American Morning
CNN National
July 28th, 2011 7:00 – 8:00 AM

Watch this story.

John Roberts, Co-Anchor: Anger and frustration, though, boiling over at a town meeting here in New York for those who became ill after working at Ground Zero and are seeking compensation.

Kiran Chetry, Co-Anchor: Right, in this ruling that cancer is not going to be included as one of the ailments that will be covered by this 9/11 health fund. Our Deb Feyerick has details of last night’s meeting. Just some powerful testimony, very emotional, from people who have already suffered so much and they feel they’re being left behind. 

Deb Feyerick, Reporter: That’s right, exactly, especially among people who were seemingly so healthy before 9/11 who then came down with all these various ailments in the decade following. Well, this is one of three town hall meetings by the Justice Department; the purpose is to explain how this new victims’ compensation fund is going to work, and that’s the fund that was established by the Zadroga Act. The big issue coming up again and again last night: the decision not to cover cancer. Now, one man who spoke says he spent three months working at Ground Zero and Fresh Kills Landfill—that’s where all the debris was taken. Five years later, he was diagnosed with throat cancer.

John Marshall, Retired NYPD Detective: I just think that this is an injustice to people who have cancer. I’m a retired police detective, was down there for three months. I’m going to show you something. [lifts up shirt] Sometimes I have to eat through this tube because the muscles in my neck don’t work to swallow. I breathe and talk through this tube, and I’m the lucky one, because I have health insurance. All these other people who have cancer that don’t have medical insurance—you’re pushing them aside.

Deb Feyerick: The decision not to cover cancer was made by the National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health; a doctor reviewed all the existing data and found no scientific evidence proving a link between exposure to the toxins at Ground Zero and cancer. Essentially, there’s no actual fingerprint. Now, the woman in charge of the money, Sheila Birnbam, had nothing to do with excluding cancer. She told the audience to be patient and said if and when scientists can prove that link, well, then they will be covered by the fund. 

Sheila Birnbam, Special Master, 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund: It’s an emotional thing, and, you know, our hearts go out to people who have suffered cancer, but people suffered from cancer, all kinds of cancers, who were not exposed to 9/11. I think we have to wait and see what the medicine is going to tell us.

Deb Feyerick: Now, many doctors say that cancers take more than 10 years to develop, even after exposure to environmental toxins, so the rate of cancer is no higher in the age group than it would be otherwise. The only visible spike right now is in blood cancers, specifically multiple myeloma. A study shows it has affected a higher than usual number of men at a younger age, so that’s where doctors believe they may see the first 9/11 link: blood cancers like leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma. Clearly, however, people who are sick now say they simply don’t have any time to wait.

John Roberts: So, first of all, why the blood cancers? And if they find that link, do they think they extend it—they may extend coverage to other cancers?

Deb Feyerick: They might be able to extend coverage. Blood cancers develop at a much, much faster rate than other cancers—that’s what a particular study at Mount Sinai Monitoring Program found—but also, there are going to be other studies, which may not be scientific, but may be so powerful in terms of who’s being diagnosed, how many rates of cancer people are coming down with, specifically first responders. So, that may shift the balance a little bit in the next year. 

Kiran Chetry: And there is a lot of hope that in the coming months they may change this ruling, but meantime, it is very distressing for a lot of these people that are suffering. 

Deb Feyerick: They’re hanging on, yeah.

Kiran Chetry: Thanks, Deb.

John Roberts: Coming up at 7:50 Eastern, we’ll talk to Dr. Jacqueline Moline; her study suggests a link between 9/11 responders and cancer, but she says more research is needed to confirm the connection. 

* * * * * *

Kiran Chetry: Also, a controversial decision not to cover the cancer treatments of 9/11 first responders in a health fund. It’s sparking outrage and anger. Scientists saying there is very little evidence that actually links cancer to the toxins in the air when the World Trade Center collapsed. Well, Dr. Jacqueline Moline agrees, but says that there is a link between the two, and that more research could change those findings. She’s going to be joining us coming up.

John Roberts: Coming up at 7:50

* * * * * *

Kiran Chetry: You know, there’s a lot of anger and outrage this morning over a health fund for 9/11 responders, a ruling that that fund won’t cover cancers. Yesterday, we had the chance to speak to John Feal; he was a demolition supervisor at Ground Zero. He lost a foot there, and he suffers from respiratory problems. He says he’s attended 53 funerals, and in 51 of those 53 deaths, it was cancer, and he calls the ruling, “a slap in the face.”

John Feal, 9/11 First Responder Advocate: We had no HazMat suit, we had no proper respiratory; through the nose, through the mouth, and through the skin, it was absorbed, and it’s causing these blood cancers, these myelomas, these leukemias, these—all of these cancers. Don’t insult our intelligence. We’re sick and dying, but we’re not stupid.

