July 29, 2021, is a major deadline for obtaining compensation from the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF). Read on for information about what the deadline means, who it affects, what to do if it affects you, and what happens if you register with VCF after the date passes.
It was one of the most memorable images from the World Trade Center and lower Manhattan in the hours and days after the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001: People covered in dust. Unfortunately, the dust contained hundreds of toxins, such as cement, gypsum, asbestos, glass fibers, calcium carbonate, lead, and other metal particles. Over the years after the attacks occurred, the first responders and people who lived, worked, or attended school in lower Manhattan (as far north as Houston Street) began experiencing serious health issues because of the exposure to these substances.
Skin cancer (non-melanoma) is the most common cancers suffered by responders and survivors (residents, workers, students, and others) who were present in lower Manhattan on 9/11 or during the many months after.
Both the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) and the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund (also known as the VSST or USVSST Fund) compensate victims of terrorist attacks, including the 9/11 attacks. As the victim of such an attack, including the surviving dependents of individuals who lost their lives due to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, you may want to pursue the maximum compensation you deserve for the losses you faced. Can you file a claim through both the VCF and the USVSST?
The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund requires that copies of medical records be obtained by the claimant and submitted in many instances. Records are often helpful to prove a disability from employment, the need to hire household or other at-home help to support a claim for payment of replacement services, or for an enhanced or increased monetary award for a 9/11-related cancer such as prostate or skin cancer.
Since the 9/11 attacks of 2001, many people have gone through significant changes in their lives, including name changes. You may have chosen a name change for a variety of reasons. However, you may worry that it would make your VCF claim more difficult.
Doreen was uneasy about going back to her office at One Liberty Plaza in Downtown Manhattan after the September 11th terrorist attacks. Her office, across from where One World Trade Center once stood, was reopened a few months after 9/11. Ground Zero was still smoldering and she had lingering thoughts about how safe it was to be that close to the burning wreckage. She had no idea that she would be another victim of 9/11, so many years after that horrific day.
9/11 caused thyroid cancer in over one thousand first responders and downtown NYC residents, workers, students, and others. In the most recent report, the World Trade Center Health Program certified 534 cases of thyroid cases in first responders and 533 cases in lower Manhattan residents, workers, and students — all linked to the toxic 9/11 fallout that blanketed lower Manhattan on 9/11 and the many months afterward.
The 9/11 toxic dust is the known cause of rare cancers including pancreatic anal, testicular, stomach, tongue, intestinal, laryngeal, and many other types of rare cancers. These cancers, along with many others, are by definition rare (occurring in fewer than 15 out of 100,000), but have been and still are diagnosed all too often in the 9/11 population of responders and downtown residents, workers, students, and others.
It is fairly common to add an attorney to your September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) claim after you may have taken the simple first step of registration.
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