U.S. lawmakers want cancer added to 9/11 list

NEW YORK — Federal lawmakers are calling on the administrator of the national Sept. 11 health program to consider adding cancer to a list of diseases that qualify for assistance. U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Jerrold Nadler and Peter King plan to announce Wednesday that they are filing a petition to request the change. They say a new medical study supports the argument for including cancer to the program. The study had failed to find a significant increase in overall cancer rates among firefighters exposed to World Trade Center dust, but it did note a few potentially worrisome trends, including an unexpected number of thyroid cancers. This summer, the 9/11 health program administrator declined to add cancer to the list of covered diseases, saying there wasn't enough evidence of a link.