‘We are all marking time bombs’: budget cuts the health protections of 9/11 as community devices for the crisis

The September 11 health program that monitors and treats thousands of people exposed to toxic dust during the 2001 terrorist attack is threatened, again.

A wave of staff and agitation cuts from the agency has led to the World Trade Center Health program to crisis, which interrupts a system that has given attention that saves lives to tens of thousands of people for more than two decades.

Experts warn that cancer diagnoses could be delayed, mental health needs could be unsatisfied and the federal government would break their promise to “never forget.”

“It is not about politics, it is humanity,” said John Feal, former respondent of September 11 and founder of the Fealgood Foundation. “We are not going to go. We will continue to return until they do the right thing.”

In the center of the controversy there is a series of personnel cuts within the National Institute of Occupational Health and Health, the agency that certifies the diseases related to 9/11 as valid and supervises the health program of the World Trade Center, which manages attention to the first to respond and survivors of the 2001 terrorist attack in the low Manhattan.

Earlier this year, a 20% staff cut to the World Trade Health Center program led to the completion of 16 doctors and nurses, reducing the clinical equipment to 72, Feal explained.

After a bipartisan protest, those positions were reinstated in February.

But in April, a second round of cuts eliminated another 16 employees. It is unknown if those cuts involved any of the reinstalled individuals of the first cut, but left the program that stands and once again undermined their ability to provide timely care.

In addition to the second round of cuts in April, Dr. John Howard, the leader of the program for a long time, was also eliminated. He was then restored quickly after political pressure.

Currently, more than 150,000 people are registered in the World Trade Center Health program, compared to approximately 76,000 in 2015.

The program had been preparing to grow its staff to meet the growing demand. Instead, he is now struggling, according to Michael Barasch, a barasch lawyer & Mcgarry, a company that represents thousands of first to respond and survivors of September 11.

Barasch told ABC News that patients are waiting for six to eight months for appointments.

“This is a program with zero fraud that only does one thing: save lives,” said Barasch. “Mark my words: people will die without her.”

The toxic dust of the attacks contained a dangerous mixture of chemicals and debris: asbestos, fundamental glass, benzene, chrome, lead. The exposed (lifeguards, recovery workers, office staff, students, residents, potentially face higher rates of at least 69 cancers, as well as respiratory diseases and posttraumatic stress.

“If I had it in their lungs, everyone else does,” said Barasch, referring to the New York Police detective James Zadroga, whose death at 34 in 2006 was linked to the inhalation of dangerous air. “So we are all marking time bombs.”

The World Trade Center Health program was established through the Health and Compensation Law of James Zadroga 9/11, which was permanently reauterized in 2015.

But financing projections did not take into account medical inflation or growing registration. A bipartisan bill known as HR 1410 would fix the deficit, but remains stagnant in Congress.

Feal said he thought the system was not only overwhelmed, it is collapsing.

“We have built a program that saves lives and gives dignity to people,” he said. “Letting all fall apart dishonor to all those who ran towards danger that day.”

Barasch said that many legislators, especially those outside New York, may not realize the scope of the damage or how many of their own components are affected.

“People in the 50 states are registered in the program,” he said. “Thousands of them no longer live near the original attack sites. They need care where they are.” He urged everyone to call his senators and representatives and remind the promise made to the September 11 community.

In meetings in Capitol Hill with legislators this week, Feal said that he and other defenders seem to have found a comprehensive audience. Even so, he is still skeptical: “They listen, but will they act? That is the question.”

An HHS spokesman told ABC News in an email: “The World Trade Center program (WTC) centers of excellence of excellence and the network of national suppliers continue to provide services to the program members at this time. The program continues to accept and review new requests for registration and certification requests.”