With this week marking the 19th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, The Daily News revealed that the Trump administration has taken nearly $4 million from a program meant to track and treat New York City Fire Department (FDNY) firefighters and medics who have developed cancers, respiratory diseases and other illnesses related to having served as first-responders immediately after the attack.
The Daily News found that for four years, the Treasury Department began withholding portions from the National Institute for Occupational Safety’s payments intended for New York City.
According to the program’s director, Dr. David Prezant, who is also the FDNY’s Chief Medical Officer, the Treasury Department kept “half a million dollars each year in 2016 and 2017 … about $630,000 in 2018 and 2019 … [and nearly] $1.447 million” in 2020.
“Here we have sick World Trade Center-exposed firefighters and EMS workers, at a time when the city is having difficult financial circumstances due to COVID-19, and we’re not getting the money we need to be able to treat these heroes. And for years, they wouldn’t even tell us — we never ever received a letter telling us this,” Prezant said.
The U.S. Treasury has never explained why the money is being diverted. The program was started in 2010 under the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. In December 2015, the program was extended for 75 years after sick and dying September 11th first responders repeatedly visited the Capitol to push for aid.
“The money that we don’t get means that physicians, nurses and support staff are not hired. We have not had to lay off anyone, yet, but we are at that brink,” Prezant added. “This just isn’t fair. It’s not fair to our patients.”