Source: RT
The terrorist attack on the World Trade Center took the lives of 23 NYPD officers who responded to the scene that day.
In the decade since though, the number of cops that have died from
cancer is more than double that number, and the link, experts say, is
astounding.
Before the 9/11 tragedy, an average of six NYPD
cops filed claims for cancer-related disability each year. Around 12,000
men and women were dispatched to Ground Zero on September 11, and a
decade down the road, the number of annual cancer claims has nearly
tripled. Today there around 16 police officers each year in New York
that are applying for cancer-related disability insurance, and the
statistic has some saying that it is more than a coincidence.
In
all, 297 cops that came to the scene of the September 11 terrorist
attack in Lower Manhattan have been diagnosed with cancer since late
2001. 56 of them have passed away from their illnesses and the average
age of diagnosis is only 44 years old. Less than half of that number —
23 police officers — were actually killed on the scene at Ground Zero.
The
latest numbers come after a just-released study was published out of
the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, and they say that the number of
cancer deaths in the last decade is growing in “astronomical numbers.”
“Men and women are dying from Sept. 11 exposure and they need to be taken care of,” PBA President Patrick Lynch tells 1010 WINS. “On
September 11, without question, our members responded and served. Now,
they’re faced with nothing but questions as to where their cancer came
from. It’s common sense, young men and women diagnosed with exotic
cancers – it came from a toxic cloud on Sept. 11.”
Of the
nearly 300 cases of cancer claimed by cops that survived 9/11, lung
cancer is the most predominant. Others, though, have suffered from rare
varieties of the disease, including cancers of the bile duct, tongue and
nasal passage. The culprit, they say, was the cloud of debris that
filled their lungs as they tried to secure the scene in New York City.
“We sat in the pile and ate, drank water, rested – there was nowhere to go that wasn't contaminated,” retired NYPD Officer Edwin Rivera, 55, tells the New York Post. “I have cancer that I should never have gotten."
Despite
the hundreds of claims, though, officials in New York have come off
largely unconcerned during the last decade. Frank Tramontao, a research
director at the PBA, adds that "It is our sincere opinion that the
City of New York has done nothing to facilitate any cancer study and has
been actively working to prevent a comprehensive examination of the
issue."
A study last year published by Dr. David Prezant of
the New York City Fire Department revealed that firefighters that were
exposed to the dust and smoke that came from the collapse of the Twin
Towers have a 19 percent higher risk of getting various types of cancer
than their peers that were not on the scene. Dr. Prezant studied around
10,000 male firefighters before coming to the determination: "This study clearly shows World Trade Center exposure in these firefighters led to an increase in cancer.”
In
New York City, firefighters who have incurred illnesses since September
11 are eligible for health screening and financial benefits under the
Zadroga Act, named for an officer that died from respiratory disease
after 9/11 — except those with claims of cancer, that is.
“The US government would honestly just prefer that they shut up and/or die. And go away,” said editorial columnist and author Ted Rall told RT.
