Workers' Compensation: Zadroga Benefits Proposed By NIOSH for Some Cancers:
Causal relationship is usually the central element of occupational disease cases. In workers compensation it is framed as "arising out of an in the course of the work". The shorthand for that is work-related. In tort cases it is framed as "related to the exposure" - the exposure being to a toxic substance. The problems are factually complex because most cancers do not signal a particular exposure but rather are diseases that occur without the "exposure" at some "background rate". So the challenge is to identify an increased rate (above background) and then identify the exposure as a "substantial factor" in the individual case.
A mass settlement like the Ground Zero cases - or a legislated fund - like the Zadroga benefits raises these issues.
The 9/11 clean-up case settlement includes a modest cancer benefit. Many of those claimants will be eligible for Zadroga Act benefits from the re-opened September 11 Victims Compensation Fund. But the Special Master (Sheila Birnbaum) still has to make individual assessments. The first question is "general causation" - does exposure to this substance cause the disease or "increase the risk". That is particularly problematic because the toxic mix at the disaster site cannot be replicated. And replication is, of course, the paradigmatic experimental method of modern science.
The reopened 9/11 Fund faces unique difficulties of proof regarding cancer claims Historical epidemiological data is organ specific or toxin specific - not site-specific. But the only database is the one we have -the toxic exposure estimates and health histories derived from the World Trade Center Health Program. So the authors of the draft report of March 22, 2012 by the WTC Health Program's Scientific Advisory Committee confronted a unique circumstance. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) unit's final report is likely to be the key determinant for the Special Master and claimants' advocates. Their new draft report recommends that esophagus, stomach, colon, liver, skin, lungs, kidneys and other cancers should be recognized as causally related to exposure to the dust and debris of the fallen towers of the World Trade Center. - GWC
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Causal relationship is usually the central element of occupational disease cases. In workers compensation it is framed as "arising out of an in the course of the work". The shorthand for that is work-related. In tort cases it is framed as "related to the exposure" - the exposure being to a toxic substance. The problems are factually complex because most cancers do not signal a particular exposure but rather are diseases that occur without the "exposure" at some "background rate". So the challenge is to identify an increased rate (above background) and then identify the exposure as a "substantial factor" in the individual case.
A mass settlement like the Ground Zero cases - or a legislated fund - like the Zadroga benefits raises these issues.
The 9/11 clean-up case settlement includes a modest cancer benefit. Many of those claimants will be eligible for Zadroga Act benefits from the re-opened September 11 Victims Compensation Fund. But the Special Master (Sheila Birnbaum) still has to make individual assessments. The first question is "general causation" - does exposure to this substance cause the disease or "increase the risk". That is particularly problematic because the toxic mix at the disaster site cannot be replicated. And replication is, of course, the paradigmatic experimental method of modern science.
The reopened 9/11 Fund faces unique difficulties of proof regarding cancer claims Historical epidemiological data is organ specific or toxin specific - not site-specific. But the only database is the one we have -the toxic exposure estimates and health histories derived from the World Trade Center Health Program. So the authors of the draft report of March 22, 2012 by the WTC Health Program's Scientific Advisory Committee confronted a unique circumstance. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) unit's final report is likely to be the key determinant for the Special Master and claimants' advocates. Their new draft report recommends that esophagus, stomach, colon, liver, skin, lungs, kidneys and other cancers should be recognized as causally related to exposure to the dust and debris of the fallen towers of the World Trade Center. - GWC
'via Blog this'
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