Kiran Chetry: Joining us now is Dr. Jacqueline Moline; she is the author of the only study to date that has suggested a link between cancer and 9/11 responders. Thanks so much. Now, I mean obviously, there’s the emotion here, and then there’s the science, and, first of all, let me just ask you: what do you make of the ruling?

Dr. Jacqueline Moline, North Shore LIJ Health System: Well, you know, Dr. John Howard is a wonderful man, and he cares deeply about the responders. 

Kiran Chetry: Explain, for the audience, who that is.

Dr. Jacqueline Moline: Dr. John Howard is the head of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and he’s also the World Trade Center Program Administrator. He’s been involved in this from the very beginning. What he’s looking at is what’s been published in the literature so that he can definitively say, yes, there is a link in the science—based on what’s out there in the science, so that we can cover it under the Zadroga Bill. 

Kiran Chetry: Do you eventually think that the—that this will be changes and it will include cancers?

Dr. Jacqueline Moline: I think it’s important that we revisit this on a regular basis, and I think there will be information, and there are ongoing studies; we’ll get the results of them within the next several months. And I think over time we will in all likelihood change these.

Kiran Chetry: Tell us about your study, because yours is the first to show at least some correlation or link. What did you find?

Dr. Jacqueline Moline: What we found was in young individuals—and by young, we define them as under 45—there was a higher rate of multiple myeloma, which is a blood cancer , than we would have expected. When we looked, overall, the rate wasn’t as elev—wasn’t elevated. But when we looked and compared those in a younger age bracket, the rate was elevated, and it was an unusual pattern; we don’t expect to see folks at a young age with this type of cancer. So, we felt it was important to get that out into the medical community so that people would be alert and aware of this. Our study didn’t prove that there was a link, but it just showed that there was a possibility and it showed that we had to be vigilant and keep looking for this and other cancers.

Kiran Chetry: I want to show a little bit of the emotional testimony, because as we said, this is an emotional issue as well for people who feel that they were traumatized and now feel that their back, you know, they’re being sort of left out in the cold, they fell, when it comes to getting treatment and monitoring. Let’s listen to one gentleman at this hearing yesterday.

John Marshall, Retired NYPD Detective: I just think that this is an injustice to people who have cancer. I’m a retired police detective, was down there for three months. I’m going to show you something. [lifts up shirt] Sometimes I have to eat through this tube because the muscles in my neck don’t work to swallow. I breathe and talk through this tube, and I’m the lucky one.

Kiran Chetry: …but I’m one of the lucky ones because I’m still here. You know, these are men who say how can there not be a link, given that I was healthy and I was fine, and I worked down in Ground Zero or in Staten Island for several months, and now I’m dying?

Dr. Jacqueline Moline: You know, unfortunately, sometimes it takes time for us to be able to definitively get the answers. And I feel for these detectives; I’ve seen many of them. I’m—you know, I’ve been a part of the World Trade Center programs for almost ten years now. And they are our heroes; they responded, they went in there selflessly. The health consequences of this—we don’t have a full answer on. And while many of them are saying, you know, enough time has passed, we should have these answers—it takes time, in many cases, for us to see if there are enough cases that are elevated from what is a common disease overall. We do know that it seems like, when you hear this one has cancer, that one has cancer, that you’re saying, my goodness, something is going on.

Kiran Chetry: Mhmm.

Dr. Jacqueline Moline: In fact that’s why we published our report, because we saw this. I think, over time, we’re going to have answers. I think we just need to be cautious, and we want to make sure that our responders get the best science behind the cancer question.

Kiran Chetry: So, I know they’re doing this study at Mount Sinai, I know that they’re continuing these studies. The thing that’s interesting, though, and galling to some of us is that we were told, you know, in the wake of 9/11, the air’s fine, it’s safe to breathe. I mean, the EPA came out and said the air at Ground Zero is fine, and now, ten years later, we are seeing, obviously, respiratory illnesses; those have been shown to be correlated, and people are saying wait, we need time to determine if indeed there is a level to toxicity to cause cancer. 

Dr. Jacqueline Moline: Saying that the air was safe to breathe was one of the misstatements of all time from a health perspective. We certainly know that it wasn’t meant for those people who were working on the pile. Unfortunately, it was interpreted that way. And we do—we have learned lessons, which are make sure that people have respiratory protection, that they do go in and they know how to, not only do the work they need to do in rescue and recovery, but protect themselves. There are respiratory problems; those occur right away, and we’ve seen that, and those are covered now. I think, over time, we may have different answers for folks. And I know it is very frustrating that science moves slowly to give the answers that people are looking for.

Kiran Chetry: Well, I know you’re digging deeper and you’re trying to figure this out and get to the bottom of it. Dr. Jacqueline Moline at North Shore Health System. Thanks so much for being with us.

Dr. Jacqueline Moline: Thank you.