Cancer and chronic disease on the rise among 9/11 first responders, but their pension requests continue to be denied

September 11 and NYPD: The Legacy
In this 20th anniversary series, WNYC / Gothamist explores how the 9/11 attacks fundamentally changed the NYPD, its approach to policing, and the city’s relationship with the nation’s largest municipal police department. For links to all of the stories we’ve posted, and to learn more about how WNYC, Gothamist, and New York Public Radio recognize this anniversary, scroll down to the bottom of this story.

Ivonne Sanchez was responding to an emergency in the Bronx when the first plane landed on the World Trade Center on September 11. By the time the FDNY EMT was able to get to the city center, the towers had collapsed.

From that moment, she rushed to help the survivors who escaped the disaster. And for the next 10 months, she collected the bodies of those who didn’t.

“We were just in rescue mode,” Sanchez said. “We were just trying to get everyone out as quickly and safely as possible and try to figure out what was going on from there.”

In the years that followed, Sanchez first developed asthma, as did many first responders given the air pollution caused by the collapsing towers. But after her retirement in 2004, she developed breast cancer and had a mastectomy. The following year, the World Trade Center (WTC) Persons with Disabilities Act came into effect in New York State and allowed people to reclassify their reasons for retirement, a procedure that could make them eligible for more benefits related to the health problems of September 11.

According to the city, the law “established a presumption that certain disabilities of certain New York City employees were caused by salvage, salvage or clean-up operations at the WTC and entitled the employee to benefits. retirement for accidental disability ”. This applied to any future medical condition as long as an employee had worked 40 hours or more at Ground Zero in the year following the attack and their claim could not otherwise be refuted.

But when Sanchez tried to reclassify her pension and add her breast cancer diagnosis through the New York City Employee Retirement System in 2014, she was denied four times. She maintains that the cancer was linked to her work at Ground Zero, but needs medical advice from the retirement system to come to the same conclusion. In the end, the pension board only approved benefits for his asthma, a decision made in 2018.

“I lost several thousand dollars because it took four years,” Sanchez said. And if she died of breast cancer, she wouldn’t get full accidental death benefits.

First responders who have worked at Ground Zero frequently face red tape when they develop health problems such as cancer. These types of long-term illnesses tend to appear long after exposure to pollution or other health risks, making it difficult to prove cause and effect.

Gary Smiley is the World Trade Center liaison for FDNY EMS Local 2507, which represents paramedics, paramedics and fire inspectors. Smiley said only three of its members have been approved for September 11 retirement benefits, but dozens have applied in the past year.

“When I was first fighting to get people to sign up for the World Trade Center health program – because a lot of people still weren’t signed up – I always told them it’s not if you are going. getting sick is when you’re going to get sick, ”said Smiley, a retired paramedic who was buried under the rubble near the North Tower on September 11.

The request for federal funds for 9/11 significantly exceeded payments, and survivors have long struggled to prove their eligibility. While 131,000 people have registered with the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund since 2011, only 41,000 have been deemed eligible for payments.

There has also been a decline in new applications in recent years relative to the number of new registrations. Just under 7,000 people – survivors and responders – filed claims in 2020 against more than 11,000 in 2019. The number of new registrants has increased by more than 25,000 during this period. Many advocates are also concerned that first responders will delay treatment and appointments due to the pandemic, and this could have lasting effects on their health.

The World Trade Center health program, run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has recruited 81,000 first responders since 2011. Initially, the most common ailments were asthma, allergies and other respiratory disorders.

But since 2016, cancer rates among first responders in the WTC’s health program have more than doubled, from 8% to 18%. About 14,000 first responders have developed some form of tumor in programs as of this summer.

In 2019, New York-area researchers participating in the program reported higher rates of prostate cancer, thyroid cancer, and blood-borne leukemia among 9/11 first responders. A follow-up study, published in July, suggested higher survival rates for these frontline workers, possibly due to the free health care offered by the program.

“You know, September 11 is the only terrorist attack in history where the death toll continues to rise long after the attack has ended,” said John Miller, deputy commissioner for intelligence and countermeasures. NYPD terrorism.

Yet the New York City Employee Retirement System Medical Board still does not approve responders for some of their conditions.

“I have members who continually express this frustration to me, and I worry about them,” said Dr. Iris Udasin, medical director of Rutgers University’s division of the World Trade Center health program.

The Rutgers branch of the program compared people of the same age, in the same community, who were Ground Zero versus those who were not, and found stark contrasts.

“People who were at the World Trade Center have a much higher likelihood of having this medical condition,” Udasin said. She said it’s easier to prove physical injuries, such as broken bones, but chronic illnesses and mental illnesses are more difficult. About 17% of first responders in the CDC program suffered from PTSD, anxiety, or major depression.

Deb Stewart, communications director for the New York City Employee Retirement System, declined by email to comment on specific cases such as that of Sanchez, the EMT with breast cancer. She said the medical board consists of three doctors who independently review health documents and interview the applicant.

Sanchez, meanwhile, has given up on trying to get reclassified for her breast cancer. She said she had had 26 surgeries since September 11 and the retirement process had been demoralizing.

“We have to dance for our supper,” Sanchez said. “Instead of relying on the documentation and your symptoms to take a test, they should ask us about the referrals of the doctors we saw. “

Special September 11 coverage
New York Public Radio has extensive programming to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks. It includes news analysis and coverage on WNYC and Gothamist radio, special live coverage of the memorial on September 11. September, news coverage in the days leading up to September 11, and reflection and commemoration music on classic station WQXR. Details follow:

September 11 and NYPD: The Legacy
About This Series: Dozens of journalists and engineers from the WNYC Newsroom have come together to produce this series for Gothamist and WNYC Radio. The series, which ends on September 11, explores how the terrorist attacks of 20 years ago fundamentally changed the NYPD. The 20th anniversary comes amid yet another critical moment in U.S. history: a reckoning on race and policing, here in New York City and across the country. Over the past two decades, the NYPD has undergone a dramatic transformation, increasing in capacity, reach and power. These changes are evident today in virtually every aspect of policing in New York City – from the department’s application around street protests, to its extensive international network, to its presence in public transportation, to its overall philosophy of public security.
Day one: The history of the NYPD from its founding to September 11

Day two: How the powers of the NYPD expanded after 9/11

Day Three: A Legacy of Police Surveillance (Part one and Second part)

Day four: See something, say something

Fifth day : US Mayor and NYPD

Sixth day: Living with trauma: COVID-19 and 9/11; The sacrifice of the survivors

Live Memorial Coverage
On September 11, WNYC’s Brian Lehrer will host special live coverage of the official memorial ceremonies starting at 8:35 a.m. At 11 a.m., WNYC will broadcast “Blind spot: the road of September 11“, a two-hour radio documentary adapted from the nine-part podcast hosted by Jim O Grady of WNYC.

WQXR
Classical music station WQXR also offers special programming throughout the day of September 11. The program includes a segment on John Adams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning composition “On the Transmigration of Souls”, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus and the New York Philharmonic. For other radio news programming scheduled for the week Click here.