The 200th firefighter just died from a World Trade Center-related illness

cnn.com

23 points·smacktoward··6 comments

One day our descendants will look back at incidents like this and wonder how we tolerated such inhumanity towards the most vulnerable among us.

We live in a country where owning a gun is considered a sacred and inalienable right, but healthcare is a privilege subject to the whims of the market.

I think our descendants will look back and judge that our priorities granted us the society we deserved.

"We" aren't tolerating it. There are far more people fighting for change than preventing it.

Presuming we have them.

Related illness?

I can't help but make a parallel with Chernobyl liquidators. There are about 50 confirmed deaths among them (physical trauma and acute radiation syndrome).

The numbers regarding long term effects however vary enormously. The WHO estimates it at around 4000, but some organizations states numbers over 100000, while others say it is statistically insignificant.

I wonder how a death is "WTC-related". Firefighters are at a greater risk than the general population. So what tells us that a disease is the result of 9/11 rather than the rest of their carrier. And BTW, I hope that firefighters who displayed acts of bravery unrelated to WTC still get proper compensation for resulting health problems.

I think you're probably wrong, but I consent that the article didn't present any information on the illness.

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