Uterine cancer now covered by World Trade Center Health Program
NEW YORK -- Since the 9/11 terror attack, hundreds of women exposed to Ground Zero toxins have developed uterine cancer, but that illness wasn't covered by the World Trade Center Health Program until today.
"It was just a matter of just sitting and waiting and wondering what was taking so long," Ground Zero volunteer Dr. Tammy Kaminski said.
The long wait is over for the New Jersey chiropractor, along with many other women exposed to Ground Zero toxins.
With a publication Wednesday by the federal government, uterine cancer is finally covered by the World Trade Center Health Program, making victims also eligible for a payout from the Victims' Compensation Fund.
"That will help them financially," Kaminski said.
In 2001, Kaminski volunteered in Lower Manhattan, exposing her to toxic dust and air. She developed uterine cancer in 2015, only to learn it was not a covered condition.
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It took years of advocacy and scientific study for uterine cancer to be added to the coverage list, well after 60 other cancers were covered.
"Women's health care has been underfunded and under-studied, and often is not seen as part of the larger health care issues that are more well understood, and we're working in my office to rectify that," New Jersey Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill said.
The health program says of the 27,000 eligible women registered, 254 developed uterine cancer so far.
Kaminski worries about younger women, including students who were at Stuyvesant High School at the time of the attack.
"They're in their 30s now. They might not think about, if they have reproductive problems, the connection there. So the health part of it is very important," she said.
Still coming to grips with the cancer legacy of 9/11, more than 20 years later.
The health fund estimated it could spent between $5-10 million over the next three years covering 9/11-related uterine cancer.
