LONG BRANCH — For former 9/11 firstresponder John Feal, the fight to have cancers added to the James Zadroga 9/11 Health & Compensation Act isn’t ending anytime soon, even after a panel recommended certain cancers be added to the bill.
OnApril 2 the World Trade Center Health Program Scientific/Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) released a report recommending that program administrator Dr. John Howard add more than 30 different types of cancer to the bill that provides for specialized care for ailing 9/11 first responders.
“Last week they made their recommendations to which cancers should be added,” said Feal, a tireless advocate for first responders who developed illnesses as a result of working at theWTC site. “This should have been done a long time ago, and that’s no offense to the STAC committee.
“Just because the bill passed, we never stopped,” he added. “It’s been a long journey, but we still have a lot more work to do.”
According to the recommendations of the report, there were 70 known, or potential, carcinogens in the smoke, dust and contaminants at the World Trade Center site, and no data was collected for four days following the attacks when contaminants were at the highest level.
Although the final decision will be made by Howard, the panel recommended that certain cancers, including cancers of the nasal system, lung, respiratory organs, stomach and digestive system, oral cavity, soft tissue, skin, mesothelioma, eye and orbit, thyroid, lymphoma and all cancers for patients under 20 years old be added to the bill.
Feal said the cause of cancers among first responders is undeniable.
“Through the absorption of nose, mouth and skin, these toxins made it into our bodies, and it’s killing these men and women.
“They can’t downplay it, they can’t dismiss it and they can’t run from the facts anymore,” he added.
According to the U.S. Centers forDisease Control and Prevention website, Howard must make a proposal about which cancers would be covered by the health benefits provided in the act within 60 days, followed by a 30-day public comment period before issuing a final ruling.
Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6th District), cosponsored the Zadroga bill, named for a New YorkCity police officer who died as a result of respiratory disease that has been attributed to his rescue and recovery work in the WTC rubble.
Pallone said in an interview last week the law was intended to provide Howard the ability to amend the act.
“It is very positive because this is the way the legislation was intended to work,” he said. “The decisions about what disorders to add would be essentially petitioned through this advisory board, and then the advisory board would make a recommendation to the head of the committee.
“This was the way it was envisioned because we didn’t really want Congress to make decisions about what disorders would be included because if we made the decisions, they wouldn’t be scientifically based,” he added.
Feal said the recommendations should be changed to add other cancers, as well as eliminate some cancers from the program.
“There were some cancers that were added that we just don’t agree with,” he said. “There was ovarian and breast cancer, and we don’t know anyone in the 9/11 community with those cancers.
“Brain cancer was left off and prostate was left off, and there are high ratios in the 9/11 community.”
Feal said that even if some cancers aren’t added during this round, they might be added at a later date.
“In a perfect world all cancers are going to be added, but that’s not the case,” he said. “There are certain cancers, [which] were undoubtedly and unequivocally caused by 9/11 and the toxins, that needed to be added.
“These are the cancers that are killing these men and women at a rapid rate,” he added. “Just because they were left off doesn’t mean they are not going to be added in the future.”
Pallone agreed that other cancers would be added to the program.
“I think it is very likely, having spoken to a lot of the people who were impacted, that these cancers were, in fact, caused by exposure to things on 9/11,” he said. “I don’t think there is anything that says more cancers can’t be added.
“You have to remember that over the 11 years they are discovering new things all the time,” he added. “It has to be open to add more things as people get older and we realize a lot of these things may not materialize until the people who were impacted are older.”
Previously, 9/11 responders were entitled to free health care, but funding was discretionary from year to year.
The Zadroga bill, which Pallone advocated for, made funding permanent, and responders receive health care for life.
The bill was previously slated to cost $7.4 billion and be in effect for 10 years, but because of a stalemate in the Senate, the funding was reduced to $4.2 billion over five years and was funded by the closing of tax loopholes for companies operating outside of the United States.
Pallone also said that funding might be increased as needed.
“I’m going to be vigilant because we have to make sure that we have enough money to pay for the care of the people, but so far so good,” he said. “It is working out well in my opinion, but of course if any changes need to be made, we need to be vigilant and review what goes on.
“If we think we need to make more changes and provide more funding, we will,” he added.
Feal said he expects a final decision from Howard by the end of the summer.
“My guess is it is going to drag out until the end ofAugust or beginning of September,” he said. “You got the 11-year anniversary, and they will say, ‘Look what we did. We added cancer to the bill.’ ”
Feal also said that Howard would have the benefit of reports submitted by Mount Sinai Hospital and the Fire Department of New York City.
“We have two published peer reviews coming out that are going to benefit us that Dr. Howard will have access to, so he can make a better determination,” he said.
Adding cancers to the act has been a source of controversy since the bill was signed into law late in 2010, with many questioning whether the cancers are caused by exposure at theWTC site.
Feal said there have been doubters since the start of the process.
“Before we had the bill passed, they said we’d never get the bill passed,” he said. “They considered it flat-lined in D.C., and we proved them wrong.
“It proves that our resolve and testament is strong and our will is stronger than ever.”
Feal also said that he would not accept the recommendations being politicized.
“If they drag it out past September, you got a political season coming up in November, and I will make any Republican or any Democrat miserable at their campaign stops and let America know that these men and women are dying,” he said.
Some of the ailments now included under the bill are lung diseases, chronic respiratory disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, panic or anxiety disorders, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The bill establishes the World Trade Center Health Program, a permanent program to screen, monitor and treat eligible responders and survivors who are suffering from diseases related to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
It directs the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to conduct and support research into new conditions that may be related to the conditions at ground zero and to evaluate different and emerging methods of diagnosis and treatment.
Also, the legislation builds on the Centers of Excellence, which are currently providing care to thousands of responders and survivors, ensuring ongoing data collection and analysis to evaluate health risks.
Feal spent five days at ground zero and lost half of his left foot after it was crushed by 8,000 pounds of steel. He has made numerous trips to Washington to support the bill.