Program won't cover 9/11 responders for cancer

[alp227]

Source: CNN

New York (CNN) -- Workers who were involved in the response to the World Trade Center attack will not have their cancer treatments compensated under a program set up after September 11, according to a controversial decision released Tuesday by the World Trade Center Health Program.

There is inadequate "published scientific and medical findings" that a causal link exists between September 11 exposures and the occurrence of cancer in responders and survivors, program Administrator John Howard said in a statement.

The decision forms part of the first periodic review of what the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act will provide.

After a lengthy battle, President Obama signed the $4.2 billion legislation in January to provide health care for those who helped clear the rubble and search for human remains at the World Trade Center site in New York.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/07/26/new.york.trade.center.cancer/index.html

[katsy]

1. Heard this tune before:

Smoking doesn't cause cancer.

Asbestos doesn't cause cancer.

Depleted uranium doesn't cause cancer, birth defects and who knows what all.

Pesticides just kill bugs not people.

Frying your brain by cell phone doesn't cause cancer.

Agent Orange didn't cause cancers and health problems for soldiers.


By the time adequate scientific and medical findings finally come in... all victims are dead oooopseee. No problem.


WTF is common sense and having a brain for? Why would any decent society NOT provide health care for ALL first responders and cleanup crews for a tragedy of that magnitude? I can't believe this would even be an issue.

Next time we have a toxic tragedy, I vote we ship the bastards that rendered this decision, and their families, to do the cleanup.

[plumbob]

2. I second the motion. Wonder if they ever worked for Blue Cross Blue Shield,

the folks who considered Plavix to be an experimental drug and therefore not covered? (this was 6 months ago).

[katsy]

3. That would not surprise me at all.

Begs the question: who are we as a society to judge the sick, the elderly, or poor as non-deserving of basic human decency and rights?

Really. The inhumanity of this decision is astounding. Young people with rare cancers? Coincidence?

Forget waiting for a tragedy... strip these people of their power over the lives of others.

[ArcticFox]

5. One simple lesson:

When your fellow Americans need you to come to their aid, don't. They will only shun you for it.

As far as I'm concerned, these people should have all medical expenses paid the rest of their lives, regardless of relation to 9/11. They did a great service and should be rewarded.

What - 300 million of us can't take care of a few thousand?

[plumbob]

6. I agree completely. I don't know how people got so downright mean

and stingy.

[Cool Logic]

4. I don't understand...

I thought 9-11 responders were covered by 1) Worker's Compensation; 2) New York City's public employee health plan.

[plumbob]

9. Nope. Many responders were not NY employees. Those that were were

mostly denied coverage because it wasn't their shift, no one specifically ordered them to do that without proper safety equipment and all the rest of the blah blah blah that the parasites who position themselves between healthcare and patients for money use to say no.

Remember - when they say yes, it really does affect their bonus.

Can't have that.

[Cool Logic]

18. I'm not questioning that what you say is not true; however, it is difficult to comprehend.

In fact, it is beyond my realm of comprehension that these people would be left out in the cold, after risking so much.

[blank space]

7. If I were one of these people

I would go and die on the steps of the Capitol.

[alp227]

10. why are the TEA PARTY PATRIOTS not gonna stand up for those heroes?

"Oh, we gotta have limited gubmint, so let's leave these honorable folks to their own devices!"

[keith0]

8. Those smart bombs, Corporate Swellfare, and AC for our troops, ain't cheap!

Doncha know?!

[alp227]

11. Not Enough Evidence to Link 9/11 and Cancer, a Federal Report Says

Source: The New York Times

There is not enough evidence yet to say whether the dust and smoke cloud produced by the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center caused cancer, federal officials concluded in a report released on Tuesday.

The finding, based on an initial review required by a new federal law, disappointed rescue and recovery workers and people who lived near the World Trade Center who have cancer diagnoses that they attribute to the attack. It means that they do not qualify for federal benefits to treat or compensate them for their cancer, at least until further study.

Scientists say cancer takes 5 to 20 years to develop; so if there was a very strong effect from toxic substances released by the collapse of the twin towers, it might be expected to manifest itself by now, nearly 10 years after the attack.

But the report, released by Dr. John Howard, the director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, said there was very little evidence to go on, as there have only been 18 published research studies on the attack that even mentioned cancer, and only five of those were peer-reviewed. The results of the peer-reviewed studies were mixed.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/nyregion/not-enough-evidence-to-link-911-and-cancer-report-finds.html

[lovuian]

12. This government has no credibility

why would I trust a government who let 911 happen

[KT2000]

13. There are a few good doctors

including Dr. Landrigan who are really trying to help people. Let's hope the good people prevail on this. For sure it will not be the government agency though.

[Historic NY]

14. Guess they haven't looked at the obituaries..

[Wilms]

15. Not Enough Evidence to Link 9/11 and Iraq.

Did that prevent the expenditure of billions of dollars? :shrug:

[midnight]

16. This is another reason why we need medicare for all... This is not acceptable...

[sofa king]

17. And how did the Bush Admin interfere with those few studies?

And prevent others? You know they did. How did they do it?