Opinion: I’m a thoracic surgeon in New York City. For many of my patients, Sept. 11 is still not over — SkimNews
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- Raja Flores, chair of thoracic surgery at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, writes that his practice now revolves around treating first responders, construction workers, and downtown residents with lung cancer, esophageal cancer, and mesothelioma linked to ground zero exposure.
- The World Trade Center Health Program has enrolled more than 140,000 responders and survivors, with more than 8,000 enrolled members dead and tens of thousands diagnosed with cancers, respiratory diseases, and digestive disorders.
- Organizers of the 25th anniversary ceremony at the World Trade Center will add a new moment of silence honoring those who died years later from illnesses linked to ground zero exposure, not on Sept. 11, 2001 itself.
- Flores cautions that medicine cannot prove an individual patient's cancer was caused by ground zero — cancer takes years to develop and patients often have multiple risk factors — but population-level evidence supports the link.
- The toxic cloud over Lower Manhattan contained pulverized concrete, glass fibers, asbestos, heavy metals, and combustion products, substances Flores says are capable of causing the diseases now appearing in exposed populations.
- Two of Flores' patients illustrate the pattern: retired NYPD officer John Aris, who had part of his right lung removed for cancer, and retired firefighter William Corrar, operated on for esophageal cancer after months working amid the dust.
Why it matters: More than 8,000 members of the World Trade Center Health Program have died and that number continues to grow, according to Flores — meaning the casualty count from 9/11 is still rising a quarter-century later. The new anniversary moment of silence formalizes recognition of deaths that, until now, the annual ceremony has largely overlooked.
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