The federal government will include about 50 types of cancer on the list of Sept. 11 World Trade Center-related illnesses covered by a program to pay for health coverage.
Democratic New York Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (KEHR’-sten JIHL’-uh-brand) and Charles Schumer and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health announced the change Monday. The institute said last June it favored expanding the $4.3 billion health program to include cancer.
Scientists say there’s little research to prove exposure to toxic dust from the destroyed twin towers caused even one kind of cancer. Questions about whether dust caused cancer were a reason Congress didn’t include it in the initial list of covered illnesses.
But an advisory panel said it was plausible first responders and others who were exposed to the toxic dust might get cancer.
