at LEAST 3000, and the toll goes higher by the day.
Posted on 10/13/2009 8:04:35 AM PDT by opentalk
A firefighter and two cops who worked at Ground Zero in the days and weeks after Sept. 11 have died of cancer in the past five days, the Daily News has learned.
Family members and advocates are blaming their deaths on toxins released into the air after the twin towers collapsed - and they're urging Congress to act on a bill that would help pay for their medical care.
"Everybody is denying that this stuff is connected to 9/11, but it is," said Stephen Grossman, whose son Robert died of cancer on Friday at the age of 44.
Robert Grossman was a police officer in Harlem who worked at Ground Zero for several weeks after Sept. 11. The day after Grossman passed away, Firefighter Richard Mannetta, 44, died of cancer. And last Wednesday, 37-year-old Police Officer Cory Diaz died of cancer.
Firefighter John McNamara, 44, died of cancer last month.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
Tragic. The 9/11 death toll rises.
Very, very sad.
Statistics are tricky things. I do not deny that there might ( and intuitively I would say is) a link between the particulates inhaled and resulting cancers. Problem with this story is that it does not identify what type of cancer the heroes died from. That does make a big difference. It is all too easy to jump on board when the cause is ‘noble’ but facts are stubborn things.
What kinds of cancers did these people die from? Was there any family history of the same cancer? Did they have any additional risks ( over weight, bad diet, smoking, drinking in excess). All of these things contribute.
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar
I hear what you are saying, but four people in the last month, all cancer and young, ages 37 to 44.
This has led to debilitating illnesses among rescue and recovery workers, and the pulmonary fibrosis death of NYPD member Cesar Borja.[6][7][8][9] Increasing numbers of cases are appearing in which first responders are developing serious respiratory ailments.[10] Health effects also extended to some residents, students, and office workers of Lower Manhattan and nearby Chinatown.[11] Ground zero workers and cancer On November 28, 2006, the Village Voice reported that several dozen recovery personnel have developed cancer – as opposed to having contracted respiratory ailments, and that doctors have argued that some of these cancers developed as a result of the exposure to toxins at the Ground Zero site: "To date, 75 recovery workers at ground zero have been diagnosed with blood cell cancers that a half-dozen top doctors and epidemiologists have confirmed as having been likely caused by that exposure."[12] Judgments and statements by leading physicians Dr. Larry Norton of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital said "Why isn't the whole nation mobilizing to take care of the chronic health impact of this disaster?". Dr. Norton cited the 70 percent illness rate among first responders as "a wake up call." Dr. Nathaniel Hupert of Weill Cornell Medical College, quoted by Jill Gardiner of the October 4, 2006 issue of the New York Sun said that premature deaths and other ailments of dogs in the area are "our canary in the coalmine."[13] Richard Clapp and David Ozonoff, professors of environmental health at Boston University School of Public Health; Michael Thun, director of epidemiological research at the American Cancer Society; Francine Laden, assistant professor of environmental epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health; Jonathan Samet, chairman of the epidemiology department at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; and Charles Hesdorffer, associate professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine argue that the cancer incidence among monitored individuals cannot be called a coincidence. They assert that the Ground Zero cloud was likely the cause of the illnesses.[12] The American College of Preventative Medicine is concerned that malignant mesothelioma will develop among persons exposed to Ground Zero air.[14]
An ongoing Pennsylvania State University/Monmouth University study reported that respiratory illnesses grew by more than two hundred percent in the year and a half after the September 11 attacks. (This was the first study that monitored police officers at the Ground Zero site. It was published in the "Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.") In this study of 471 police officers, 19 percent of the officers in October 2001 experienced shortness of breath; 44 percent of the officers experienced shortness of breath in April 2003. The percentage of the 471 officers coughing up phlegm increased from 14 percent in October 2001 to 31 percent in 2003.[19] A 2006 medical study of fire fighters reported that those personnel who inhaled Ground Zero air essentially lost 12 years of lung function.[19] Additionally, a Mount Sinai report found that 70 percent of recovery and rescue workers reported an increase in debilitated respiratory function between 2002 and 2004.[19][20] A 2008 report by New York City's Department of Health indicated that up to 70,000 people might have long term health problems due to the dust. The findings were the result of the city's health registry of September 11 first responders, residents, and others.[21
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_arising_from_the_September_11_attacks
There will be more. Never forget.
I know but the thing I want to know did they all die of one type of cancer?
In Livermore California in the 90s there was a concentration of cancer cases and cancer deaths that looked statistically significant. At first they thought it had something to do with the National Lab located there. Turned out that the cancers were varied, people had family histories, etc that changed the understanding of what was actually occuring.
I do not want to take anything away from the brave men and women who responded that day ( and days after). There is not enough that we can do for them. I don’t even mind paying extra money to their families or to them regardless of cause. I am just asking some simple questions for clarities sake
And if you noted in my parenthetical comment I said that I believed there are all sorts of nasty things caused by the particulate exposure at Ground Zero.
Do not misundertand my quiestion. I was not suggesting that we desert these brave men and women who responded to this dastardly attack. To the contrary, I think we should have done more and should do more. But I think that of our military heroes as well.
Thank you for the sourced material. It is nice to have that available for future reference
see post 11
No problem. I became aware of the health issues of the responders & people who escaped the towers because a policeman from my area died from cancer linked to 911. Then a friend whose son was in the towers became ill & now has lung cancer. It is very sad that these people are dying from cancers. I think they are linked. My main anger is that that these brave people need health care & ought to be treated for their issues with full coverage. They too are victims of 911 & ought to be treated as such.
I wonder what the point is, regarding stories like this. It’s a shame that such good men die so young. They stepped up to the plate when their country and their city needed them. No doubting that.
Sure... who knows what cocktail of exotic particulates was in the air that day? Whether it was materials on 9/11 that caused their cancer... what does that change? Perhaps it was. Do we suppose if they’d been warned about the risk they may not have gone? I doubt that very much.
Is it about blame somehow? What’s the point in that? Proving the matter one way or the other with any certainty is unlikely. So what’s the agenda that the paper is pushing?
I hestitate to call them victims. They are casualties and have earned their place among the tallied dead but they are heroes first. They put their lives on the line to help others by responding to the call.
Those inside the buildings never had a choice or a chance.
Very good point.
I agree....you need to know the type of cancers. My husband died of Mesothelioma, a deadly form of cancer of the lining of the lungs due to exposure to asbestos. I imagine there were all kinds of toxic substances in Ground Zero and complicate that with fire and smoke... and that does spell trouble. My heart goes out to those men and women who died on 9/11 and to those who helped in it’s aftermath who now are suffering with some illness. It truely shows what Americans are made of. It all happened so fast that, all anybody did was try to help without thinking about themselves. You just don’t usually think you are in harms way when you are busy trying to help save somebody’s life.
God bless the all!
I think it is urging the passage of a current bill to help other first responders:
"The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act - named after an NYPD detective who died from his post-9/11 ailments - is still sitting in Congress, and Grossman and others are urging lawmakers to act now."
The bill would provide $10 billion for medical care for hundreds of first responders who have since become ill. But doctors haven't directly linked these illnesses to the World Trade Center.
Very sorry for your loss. My father died of Mesothelioma last year.
I’m not sure I understand. NY police and firefighters don’t have health insurance that covers them?
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