Attorney David Worby, who represents thousands of 9/11 workers, says he warned federal and city officials of these health problems years ago. Now he says it's time for government leaders to do the right thing.
"There are a series of tests that people with a significant exposure need to have. That's got to come from the federal government and the city," Worby said.
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=9_11&id=5356926
Eyewitness News
(New York - WABC, May 31, 2007) - There are new health concerns surrounding 9/11 responders.
Doctors say the responders are getting blood cancers at unusually young ages, and they blame toxins at ground zero.
Eyewitness News reporter Joe Torres is in Lower Manhattan with the story.
Doctors diagnosed 42-year-old former NYPD detective Ernie Vallebuona with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in October of 2004. Forty two-year-old John Walcott, also a former city detective, learned he had leukemia in May of 2003.
"Maybe if someone took us serious four years ago, more people would've been tested. We wouldn't be talking about autopsies, this and that. More people would've gotten tested," Walcott said.
"I've been on a crazy ride ever since ... chemotherapy, radiation, stem-cell transfer, all types of treatment. It's been tough," Vallebuona said.
According to researchers, more and more relatively young 9/11 first responders now show signs of cancer -- cancer conditions seemingly triggered by their exposure to a wide range of chemicals and carcinogens at ground zero.
"We know we have a handful of cases of multiple myloma in very young individuals and multiple myloma is a condition that almost always presents later in life," said Dr. Robin Herbert of Mt. Sinai Medical Center.
Attorney David Worby, who represents thousands of 9/11 workers, says he warned federal and city officials of these health problems years ago. Now he says it's time for government leaders to do the right thing.
"There are a series of tests that people with a significant exposure need to have. That's got to come from the federal government and the city," Worby said.
Dr. Cate Jenkins' New Article in the Journal of 9/11 Studies
http://www.911blogger.com/node/9094
Dr. Steven Jones
6/1/2007
Dr. Cate Jenkins holds a PhD in Chemistry and works for the Environmental Protection Agency. She has written an important article -- a Request for Senate Investigation regarding the WTC Dust, here:
http://www.journalof911studies.com/volume/200704/DrJenkinsRequestsSenateInvestigationOnWTCdust.pdf
In an addendum, she also requests an FBI investigation:
http://www.journalof911studies.com/volume/200704/JenkinsRequestFBI_Investigation_WTC-Dust.pdf
The reader will note that Dr. Jenkins is not reluctant to criticize EPA and other officials and politicians in her quest for correct science regarding the toxicity of the WTC dust -- and fairness for those people who were injured by that toxic dust. Hundreds even thousands were hurt by the stuff. In an email, Jenna Orkin writes:
"I've worked with and relied on Cate Jenkins for over five years. As far as I know, her science is sterling and she is among the handful of people who spoke up forcefully and truthfully in the beginning when it counted the most but few were able or willing to do so.
"Cate's expertise on contamination has been relied on by journalists, activists and politicians working on this and other issues for decades. I have never heard of anyone who could find fault with her science and believe me, some people wanted to."
It is time to consider such "requests for investigation" of 9/11 issues at the highest levels as Dr. Jenkins has done. If such an investigation is opened, we may join in with some startling facts of our own about the WTC dust...
http://www.911blogger.com/node/9094
Dr. Steven Jones
6/1/2007
Dr. Cate Jenkins holds a PhD in Chemistry and works for the Environmental Protection Agency. She has written an important article -- a Request for Senate Investigation regarding the WTC Dust, here:
http://www.journalof911studies.com/volume/200704/DrJenkinsRequestsSenateInvestigationOnWTCdust.pdf
In an addendum, she also requests an FBI investigation:
http://www.journalof911studies.com/volume/200704/JenkinsRequestFBI_Investigation_WTC-Dust.pdf
The reader will note that Dr. Jenkins is not reluctant to criticize EPA and other officials and politicians in her quest for correct science regarding the toxicity of the WTC dust -- and fairness for those people who were injured by that toxic dust. Hundreds even thousands were hurt by the stuff. In an email, Jenna Orkin writes:
"I've worked with and relied on Cate Jenkins for over five years. As far as I know, her science is sterling and she is among the handful of people who spoke up forcefully and truthfully in the beginning when it counted the most but few were able or willing to do so.
"Cate's expertise on contamination has been relied on by journalists, activists and politicians working on this and other issues for decades. I have never heard of anyone who could find fault with her science and believe me, some people wanted to."
It is time to consider such "requests for investigation" of 9/11 issues at the highest levels as Dr. Jenkins has done. If such an investigation is opened, we may join in with some startling facts of our own about the WTC dust...
Police Union Sues City Seeking Compensation For 9/11 Responder
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=6&aid=70319
June 01, 2007
The Police Benevolent Association filed a lawsuit Friday to force the city to pay the medical bills of an officer who says he got sick from working at the World Trade Center site after the September 11th terror attacks.
The PBA filed the suit on behalf of 36-year-old Officer Christopher Hynes who claims he inhaled some 400 lethal toxins, shards of shards, and pulverized concrete at the site.
He says he was never given a proper respiratory apparatus and was later diagnosed with sarcoidosis. He remains on restricted duty.
Hynes’ insurance company sued him for $5,000 after he was unable to keep up with his medical bills related to his treatment.
The PBA says firefighters with September 11th-related sarcoidosis are routinely granted line-of-duty status and the city pays all their medical bills.
The NYPD has denied Hynes line-of-duty designation benefits, and the PBA says that shows the department does not believe there's a medical link between Hynes' illness and his work at the WTC site.
A department spokesman had no comment on the lawsuit.
Last week, the city medical examiner ruled Felicia Dunn-Jones's death a homicide – after the examiner says her death from the same disease was partially caused by toxins at the site.
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=6&aid=70319
June 01, 2007
The Police Benevolent Association filed a lawsuit Friday to force the city to pay the medical bills of an officer who says he got sick from working at the World Trade Center site after the September 11th terror attacks.
The PBA filed the suit on behalf of 36-year-old Officer Christopher Hynes who claims he inhaled some 400 lethal toxins, shards of shards, and pulverized concrete at the site.
He says he was never given a proper respiratory apparatus and was later diagnosed with sarcoidosis. He remains on restricted duty.
Hynes’ insurance company sued him for $5,000 after he was unable to keep up with his medical bills related to his treatment.
The PBA says firefighters with September 11th-related sarcoidosis are routinely granted line-of-duty status and the city pays all their medical bills.
The NYPD has denied Hynes line-of-duty designation benefits, and the PBA says that shows the department does not believe there's a medical link between Hynes' illness and his work at the WTC site.
A department spokesman had no comment on the lawsuit.
Last week, the city medical examiner ruled Felicia Dunn-Jones's death a homicide – after the examiner says her death from the same disease was partially caused by toxins at the site.