3 Topic Commentaries

WTC Health Program extends lives, but care gaps remain

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  Iris Udasin, MD

  Occupational and Environmental Medicine

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  Rutgers University – Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI)

  “What I want to make sure is that everyone that was affected 20 years ago is getting the benefits they deserve and the kind of care that they need,” said Udasin. “It’s horrible enough to have to live with these illnesses but at least these patients know that they did the right thing, and they are now getting the care they deserve.”

  Source
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  Benjamin J. Luft, MD

  Internal Medicine / Infectious Disease

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  Stony Brook Medicine – Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University

  “As time moves on, the medical cases of WTC responders become more complex and challenging to treat,” said Benjamin Luft, MD, director of the Stony Brook WTC Health and Wellness Program, and the Edmund D. Pellegrino Professor of Medicine at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. “For this reason and the fact that most of the diseases we treat are chronic, being able to expand our clinical offerings as well as integrate services such as respiratory and psychiatric care at the clinic is vital to the care we provide our patients with the goal to cure some and treat all of their conditions. The new NIOSH contract enables us to carry this out for years to come.”

  Source
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  John Howard, MD

  Occupational Medicine / Public Health

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  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (quoted in Stony Brook Medicine newsletter)

  “This rule is significant as it not only provides access to life-saving care and treatment, but also recognition for the women who sacrificed so much on and after 9/11 that their diagnosed uterine cancer is a WTC-related health condition,”

  Source