WTC Health Program

by Richard Alles, Deputy Chief FDNY, ret In our last issue, we sounded the alarm about the approaching July 29th deadline to register claims with the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. I’m very happy to report that many of you took our advice to heart. We’ve received a flood of calls from people in the 9/11 […]

Lila Nordstrom was a senior at Stuyvesant High School on September 11, 2001, only a few hundred feet away from the World Trade Center. After the attack, she and her classmates evacuated, returning to school just a month later in early October. Lila, other students, and teachers soon began to experience sinus and respiratory problems, […]

NYPD Sergeant Cornelius J. Douglas, 56, of West Nyack, passed away on June 24 of pancreatic cancer he developed as a result of his exposure to Ground Zero toxins as a 9/11 first responder – only a few weeks after he was diagnosed. Sergeant Douglas joined the New York City Transit Police Department in 1997, […]

July is Sarcoma Awareness Month. Nearly half a million first responders and people were working, living, and studying in Lower Manhattan on or after 9/11. The 9/11 community has a dramatically higher risk of developing respiratory illnesses and 68 different types of cancer that are presumed linked to the WTC toxins, including sarcoma. Barasch & […]

9/11 first responders who worked on search-and-rescue and recovery efforts in Lower Manhattan are at risk of suffering from cognitive impairment as a result of their exposure to Ground Zero toxins.   A recent study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research found that Ground Zero-related mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress […]

There are currently 68 types of cancer and several respiratory illnesses presumed linked to the WTC toxins. The World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP) and the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) provide free health care and compensation, respectively, for these 68 cancers and a host of respiratory illnesses. WTCHP also covers acute traumatic injuries, mental […]