An advisory board set up by Congress is close to recommending which cancers should be included in the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act and its $2.8 million Victim Compensation Fund.

The Zadroga Act, which passed last year, provides “medical monitoring and treatment of 9/11 related health conditions for emergency personnel, rescue, and clean-up workers who responded to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack at the World Trade Center, Pentagon and Shanksville, P.A.”

Researchers are finding evidence that 9/11 responders are experiencing increased rates of cancer, including “significant” increases in prostate, thyroid and some blood cancers. This information comes from a study of 20,000 police officers, firefighters, sanitation workers, construction workers and others who worked at Ground Zero.

Several discussion held by the advisory board demonstrate how toxic the situation faced by responders truly was. A police uniform worn during the recovery efforts was brought forward. Sealed in a plastic bag, it tested positive for a variety of carcinogens including hydrocarbons, heavy metals and asbestos. The panel also discussed the fate of one rescue worker named Deborah Reeve. Reeve died of mesothelioma – asbestos-caused cancer – only five years after 9/11. It can take up to 50 years for mesothelioma to develop, an indication of just how much asbestos was in the debris.

Those who helped during the recovery efforts during and after 9/11 deserve all the help they require. Many of them may be facing lifelong difficulties, and the last thing they should have to worry about is paying their medical bills.

Cappolino Dodd Krebs, LLP – mesothelioma lawyers