World Trade Center Health Program Leader Fired, Along with Staff Who Support Operations
The White House has once again dismissed key personnel overseeing the World Trade Center Health Program, after firing many program staff in February, then hiring most of them back in March. The WTC Health Program provides medical benefits for the tens of thousands of people (many of whom live in Lower Manhattan) made sick by exposure to toxic debris from the collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
The fired staff include Dr. John Howard, the administrator of the Health Program, along with most of the staff of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which provides support that enables the program operations. (Dr. Howard is also the director of NIOSH.)
While the staff of Health Program itself was not directly affected by this round of firings, the organization will almost certainly be impacted. Benjamin Chevat, executive director of 911 Health Watch, a nonprofit that seeks to ensure the Federal government’s continued, long-term commitment to the health and well-being of September 11 responders, survivors and their families, explained, “the health program relies on the other components of NIOSH to do its work. For example, there are no doctors on the staff of the Health Program, which uses the doctors at NIOSH to fulfill the requirements of the statute that physicians sign off on the certifications of September 11 conditions, including cancer. This means that responders and survivors who develop cancer will not be able to receive treatment under the program.”
“Another issue,” Mr. Chevat added, “is ‘determinations’ on petitions to add new conditions for coverage by the Health Program. That work is done by the epidemiologists fired by Secretary Kennedy. While they are not part of the Health Program staff, the epidemiologists have provided the staffing for the review of pending petition determinations.” Among the petitions now in limbo are coverage for autoimmune and cardiac conditions, which were slated for decisions in March. These petitions now cannot be reviewed because the epidemiologists who would perform this work have been dismissed.
In addition, the Health Program’s own staff has been thinned out considerably. Even after the personnel fired in February were rehired, there are now 86 employees (down from 93 at the start of Trump administration) at the program, which is 60 percent lower than its statutorily authorized level of 138.
The population affected by cuts to the World Trade Center Health Program is considerable, with 132,091 people currently covered in all 50 states. In recent years, the number of people made sick (and eventually killed) by exposure to toxic debris from September 11 has surpassed the tally of people who died on that day, and the preponderance of newly diagnosed illness has shifted toward the survivor community (defined as those who lived, worked, or attended school, or child or adult day care facilities within the eligibility zone during the specified time period), rather than first responders (such as fire and police personnel).
Lower Manhattan resident Mariama James (right, at podium), who is a survivor of the September 11 attacks and has acquired a reputation as a zealous advocate for services to people affected by the disaster, said, “I’m really at such a loss for words. Just weeks ago I stood with a bipartisan group of Congress members calling on the Trump administration to restore funding and put the program back together, only for Robert Kennedy to turn around and take a hacksaw to it yesterday, by way of the NIOSH firings.”
Ms. James continued, “this is an emergency, a literal matter of life and death. The Health Program is embedded in NIOSH. Without the NIOSH doctors, what’s to become of those awaiting cancer certifications? The government ‘paused,’ but September 11-related cancer doesn’t. It keeps coming. My fear is how many times can the program be gutted and put back together? And is it going to work as well as it had been, or are we going get some new lesser Frankenstein – where the program is fragmented and barriers are everywhere? That could cost people their lives.”
A representative for the Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to a request for comment. But the two U.S. Senators from New York, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, were harshly critical of the firings. “This is the third time in four months that Trump has pulled the rug out from 9/11 survivors and their families in the World Trade Center Health Program,” Senator Schumer said. “It is outrageous and beyond the pale. This callous treatment of our September 11 heroes must end and the vital workers who staff it must be rehired. President Trump and Secretary Kennedy, let me be perfectly clear: get your hands off the Health Program and reverse these cuts immediately.”
“Slashing staff who are essential the operation of the Health Program will devastate our ability to provide sick responders and survivors with the care they need,” said Senator Gillibrand. “Once again, President Trump is abandoning the heroes who stepped up and risked their lives in one of our nation’s darkest hours. He clearly either didn’t get the message, or worse, just does not care. It’s an outrageous betrayal of ‘never forget’ and we will not rest until this un-American decision is reversed.”