Hansen & Rosasco, LLP

If you worked in the NYC “Exposure Zone” (most of lower Manhattan) during or after 9/11, you are likely eligible to receive FREE 9/11-related lifetime healthcare, and a lifetime of medical monitoring plus tax-free financial compensation. Workers who were in downtown New York City any time from 9/11 to May 30, 2002 and who got sick any time since then (including with any type of cancer) should learn about their legal options and benefits by calling an experienced 9/11 attorney from Hansen & Rosasco, LLP.

After September 11, 2001, more than 91,000 rescue, recovery, and cleanup workers worked at the Ground Zero Crash Site Area in the days, weeks, and months following the attacks helping New York recover. They cleaned up debris, hauled away the trash, and wiped down dust-covered surfaces across town. They did so to help the City get back on its feet and they provided an essential service to many residents and businesses across Lower Manhattan.

Seeking Compensation and Care for 9/11 Volunteers

The attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, led to a massive nationwide response, with volunteers pouring into the area to deliver much-needed aid and assistance at Ground Zero.

The September 11th Victims Compensation Fund (VCF) is one of the federally-funded programs that is created to help those who were at one of the sites of the 9/11 terrorist attacks during or shortly after the attacks and are now suffering conditions associated with exposure to toxic dust there. The VCF provides compensation for economic losses as well as non-economic damages. If you’ve already filed a claim with the VCF, you are likely wondering what happens next.

When a 9/11 victim (an area resident, worker, responder, or student) passes away after filing a claim with the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF), their family is often unsure about what happens next. The VCF has specific rules for how claims continue after a claimant’s death, who can take over the process, and whether the family may qualify for additional compensation, including a potential wrongful death award if a 9/11-related illness contributed to the victim’s death.

The World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP) is completely separate from the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF). The WTCHP makes the medical decision following the guidelines in an administrative manual if a person’s exposure downtown is linked to their later cancer or other illness and, if the link is made, issues a letter that “certifies” the disease as eligible for lifetime treatment in the Program. The VCF, a compensation and not a medical program, relies on this WTCHP certification to determine if a person has a health condition that may be eligible for compensation — the first of many other requirements that must be met before a decision is made to award compensation.

If you were at Ground Zero or in lower Manhattan on September 11, 2001, worked at the site or downtown Manhattan in the weeks following, or lived or attended school in the affected area and have suffered a respiratory condition as a result of your exposure to toxic dust and fumes in the air around Ground Zero following the attacks, the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund and the World Trade Center Health Program can provide you tax-free compensation for your injuries and free medical care for the rest of your life. Read on for more information.

The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF), like any case in civil or criminal court, does not require you to have a lawyer. That said, submitting a complete VCF claim can be daunting given the Fund’s long history and the complexity created by its multiple versions and amendments over the years—from the original VCF law enacted in 2001, to the Zadroga Act that reopened the Fund in 2011, and then the amendments in 2015 and 2019.

Every New Yorker remembers the massive dust cloud that spread from the site of the World Trade Center when the buildings fell on 9/11. That dust, along with the fumes from the months of fires at the WTC site, covered all of lower Manhattan until at least the end of May 2002. Breathing this toxic dust over the days and many months has since damaged the health of the first responders who went to the site for the rescue and recovery operations along with the New Yorker’s who went back downtown to their jobs, homes, and school.

Malignant neoplasm of the breast—also known as malignant breast cancer—is the most common cancer in women exposed to the toxic dust and fumes near Ground Zero on 9/11. In the most recent report, the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP) noted that female breast cancer was definitely linked to 9/11 exposure in 321 first responders and 1,079 downtown “survivors”–Lower Manhattan area residents, students, and regular workers. Although much more rare and much less talked about, many men get breast cancer each year in this country and a fairly high percentage of them will die from it.