New York, NY –
Lawyers defending the city against charges it failed to protect World Trade Center workers say those filing suit are not as sick as they claim. In a recent brief, the city said many plaintiffs lack detailed medical records. Lawyer David Worby says that information is currently being compiled.
WORBY: All of these people have individual doctors, who are gonna either testify or submit documentation. There’s pulmonary tests. There’s blood tests. There’s a ton of medical.
REPORTER: The city also alleges that many of the health claims by plaintiffs are common in the general population or tied to preexisting conditions.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys say the city is focusing only on those with relatively mild problems. They cite research studies by city and private doctors describing more severe and widespread World Trade Center related illness among generally healthy firefighters, police officers and construction workers.
The two sides will be back in Federal Court next week to discuss how to handle the individual and group claims.
Fred Mogul has been covering healthcare and medicine for WNYC since 2002. His beat takes him to hospitals, community clinics, doctors offices, health agencies, public schools and research labs across the metropolitan area. His work has appeared on NPR and in the New York Times, Time magazine and Philadelphia Inquirer, among others.
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