Feds Urged To Tap 'Czar' To Eye 9/11 Health; Cite 23 Deaths, Call Broader Screening, Treatment Key

By GINGER ADAMS OTIS

U.S. Representatives Carolyn Maloney and Vito Fossella Jan. 25 called upon the Federal Government to appoint a "9/11 health czar" to oversee monitoring, screening and testing of health problems among those who worked at Ground Zero.

The Chief-Leader/Michael O'Kane 'URGENT NEED': U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Vito Fossella led a bipartisan push for a Federal '9/11 Health Czar' to coordinate and monitor medical programs for first responders, workers, volunteers, residents and others exposed to debris and dust on Sept. 11, 2001 and during the subsequent recovery efforts.

Must Improve Tracking

Congresswoman Maloney cited the recent deaths of three city workers who fell sick with illnesses believed to be 9/11-related as proof of the "urgent need" for improved tracking and treatment of first responders, volunteers and other workers.

Seventeen legislators - including Sens. Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer - signed a letter to Michael Leavitt, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, urging him to appoint a health professional to better coordinate the Federal Government's attempts to get aid to the estimated 40,000 people who responded on 9/11 or aided in the clean-up and restoration operations, and for area residents and workers who have suffered daily exposures for the past 4-1/2 years.

'Persistent Problems'

Dr. Jacqueline Moline, an industrial physician who spearheads the Mount Sinai World Trade Center Monitoring program, said at a Jan. 25 press conference held by Representatives Maloney and Fossella that some 16,000 people had come forward to be screened.

"More than half of them have persistent problems with their sinuses and throats. They have GERD [acid reflux] and breathing difficulties," she said. "And we've only seen a fraction of the thousands who have been exposed."

Ms. Moline said Mount Sinai has gotten Federal funding to continue its monitoring and screening programs through 2009 - but that the programs ideally need to continue for another 15 to 20 years.

Feds Skimp on Treatment

The Federal Government has yet to contribute toward treatment programs, she added, noting that Mount Sinai was able to treat some ill 9/11 responders only because the Red Cross and private philanthropists donated money.

"The Red Cross gave us $20 million and that will cover us for the next two years," Dr. Moline said. "After that, we don't know."

She is hopeful that some of the $125 million in 9/11 aid that President Bush initially cut from the Federal budget will go toward treatment programs. A bipartisan effort from lawmakers, top city officials and labor leaders successfully got the money restored last month, and $75 million has been earmarked for a treatment program.

Sees Role for FDNY

Although the Fire Department has set up its own health services bureau for its members, Congressman Fossella said "there would be a need for the FDNY to come to the table" to work with the 9/11 health czar, should one be appointed. He said the goal was to get as comprehensive an oversight as possible to make sure nobody fell through the cracks.

Marvin Bethea, a Paramedic who works with the Emergency Medical Service bureau but is employed by St. Vincent's Hospital, charged that the Federal and city governments had turned their backs on the workers who responded on 9/11. Mr. Bethea is currently living on Social Security payments while trying to get a Workers' Compensation claim approved by the state.

He said prior to 9/11 he was a healthy man who took only two pills a day; now he's suffering from asthma and other breathing problems and taking approximately 14 medications daily.

City officials have not commented on the possibility that workers who toiled at Ground Zero were exposed to toxins that could prove fatal as time passes.

Claim 23 Related Deaths

The Daily News reported Jan. 25 that lawyers for thousands of injured workers have turned up at least 23 Ground Zero fatalities - many of them workers in their 30s and 40s who died from cancer and other causes.

The newspaper said their surviving family members have joined 5,200 first responders in a pending class-action suit alleging the city and its contractors didn't do enough to protect them from a toxic environment at Ground Zero.

Two EMS members - Timothy Keller and Felix Hernandez - died from diseases their families believe were linked to their time at the disaster site, and the Detectives' Endowment Association has made the same claim about the death of retired Detective James Zadroga.

The Uniformed Firefighters' Association said it knew of three firefighters who died recently of cancers the families suspected stemmed from 9/11 exposures; an FDNY official said the department was not ordering an investigation into the cause of death for those firefighters because they were not in active service when they died.

Congressman Fossella said the deaths "were a clarion call" to do more for responders. "These are Americans who responded to a tragedy, and we need to help them," he said.