WTC Illness was: Another NYPD LODD

[Guest guest]

>Thoughts and prayers here also. --and , too--, I saw on the

>news the other day that NYPD and FDNY are starting to see illness and even

>deaths related to the rescue efforts at Ground Zero. Respiratory and that

>kind of thing--any word on those being carried as LODD/duty-related

>illness? I know they said (I think it was) 4-5 deaths so far? Just

>wondering.

Kim,

This is a very big issue. Here is an article

regarding the recent death on January 5 of this

year, of NYPD detective Zadroga . His

death is believed to be the first as a direct

result of exposure to toxins during operations at

the WTC. His death is not considered

LOD. Members like Detective Zadroga are able to

retire on a disability pension (if approved), but

the determination is made like any other disability claim.

Aside from the article below, take a look at these:

1,700 sue over 9/11 sickness

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/196485p-169671c.html

Event: The Forgotten Victims of 9-11 --

Responders, Clean-up, Rescue and Recovery Workers

http://tinyurl.com/bk4xo

Firefighter Safety and Health Issues at the World Trade Center Site

American Journal of Industrial Medicine 42:532–538 (2002)

http://tinyurl.com/7c8wx

-------------------------------

New York Daily News

A cop dies & kin blame 9/11 debris

By ROBERT F. MOORE

DAILY NEWS POLICE BUREAU

Saturday, January 7th, 2006

A retired NYPD detective, who worked more than

450 hours at Ground Zero, died Thursday from

brain and respiratory complications that his

family insists were linked to the World Trade Center cleanup.

While autopsy results are pending, union

officials maintain Zadroga's death is the

first post-9/11 death of a city officer linked to

hazardous material from Ground Zero.

" Our detective is a hero, " said Mike Palladino,

president of the Detectives' Endowment

Association. " He had a disregard for his own

health and life and tried to save others. "

In a chilling letter Zadroga wrote about a year

after the terror attacks, he described his

deteriorating health - including a constant cough and sore throat.

" No one cares at the job, " he wrote. " They tell

me I'm fine, go back to work. But, truthfully, I

haven't felt this bad in my life.... And what

thanks do I get now that I'm sick? "

NYPD officials said Zadroga, 34, was given a

tax-free disability pension of three-quarters pay

in 2004. His pension was the result of a

pulmonary disease related to 9/11, a police official said.

After leaving the NYPD, Zadroga was responsible for his own medical bills.

" The department afforded the detective every

medical option available, " said NYPD Chief

, a department spokesman.

Still, Zadroga's parents said he left behind

$50,000 in medical bills. They also said neither

the city nor the NYPD has ever acknowledged to

them that their son's illness was tied to Ground Zero.

" They didn't treat him well, " said his father,

ph Zadroga, a retired police chief in North Arlington, N.J.

Zadroga is survived by his 4-year-old

daughter, Tylerann, who was her daddy's little

nurse. She told him when his head felt warm and

knew from his dependence on oxygen when he wasn't doing well, relatives said.

" I thought Daddy was only sleeping, " she told her

grandmother, Zadroga, after her father's death.

Zadroga died at his parents' home in Little Egg

Harbor, N.J. A funeral mass will be held at 10

a.m. Tuesday in North Arlington. Police

Commissioner has authorized an NYPD

honor guard to attend the service.

Zadroga was inside 7 World Trade Center as it

began to collapse on 9/11. He returned to the

site for weeks to help search for victims' remains.

Palladino said he feared the deaths of more emergency workers could follow.

" We're just starting to learn now the long-term

effects on first responders, " he said.