The lawyers contend that 2,902 workers only had nominal health issues such as runny nose, coughs and insomnia. Another 3 percent admitted they were not sick at all.
For the remaining 70 percent, the city does not have enough medical documents to check the ailments they claim or to prove the illnesses were caused by their exposure to harmful elements during the rescue operations following the 9/11 incident, said lawyer James Tyrrell.
But Tyrrell added, quoted by the New York Daily News, "If we could find the ones who are truly sick with diagnoses, not just symptoms, and some demonstrations it had some connection to 9/11, we could deal with them... These are heroes. We have great respect for these people."
About 10,800 people have filed claims for compensation due to health problems caused by their involvement in rescue operations after 9/11. Half of the claimants in a case handled by District Judge Alvin Hellerstein were police officers and firefighters.
