9/11 Responders With Rare Cancer Denied Insurance Coverage

There are almost 3000 cases of cancer among firefighters, police officers, contractors and civilians who tended to the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. John Myers is one of those being denied coverage.

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A growing number are being diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancer, but some — including Meyers — are being denied insurance coverage because their cancers were diagnosed too soon after 9/11.

The minimum latency period for oropharyngeal cancers — in other words, the minimum time period required to prove a link between exposure to toxins at ground zero and a diagnosis of that type of cancer — is four years…

[su_r_sky_ad]Meyers was diagnosed three years and 10 months after his work at ground zero, about eight weeks shy of eligibility for cancer coverage or compensation.

“We got screwed,” he said. “They don’t know what the latency period should be; four years may be right, or it may be wrong.”

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health determined the latency periods for 58 cancers, including oropharyngeal, now covered under its WTC Health Program…

Meyers was diagnosed three years and 10 months after his work at ground zero, about eight weeks shy of eligibility for cancer coverage or compensation.

“We got screwed,” he said. “They don’t know what the latency period should be; four years may be right, or it may be wrong.”

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health determined the latency periods for 58 cancers, including oropharyngeal, now covered under its WTC Health Program.

D.B. Hirsch

D.B. Hirsch is a political activist, news junkie, and retired ad copy writer and spin doctor. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.