US panel favours expanding World Trade Center program to include some cancer patients The USA Times

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Friday, May 25, 2012

US panel favours expanding World Trade Center program to include some cancer patients

NEW YORK, N.Y. - A U.S. government panel favours expanding an aid program for people sickened by World Trade Center dust to include people who have at least some types of cancer.

Congress has set aside billions of dollars to compensate and treat people suffering from illnesses potentially caused by clouds of soot and smoke released during the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

But the program doesn't cover cancer, which scientists have not conclusively linked to trade centre toxins.

Panel members meeting in New York agreed Thursday that some cancer patients should be covered by the program, but they were uncertain whether to extend it to all types of the disease or just some.

The committee's recommendation is due by April 2. Its advice can then either be accepted or rejected by the program's administrator.