NYC Health Service - 10s Of Thousands Near WTC Report Respiratory Problems

[hatrack]

"More than three years after the World Trade Center was destroyed, city health officials released data yesterday from a two-year study showing that thousands of people in the vicinity of the towers on Sept. 11, 2001, said they had increased respiratory problems and suffered higher rates of emotional distress.

The findings are the result of interviews with 61,087 people who could have been directly affected by the terrorist attack, all of whom volunteered to be part of the World Trade Center Health Registry. "We now know that tens of thousands of registry enrollees reported significant respiratory and mental health symptoms," said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, commissioner of the City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Dr. Frieden said the registry, the largest of its kind ever attempted in the United States, would eventually help to assess the attack's long-term effect on health and could facilitate treatment in the areas where it is most needed. Health officials do not know whether registry members continue to suffer from the respiratory symptoms they described because they were asked only about their experiences around the time of the attack. Therefore, there is still no solid understanding of the severity of the problems many people face.

Dr. Frieden said that each of the registry members would continue to be monitored over the next two decades, during which time health officials hope to interview them periodically and to be able to use new information to identify trends and patterns of illness. None of the registry members received medical examinations as part of the survey, and there is no federal treatment program currently available for those who may be ill. In fact, financing for treatment, as well as the federal government's initial reaction to possible air quality problems around ground zero, have been heatedly debated since the Environmental Protection Agency announced soon after the attack that it was safe to return to the area."

EDIT

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/23/nyregion/23wtc.html?oref=login

[GAspnes]

1. laissez-faire medical care?

"250,000 to 400,000 people could have been affected.."

I can't think of words strong enough to express my disgust with the EPA.