CNN news 2012-09-14 加文本

cnn news 2012-09-14

We begin tonight with breaking news on the eve of the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, a hard-fought win for first responders, those men and women who were exposed to deadly toxins at Ground Zero. They will now finally have health cover for 58 different types of cancer. Federal health officer just hours ago announced they were expanding the law. You’re looking at a live shot of Lower Manhattan and the newly rising World Trade Center, the twin beams of light a reminder of the missing towers. Tomorrow morning, of course, the nation will pause to remember those who died at Ground Zero, the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

The new One World Trade Center now stands nearly 1,400 feet high and each year the site has moved a step closer to repair and rebuilding but of course the pain never goes away. Nearly 3,000 lives were lost on that morning. The unspeakable unfolding as millions watched. But the toll did not end there. The toxic pile of rubble on those 16 acres smoldered for three months. Many first responders and others who worked there around the clock got sick, some have already died. Well, today’s decision to expand the law, something former New York firefighter Kenny Specht has been fighting for he worked on the pile at Ground Zero for months and developed a number of health problems. He was diagnosed and treated for thyroid cancer several years ago. He joins me now along with cnn chief medical correspondent Doctor Sanjay Cupta who’s done a lot of report on the issue.

Kenny, I find it stunning that it took this long for this decision to be made. When you heard that these cancers would be included. How did you feel?

Well, listen, Anderson, myself, I’m happy to be here today. It took us 11 years to get at this point. It was much too long for those that’d passed away, for the families they’ve left behind. I’m glad that we’re here. Let’s move forward. Let’s get studies going. Let’s get those who need treatment, treatment that they desperately need and let’s not forget those that’d passed away and unfortunately what happened today comes much too late for them.

Sanjay, obviously this news brings relief to a lot of workers suffering with cancer after 9/11. What prompted the change in coverage?

Well, you know,

the best we could put it together, you know, remember back in July of last year, this exact issue was addressed at that point by the organization that oversees this. At that time they said cancers would not going to be on the list. So, this is news. And I think what prompted it was a study that we reported here first around that same time that looked specifically at firefighters. And this is important, Anderson, because you have very good health records for firefighters. They could determine what the health of firefighters were before 9/11 and they could determine what the health records were like in the immediate aftermath and so forth. And when they looked at that data very carefully and back in 2011, which was 10 years later, they found there was an increase likelihood of developing cancer, about 19% increased likelihood. And if you accounted for all cancers, even caners that may have been brewing shortly after 9/11, 2001, you found the increase was 32%. So, I think it was that particular study more than anything else that created this change, Anderson.

Sanjay, it is kind of remarkable that, you know,

given all of the money that was raised and donated and set aside by the government for this that they would not include these first responders, I mean, who risked their lives and at great toll to themselves and were early on saying, you know what, I’m pretty sure this has had an impact on my health. What do you think it took for them to make the decision to cover health care costs?

Well, you know, and specifically cancer, because that was the big sort of difficult thing and the source of a lot of controversy. Obviously some of the other health conditions such as some respiratory conditions were more easily covered, although Kenny would say and said before it was difficult in all sorts of health conditions. But I think with regard to cancer specifically, you know, it’s hard to establish what scientists would love to have, which is a cause and effect. You see all that toxic dust. You see the conditions after 9/11 and you say, did that cause cancer? Did that set up these cancers in people’s bodies? And I think if you talk to some of the scientists, they will still say look, it’s hard to absolutely prove that, but they have enough data now showing that in fact the numbers did go up. There was no precedent for this. And I think that’s part of why it took so long.