First Responders

9/11 Victims Forced to Pay Over 150% Interest for Loans Managing Partner Mike Barasch was interviewed on 60 Minutes for a story about a lending company that was charging people in the 9/11 community exorbitant interest rates for loans they needed while they waited for their VCF award payments. We blew the whistle on RD […]

January marks the twelfth anniversary of the “James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010,” named in honor of hero NYPD Detective James Zadroga, a Barasch & McGarry client. The act established the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program and reactivated the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund (VCF), providing free medical care and compensation to individuals […]

As we approach 2023, I want to sincerely thank you for everything you do for the 9/11 community, in particular spreading the word to the forgotten victims of 9/11.  Because of clients like you, thousands of retired responders, family members who have lost loved ones, as well as downtown residents, workers and former students have […]

The number of FDNY firefighters who have died as a result of 9/11-related cancer or respiratory illness now exceeds 300, the FDNY Uniformed Firefighters Association (UFA) announced recently. Retired FDNY Battalion Chief Joseph McKie passed away in late September of colon cancer, which he developed as a result of his exposure to Ground Zero toxins […]

A recent study published in Blood Cancer Journal found a higher risk of multiple myeloma precursor disease in FDNY firefighters who were exposed to Ground Zero toxins at the World Trade Center site on and after 9/11. The firefighters included in the study had nearly double – 180% – the normal risk of developing myeloma […]

A recent study in the medical journal Nature Medicine found that FDNY firefighters who worked at the World Trade Center site on and after 9/11 have an increased risk of all types of cancer, with a particularly elevated incidence of prostate, thyroid, and tonsil cancer, as well as melanoma. For thyroid cancer, for example, the […]