News Advisory: Hearing Set for 9/11 Health & Compensation Bill

Washington, D.C. --- Acting to provide needed medical care for emergency response personnel, recovery workers and survivors of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, U. S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr., chairman of the The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, announced on Monday a public hearing on the "James Zadroga 9/11 Health & Compensation Act of 2009."

The hearing, set for 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, April 22, in Room 2322 Rayburn House Office Building in Washington D.C., will include testimony by an array of medical and public health officials, as well as Edwardo Torres, a plumber from Jersey City who worked for days as a volunteer digging through the debris at Ground Zero as part of the "bucket brigade." He now suffers from respiratory illness.

Also speaking will be the bill's sponsors, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler and U.S. Rep. Peter King.

The act would provide medical monitoring, diagnostic care and, if needed, treatment for 9/11 survivors, emergency responders, recovery workers and clean-up crews who were exposed to hazardous materials that caused chronic medical conditions. It is named after James Zadroga , a rescue worker from New Jersey who died from respiratory failure caused by the inhalation of toxic dust.

The expert witnesses will include:

Dr. Jacqueline Moline Vice Chair, Community and Preventive Medicine, Director WTC Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program, Clinical Center at Mount Sinai, and Director of the New York/New Jersey Education and Research Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine;

Dr. Jim Melius, Administrator, New York State Laborers’ Tri-Funds;

Dr. Joan Reibman, Associate Professor of Medicine and Environmental Medicine, Director NYU/Bellevue Asthma Center, Director of Health and Hospitals Corporation World Trade Center Environmental Health Center, Bellevue Hospital, New York University School of Medicine; and,

Caswell Holloway, Chief of Staff to New York City Deputy Mayor for Operations Edward Skyler, and Special Advisor to Mayor Michael Bloomberg.