Cancer remains off list of health issues associated with 9/11 attacks for now

The administrator of health benefits for victims of the 9/11 attacks in New York City on Tuesday declined to add cancer to the list of illnesses caused by the attacks.

The decision by 9/11 Health Program Administrator John Howard provoked immediate criticism from the trio of New York lawmakers who championed the law that created the benefits. Howard is due to revisit the issue in early to mid-2012.

“The collapse of the [World] Trade Center towers released a cloud of poisons, including carcinogens, throughout [L]ower Manhattan and we fully expect that cancers will be covered under our legislation,” New York Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D), Jerrold Nadler (D) and Peter King (R) said in a joint statement.

The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act that became law in January did not list cancer as an illness covered by the law but required periodic reviews of scientific and medical evidence to see if cancer, or a certain type of cancer, should be added to the list. The first review was published Tuesday.

“Based on the scientific and medical findings in the peer-reviewed literature reported in this first periodic review of cancer for the WTC Health Program, insufficient evidence exists at this time to propose a rule to add cancer, or a certain type of cancer, to the List of WTC-Related Health Conditions,” the report stated, adding that the results do “not indicate evidence of the absence of a causal association.” A further review next year should “capture any emerging findings about exposures and cancer in responders and survivors.”

The review is based on three sources:

• Peer-reviewed findings on exposure and cancer resulting from the attacks;

• Findings and recommendations from the Clinical Centers of Excellence and Data Centers for World Trade Center, the WTC Health Registry at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the New York State Department of Health; and

• Public input.

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