9/11 Health Effects Hearing scheduled

posted by ewing2001 on Thursday October 23, @06:12AM

Congressional Subcommittee schedules New York City Hearing on September 11th Health Effects

Update: Ground Zero workers still suffering (10/29)

October 21, 2003

Washington, D.C.-US Rep. Christopher Shays (CT-4), Chairman of the Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations, today announced the panel will convene an oversight hearing in New York City to examine the short and long term health effects of the September 11th attack on Ground Zero workers, and steps taken by the federal and local government to diagnose and provide treatment to those affected.

The hearing will take place on Tuesday, October 28, 2003, 10:00 a.m. in the Goldwurm Auditorium of the Mount Sinai Medical Center, 1425 Madison Avenue (Madison Avenue and 98th Street), 1st floor, New York, NY.

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Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (NY-14), a Member of the Subcommittee, invited the House Government Reform Committee panel to scrutinize the health effects on those who work or live near Ground Zero workers. Rep. Maloney said, "Thousands of workers are still sick and injured from their work at Ground Zero but the federal response to this health crisis appears to have been anemic. This hearing will help us find out what the federal government has been doing right, and where it needs to improve."

Invited witnesses include Ground Zero workers, the New York Department of Health, federal representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Occupational Safety and Hazard Agency (OSHA), and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, and specialists from Mount Sinai Occupational and Environmental Medicine, and the New York Fire Department. Testimony will describe government actions after the September 11th tragedy and Ground Zero worker health effects.

"As we saw with Gulf War veterans of Operation Desert Storm," Shays said, "Ground Zero veterans can suffer the delayed casualties cause by toxic exposures. Federal, State and local health systems have to be vigilant in diagnosing and treating those wounds."

Committee on Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations "Assessing September 11th Health Effects: What Should Be Done?"

(October 28, 2003) Witness List PANEL ONE Dr. Robin Herbert, M.D.

Co-Director of the World Trade Center Worker and Volunteer Medical Screening Program

Medical Co-Director of the Mount Sinai -Selikoff Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine Accompanied By: Dr. Stephen Levin, M.D.

Co-Director of the World Trade Center Worker and Volunteer Medical Screening Program

Medical Director of the Mount Sinai -Selikoff Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine Dr. Michael Weiden

Medical Officer

New York Fire Department

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Pulmonary Division

New York University Medical School
Mr. Phil McArdle Health and Safety Officer

Uniformed Firefighters Association Mr. Jimmy Willis

Vice Chair for Conductors

Assistant to the President

Transport Workers Union

Mr. John Graham

Health and Safety Instructor

Carpenters Union

Mr. David Rapp

Ground Zero Worker PANEL TWO

Dr. Paul Gilman

Assistant Administrator For Research and Development

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Ms. Diane Porter

Deputy Director

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Accompanied by: Dr. Gregory Wagner, MD

Director of the Division of Respiratory Disease Studies

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
Mr. John Henshaw (invited)

Assistant Secretary

Occupational Safety & Health Administration Commissioner Thomas R. Frieden, MD MPH

New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Ground Zero workers still suffering

NY Daily News -Wednesday, October 29th, 2003

One-third of Ground Zero workers are suffering serious health problems, and many face life-long illnesses, doctors told a congressional panel yesterday.

But much of the money earmarked to help the firefighters, cops, construction workers and others sickened by the toxic plume at the World Trade Center site is stuck in limbo. The funds have been authorized by the federal government but not disbursed.

"Surely those who responded so selflessly to the disaster deserve better," said Dr. Robin Herbert, co-director of a health screening program at Mount Sinai Medical Center for 7,000 Ground Zero workers. Testifying before the House Committee on Government Reform at the upper East Side hospital, Herbert said 40% of those enrolled in Mount Sinai's program have no health insurance, and a third are unemployed.

John Graham, a carpenter diagnosed with a respiratory illness called reactive airway disease, said he and his co-workers found themselves coughing uncontrollably and vomiting while working 12-hour shifts at Ground Zero. "Today, I'm a chronically ill man," Graham said. "It breaks my heart not to be able to run and play with my two daughters."

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