9/11 health fund to cover cancer

People exposed to toxic World Trade Center dust will now see cancer covered under the health fund created to treat their illnesses.

The highly anticipated decision means that anyone exposed to fallout from the towers' collapse can apply to receive treatment if they develop cancer — whether the cancer can be definitively linked to the 9/11 event or not.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), who sponsored the law that created the fund, praised the decision by Dr. John Howard, director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

"I think it’s an important statement that the country’s going to take care of the workers and people who are there to save the lives of the people of the city,” she told The New York Times.

Some have wondered whether the decision is fair because it is hard to establish whether a case of cancer — 50 types will be covered — developed specifically because of Ground Zero debris. Others point out that the $4.3 billion health fund will now have fewer resources for illnesses that are definitively linked to the 9/11 fallout.

Those living, working or attending school in Lower Manhattan between Sept. 11, 2001, and May 2002 are among those eligible for compensation for pain, suffering and economic loss, according to the Times.

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