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New York, 911 Victim Compensation Fund
NEW YORK, NY - Today, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (NY) announced legislation to extend the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) for personal injury claims and to remove misguided regulations on the fund that had blocked many injured rescue workers and area residents from eligibility.
A number of injured 9/11 rescue and recovery workers explained today that they had not applied for the VCF because their illness developed more seriously after the fund’s December 22, 2003 deadline and in some cases because they were not informed of eligibility for the fund.
Congresswoman Maloney said, “Anyone hurt by 9/11 deserves access to this fund, but countless injured victims were denied help or discouraged from applying because of misguided regulations. The President and Congress need to extend the Victim Compensation Fund deadline and reform it for all those who were clearly injured from 9/11, but denied the help they deserve.”
Detailing the reform sought, Maloney said, “Since it takes longer than three days for a 9/11 respiratory illness to emerge, the fund should obviously allow more than three days for an injured victim to seek medical help to be eligible. Since the development of respiratory illness was not exclusive to the first four days of service at Ground Zero, the fund should clearly be eligible to those who responded beyond the first week. Finally, the December 22 deadline came too soon for many 9/11 responders to realize the full extent of their illness. They deserve a chance to apply. It will be a lasting shame on the federal 9/11 response if we exclude those in need from seeking help that they so clearly deserve.”
Joining Maloney at today’s event were Michael Barasch, Managing Partner, Barasch, McGarry, Salzman, Penson, & Lim; Dr. Michael A. Weiden; Pulmonologist, FDNY Bureau of Health Services, and a number of New York City firefighters, police, and recovery workers who served at Ground Zero
Michael Barasch said, “No one told the lungs about the Victim Compensation fund deadline. Congress is doing the right thing by continuing to help those who sustained latent pulmonary injuries while working in the recovery efforts at Ground Zero. There are so many sick and/or disabled rescue workers who weren't diagnosed unitl it was too late for them to apply. They deserve our help as well.”
New York Department of Correction Warden Peter Curcio, who served at Ground Zero, said, “On 9/11 I ran into harms way to help. It was my job and I was proud to do it. When I got there the E.P.A. told me the air quality was acceptable and I stayed to help. We all now know that was a lie. The question now is, is Congress going to leave me uncompensated for my pulmonary injuries because they developed late and are getting progressively worse? Are they going to leave me uncompensated because they failed to communicate the purpose and eligibility criteria for the fund to all of those who served down there? This was unchartered territory for all of us. I can forgive them for deceiving me on the air quality to prevent mass hysteria if they can forgive my late application based primarily on their failure to broadcast the fund information properly and permit a reopening of the fund.”
In addition to late-onset illness and inadequate outreach as potential reasons that those injured from 9/11 may have missed the original VCF deadline, time restrictions on VCF applicants were also questioned. Specifically, VCF criteria required applicants to have arrived for rescue and recovery operations within 96 hours of the attacks and for all injured claimants to have sought medical help for an injury within 72 hours, although the Fund’s Special Master Kenneth Feinberg had some discretion over the latter criteria. Largely as a result of the VCF’s misguided restrictions on applicants, 1,755 of the 4,430 personal injury claims considered were denied.
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