Hansen & Rosasco, LLP

Downtown workers are, by far, the largest group of people sickened by the toxic 9/11 fallout. It is estimated that at least 300,000 downtown workers were exposed to the same toxic dust and fumes as the first responders. Since 911, at least 15 employees/vendors at Century 21 have been certified with 9/11-related medical conditions, and at least two have died. Twenty-one shoppers at the department store on 9/11 also received diagnoses for 9/11-related illnesses, as have 19 first responders who conducted recovery operations in the building. Did you know that the effects of 9/11 also impact retail workers?

​Diagnosed with 9/11-Related Leukemia: Now What? Recently, researchers from New York teamed up with scientists from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center to conduct a study to determine if first responders who were present in the Lower Manhattan exposure area on 9/11 or in the months that followed had a higher risk of developing genetic mutations that can lead to blood cancers such as leukemia. This recent study adds more support to the already proven link between exposure to 9/11 toxins – by first responders, downtown workers, residents, students, and others – and leukemia and other forms of blood cancers.

Learn more about ​New Multi-Cancer Screening Tool to Help Detect Cancer Earlier. People in the 9/11 community were exposed to several cancer-causing substances through the toxic dust at Ground Zero. For these patients, a new multi-cancer early detection cancer screening test called Galleri shows promise in finding more types of cancers in earlier stages of development than ever before. Finding and treating cancers early has long been proven to give patients the best hope of recovery and survival.

This year, doctors will diagnose nearly 67,000 new endometrial (uterine) cancer cases – the fourth most common cancer among women. However, it has been the only reproductive cancer not on theWorld Trade Center Health Program’s (WTCHP) list of covered 9/11-related conditions. A recent unanimous decision by the WTCHP’s Scientific Advisory Committee signaled that endometrial cancer would finally gain Program coverage for lifetime treatment and also 9/11 victim compensation.

9/11 VCF Special Master Rupa Bhattacharyya will be leaving her position with the US Attorney General’s office at the end of April 2022, after 27 years in federal government service, and nearly six years as the VCF Special Master. She will join Georgetown University Law Center’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection.

The World Trade Center Health Program (WTC Health Program) has announced that Managed Care Advisors (MCA)-Sedgwick will replace Logistics Health Incorporated (LHI) as the vendor who administers the program’s Nationwide Provider Network (NPN).

Some of the families you serve could be entitled to full reimbursement for a loved one’s funeral and burial costs up to $20,000 or more, according to Troy Rosasco, a partner at the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund law firm of Hansen & Rosasco.

If the decedent worked in downtown Manhattan any time between 9/11 and eight months afterward and has since died of any underlying cancer or breathing problem, the family should explore reimbursement of 100% of all funeral costs from the 9/11 Fund.

Anyone familiar with the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) has likely heard mention of the  9/11 Fund’s Special Master. But fewer understand the role of the Special Master. In this blog, we explore the function served by the VCF Special Master in administering the VCF and supporting the individuals and families who receive benefits from it.