Letter from the UFOA:

ZADROGA LEGISLATION: A panel of medical experts will soon decide whether the federal government’s $2.8 billion 9/11 Health Fund should cover (CANCER) ** (see note in last paragraph) and they want to hear from the public before making a decision.

Teleconference Call January 24th on whether to add Cancer to the list of “WTC-Related Health Conditions” to be covered under the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act.

TO PARTICIPATE IN THE TUESDAY JANUARY 24th CONFERENCE CALL, WHICH WILL RUN FROM 1 TO 5 P.M. WITH THE PUBLIC COMMENT STARTING AT 4 P.M., CALL 1-888-801-1939 AND ENTER THE PARTICIPANT CODE 62062756.

Your UFOA Executive Board is currently working behind the scenes with our elected representatives in Washington but we also need your help. If you have, or know someone with 9/11 related CANCER, we ask that you participate in this teleconference call.

The Scientific and Technical Committee (STAC) will also hold a public meeting in New York City in February 2012, but details about the hearing have not yet been confirmed. We will, of course, Rank-Gram that information as soon as it becomes available.

It is critically important for that Committee to be aware of all the information on CANCER and how it correlates to our exposure at the World Trade Center.

Although many Ground Zero rescue/recovery workers have developed CANCER after spending hundreds of hours at the site inhaling carcinogenic chemicals, the federal government decided in 2010 that there was not enough medical evidence to include cancer on the list of illnesses covered by the $4.3 billion James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act.

Congress, however, wisely set up a Scientific Advisory Committee (STAC) to periodically review new research on CANCER, as well as other illnesses, to decide if they should be added.

****The panel will likely issue a recommendation on whether to include some types of CANCER as soon as March or April.****

**If CANCER is added to the law, then those who have been diagnosed, along with the survivors of those who have died of cancer since 9/11, will be able to apply for restitution under the 9/11 Health Law’s $2.8 billion Victims Compensation Fund. Additionally, and quite significantly, the cost for CANCER related RX which includes chemo therapy, etc., would be the responsibility of the federal government (WTC Medical Monitoring) and NOT YOUR UFOA union welfare fund.

As always, please feel free to call the office if you have any questions, concerns, and/or check the UFOA Website for aditional information on the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act.

***Our union’s advocacy on this issue is yet another important reason why YOUR Executive Board needs YOUR participation in the 2012 Political Action Election Season, as well as the establishment of our new Committee on Political Education (C.O.P.E.) Fund. ELECTION SEASON participation will be required this year from late August 2012 until the November 6, 2012 Election Day.***

“In Unity There Is Strength”

Fraternally, Chiefs Representatives Richie Alles, Jake Lemonda, Paul Ferro

For more information on the call, click here.