Wall Street Journal profiles Hamstead man & former 9/11 worker who may not get health coverage

FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
BY DEVLIN BARRETT

After a landmark legal settlement was reached earlier this month for people with 9/11-related health problems, some Ground Zero workers may be down to their last chance to get help with their bills if they get sick: a compensation bill in Congress.

The settlement—which could direct as much as $815 million to some 10,500 police officers, firefighters, construction workers and others exposed to World Trade Center dust and debris—doesn’t necessarily cover everyone.

In fact, hundreds of applicants have already been rejected by the judge overseeing the case, Alvin Hellerstein, though in doing so he gave them the option to re-apply.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a Manhattan Democrat who has led the effort to get federal aid for first-responders, said the settlement is good news but “is far from the end of 9/11 litigation and the health problems that are the basis of the lawsuit….We have to expect more litigation from the thousands who have or will develop 9/11 conditions and were not part of the settlement.”

One of the 325 claimants rejected by the judge is Richard Dambakly, a former employee of Verizon. The 49-year-old father of five was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2002, after he says he spent months working in and around the disaster site.

Mr. Dambakly now lives in Hampstead, N.C., and says his cancer has been in remission for several years.

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