9/11 workers ask for coverage under Zadroga Act

NEW YORK (FOX5NY) - Some resue workers at Ground Zero are pushing to expand the types of medical conditions covered under the World Trade Center treatment program.

Retired NYPD Detective Kenny Anderson worked on the pile for months following September 11. He has developed lung disease and acute asthma. Most recently he was diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy, a debilitating condition that causes nerve damage to the limbs and has confined him to a scooter.

Doctors say neuropathy can't be cured but symptoms can be reduced with the help of medications. The problem is  that without coverage they can be hundreds of dollars, if not more.

9/11 advocate John Feal has been pushing to add neuropathy to the list of conditions covered under the recently extended Zadroga Act.

Doctors at Winthrop-University Hospital have found that Ground Zero survivors experience the condition at a rate 15 times higher than normal. They've linked the exposure of World Trade Center dust to nerve damage and have results from their most recent study to prove it.

9/11 responders will be petitioning NIOSH to have the illness added early next year.