Accuracy Of Medical Data On WTC Emergency Workers Questioned
According to some experts, clinic physicians -- who have published the largest and most often cited study of medical data on the workers and have testified before congressional committees about health problems related to the WTC collapse -- have "presented their findings in ... scientifically questionable ways, exaggerating the health effects with imprecise descriptions of workers' symptoms and how long they might be sick." Some experts also maintain that, for years after the WTC collapse, the clinic lacked adequate resources and time to collect medical data on the workers properly, and that, as a result, "its usefulness may be limited," the Times reports.
In addition, some experts have raised concerns that clinic physicians have "allowed their advocacy for the workers to trump science by making statements that go beyond what their studies have confirmed," according to the Times. Response
According to the Times, clinic physicians acknowledge that "their efforts were troubled" but maintain that they had to address an "unprecedented epidemiological challenge with too little money, too few records and too little time to plan properly." Philip Landrigan, a clinic physician and founder, said, "I'll accept that we could have done some things better, and there's always room for improvement," adding, "You can collect facts and be rock-solid certain about those facts, but you know quite well that those facts are only a piece of the puzzle. The intellectual question then is: 'Do I have enough information to issue a call for action?'"
Jacqueline Moline, director of the WTC programs, said, "If our advocacy has brought in people and we've saved their lives because we've identified health problems, whether they're World Trade Center-related or not, I'll take that any day of the week," adding, "And if that's our epitaph -- that we talked loudly and we brought people in for health care -- so be it" (DePalma/Kovaleski, New York Times, 9/7).
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