I have often written about the legacy of illnesses which our 9/11 First Responders live with 11 years on. Ever since 9/11, the politicians have dragged their heels against paying the surviving men and women what they are owed for their courageous acts on that terrible day. If you put 'Zadroga Bill', or any combination of '9/11,' or 'First Responders' in the search thingie at the top left of this site, you can trace the battles being fought by our First Responders and those who love them continue to fight every.single.day.

One of the recurring issues has been whether cancer should be included in the criteria for compensation. I have written of Firemen, Policemen and EMT survivors who have had to fight to their last cancerous breath to have the politicians do the honourable thing, and acknowledge that cancer is a direct result of what happened on September 11, 2001, and that these personnel and their families should be compensated.

Recently I wrote that it looked - finally - as if the lawmakers were going to concede to what has been obvious to the rest of us that, yes, indeed, previously healthy men and women who ran in to save lives, while others ran away, have got cancer from the severely noxious chemicals they breathed in. Material that has long been on scientific record as cancerous, was finally going to be added to the list of those diseases that our 9/11 First Responders- and Ground Zero recovery workers/crews who worked months in the aftermath - MUST BE compensated for.

On February 27 I wrote about The Cancer of 9/11

The cancer of 9/11

February 25, 2012,

By Staten Island Advance Editorial

Help might finally be on the way for heroes of 9/11 who have fallen ill with cancer. The disease has slowly been overtaking all too many of the first responders at Ground Zero.

Now a federal panel has advised that a $2.76-billion program for people sickened by World Trade Center toxins ought to be expanded to include cancers.

The Zadroga Act, which covers asthma, breathing problems and other ailments, excludes cancer from the list of illnesses eligible for treatment and compensation.

This must change as soon as possible. As we have urged before, those who have been sickened from working on the pile of toxic debris - police, firefighters, emergency workers and others - deserve government-backed health care and financial support.

Remember they were initially misled by officials to believe that the dust on the ground and in the air was safe.

To this point, the list of covered illnesses has remained limited, partly because federal lawmakers were concerned about runaway costs and illegitimate claims.

But there is no question that known carcinogens - including asbestos, benzene-laden jet fuel and other toxins - were present among the nearly 300 chemicals that Ground Zero workers handled and inhaled day after day.

For some, the results have already been lethal. ...

This is the TRUTH. Read the rest of this one here.

Needless to say, I have been following this issue very closely, and within the last month there were headlines that a decision was finally imminent.

Read this:

Feds to rule on whether to grant cancer aid for victims of WTC dust exposure

Published: Friday, June 01, 2012

NEW YORK — A federal health official is expected to decide within days whether to expand an aid program for anyone sickened by World Trade Center dust to cover cancer, a move that would be cheered by many former ground zero workers, but could also prove costly and come at the expense of people with ailments more conclusively linked to 9/11's toxic fallout.

An advisory committee recommended in March that the government open up the $4.3 billion program to people with cancers in 14 different broad categories, including nearly all of the most common forms of the disease....(more here)

Hold on though. STOP the presses! In this last week comes this.

May 30, 2012

BY ALINE REYNOLDS | The jury’s still out on whether or not certain forms of cancer will be added to the James L. Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act.

In early April, the government-appointed Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (S.T.A.C.) recommended that the federal government add approximately 30 types of cancer to the list of 9/11-related illnesses covered by the health portion of the law. Dr. John Howard, the bill’s administrator, was expected to issue a ruling based on the S.T.A.C. recommendation by last Sat., June 2.

But the deadline came and went without a public announcement from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (N.I.O.S.H.).

Asked about the delay, a N.I.O.S.H. spokesperson said, “The June 2 date was a statutory deadline, but there’s no penalty for missing it.”...

"...no penalty for missing it....” ??????? Really? Go read the rest of that here.

To this point, the list of covered illnesses has remained limited, partly because federal lawmakers were concerned about runaway costs and illegitimate claims.

But there is no question that known carcinogens - including asbestos, benzene-laden jet fuel and other toxins - were present among the nearly 300 chemicals that Ground Zero workers handled and inhaled day after day.

We all KNOW that what the Ground Zero workers inhaled on that day and in the aftermath IS killing them, and that IS their ultimate penalty as these dipshit politicians drag their heels.

As one of my First Responder 'peeps' said to me recently: the longer they drag their heels, the more of us will have died off. Sadly, that is the truth.

I promise the politicians that even if every First Responder who has cancer shucks off their earth suit because for the politicians 'there is no penalty,' this unbiased *cough* reporter will NOT rest until the lawmakers do the right thing.

The lawmakers may think they can ignore this pressing issue. They cannot. There are many of us out here who are paying close attention. We will continue to DEMAND that America does the right thing for all the 9/11 First Responders - Ground Zero recovery crews.

Yeah, I am furious, and yeah, thank God for bp meds.

Pay attention, America.