NYC Rejects Zadroga Autopsy Findings

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http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/409051p-346199c.html

New York Daily News

WTC death-link doubt

BY PAUL H.B. SHIN

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Saturday, April 15th, 2006

The city's top health official doubts that the death of NYPD

Detective Zadroga can be conclusively linked to toxins at

Ground Zero - even though an autopsy found his fatal illness was

" directly related " to his work at the disaster site.

City Health Commissioner Frieden said he would be " surprised "

if the cause of Zadroga's death can be traced directly to the

smoldering World Trade Center wreckage.

" An autopsy can determine whether there was damage to the lungs and

it can determine whether that damage might have been related to

foreign bodies, " Frieden told WNBC's " News Forum " during an interview

scheduled to air tomorrow.

" But whether that was related to [the World Trade Center], I don't

think that would be easy to say definitively, " he said.

The commissioner's words were met with anger and frustration from

Zadroga's parents who are caring for the detective's orphaned

4-year-old daughter, Tylerann.

Tylerann is only entitled to a partial pension because her father's

death is not considered " in the line of duty. "

" They just don't want to open up a can of worms. They're probably

worried about the money they might have to pay out, " Zadroga's

mother, , said.

After speaking with the Ocean County, N.J., medical examiner who

performed an autopsy on her 34-year-old son who died in January, she

said there is " no doubt in my mind " that his death was caused by his

work at Ground Zero.

" He said there was bone in the lungs and pockets that were filled

with dust, " she said.

In Albany, Assembly GOP leader Jim Tedisco (R-Schenectady) has

proposed overhauling the pension rules. Under Tedisco's proposal,

Tylerann would get a 100% tax-free pension until she is 19 - or 23 if

she's enrolled in college.

" We can't just turn our back on them. We must do what's right, " said

detectives union President Palladino.

Palladino said first responders who die from ailments linked to 9/11

" are heroes and they should be treated that way. "

Meanwhile, controversy raged over the revelation that hundreds more

tiny bone fragments have been found recently atop the contaminated

Deutsche Bank tower near Ground Zero.

Attorney Norman Siegel said the discoveries may affect a federal

lawsuit against the city that he's been handling on behalf of 17

relatives of 9/11 victims whose remains have not been identified.

The families want the city to provide a " proper and dignified " burial

for the millions of tons of fine particles dumped at Fresh Kills

landfill on Staten Island after Ground Zero debris was sifted for

human remains.

The bank tower, owned by the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., is

awaiting demolition.

But the Skyscraper Safety Campaign, a group led by victims' loved

ones, called on President Bush to take the building from the LMDC and

put the Central Identification Laboratory - part of the U.S.

military's Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command - in charge of finding

and identifying the remains.

With D. Colford