Hansen & Rosasco, LLP

How to Get an Award for Your 9/11 Cancer

The September 11th attacks released dust in the air that has caused a significant increase in head and neck cancers. Exposures to the 9/11 toxins ranged from getting caught in the dust cloud on 9/11 to chronic exposures by the downtown workers, residents, students and many others that extended into the summer of 2002. Judith Graber, an associate professor at Rutgers School of Public Health, who conducted a recent study that confirmed the link between 9/11 exposure and head and neck cancers, noted that “cancers are diseases of long latency, the findings of significant excess cancer in this period point to a newly emerging trend that requires ongoing monitoring and treatment of WTC-exposed persons.”

The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund takes about two years to make an award. The VCF reports that claims submitted before October 2019 are now being decided, claims submitted between October 2019 and December 2019 are being reviewed, and all other claims are in an earlier review status. Once a 9/11 VCF claim is decided, the decision and any award should be reviewed by an experienced 9/11 claim attorney to complete a full legal analysis if the award amount is correct, if the award should be appealed, or if your claim should be amended.

The VCF, or September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, helps provide vitally-needed compensation to individuals who suffered serious injuries or faced serious diagnoses because of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Many first responders and the downtown workers and residents have gotten sick over the past two decades, and many sadly passed away from a 9/11 breathing problem or one of the over 70 types of cancer that have been linked to the 9/11 dust. The VCF, like all federal programs, has strict filing deadlines.

When to appeal a VCF award can be complicated. The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund provides vital compensation to victims (first responders, residents, downtown workers, and students) of the 9/11 attacks—both those who suffered immediate injuries at the 9/11 scene and those who were exposed to hazardous chemicals during the weeks or months after 9/11 that they spent near Ground Zero. The program provides for an award of tax-free payment to the downtown community of residents and area workers, helping them to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of cancer or other serious illnesses related to their exposure to the dust in the air during the many months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The dust from 9/11 is the cause of ovarian cancer in first responders as well as the downtown residents, workers, and students, who are often eligible for lifetime coverage and treatment through the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program and an award of compensation from the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF). The dust and fumes from the collapse of the towers also caused many rare cancers, including cancer of the vulva, vagina, and cervix uteri (invasive only).  Quite significantly, uterine cancer and non-invasive cancers of the vulva, cervix, and uteri are NOT considered to be related to the 9/11 fallout and, as a result, are not covered by the WTC Health Program or the VCF.

Childhood cancers caused by 9/11 are among the most tragic. IN 2001, there were 29 public schools — elementary, intermediate, and high schools — located in the 9/11 Disaster Area. These students, and even preschool-aged children who lived with their families in the Disaster Area, are among the youngest of the 9/11 victims: Those who happened to be in Lower Manhattan on September 11, 2001, and in the months that followed, because they lived or attended school or daycare there. Some recall sitting in class when they saw the dust cloud on 9/11 and the dust in their neighborhood for months afterward. Others were too young to remember the events of that day at all.

The 9/11 dust caused lung cancer in countless first responders, downtown workers, residents, and other people exposed in lower Manhattan on 9/11 and during the many months after. Lung and other cancers in the 9/11 exposed population are linked to the exposure to many carcinogenic agents near the WTC, including arsenic, asbestos, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, nickel, silica dust, and soot. A decade after the attack, scientists released information about what was in that plume, including jet fuel, building materials, asbestos, and other toxic ingredients.