Will Obama help 9/11 rescuers with cancer?

 As the 10th anniversary nears, healthcare for 9/11 rescue workers with cancer is uncertain. (Photo credit: FEMA website)

When the men and women who risked everything to rescue victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks develop illnesses related to asbestos exposure and exposure to other toxins at Ground Zero, it seems obvious to me that we as a nation would want to help them.

No one denies their heroism, yet some would deny them healthcare coverage for cancer treatment. New York representatives want to change that.

The NY Daily News reports that New York legislators Carolyn Maloney, Jerrold Nadler and Peter King are calling on the Obama administration to 15-member scientific panel to be in place by the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11. The panel's purpose will be "to consider whether cancer should be added to the list of diseases covered by the 9/11 health care law."

L-R: Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Sen. Chuck Schumer, Mayor Bloomberg, Rep. Peter King, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, and Rep. Carolyn Maloney celebrating the Zadroga Bill in December. (Photo Credit: Chris Hondros, Getty Images North America)

Currently, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act only covers people with respiratory illnesses, not people with cancer. Dr. John Howard of NIOSH said earlier this summer that there was a lack of scientific studies linking exposure to toxins at Ground Zero to cancer.

Though mesothelioma's latency period is usually fifteen to fifty years, there any many other cancers that do not take as long to develop, and asbestos exposure is linked to many asbestos diseases and types of cancer.

With a panel of experts to go through the most recent studies, they may find some with more evidence of a relationship between the exposure to toxins at Ground Zero and cancer. The committee is supposed to include:

• doctors who have experience treating Ground Zero rescue and recover workers


• specialists in environmental medicine, mental health and toxins 


• an expert in how diseases manifest themselves in various populations


• two representatives for Ground Zero responders


• two representatives to speak for survivors of the terrorist attacks

What do you say? Should 9/11 rescue workers who have developed cancer have their cancer treatments covered by the Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act?

Am I biased about this issue, as a New Yorker and a cancer activist? Although, is there anyone who is unbiased or unemotional when it comes to 9/11?

Maybe Canadian readers can help me out with this. Although I think I can guess what you might say about a government that denies its citizens healthcare.