Results tagged “sinaimedicalcenter”

The relatively small health clinic that released the most widely quoted and alarming study about the adverse health impacts of exposure to the World Trade Center environment may have reached its conclusions with weak data and presented its findings in a questionable manner. The New York Times examined the work done at the Irving J. Selikoff Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, a health clinic associated with Mount Sinai Medical Center and that included only six full-time doctors at the time of the terrorist attacks.

The evidence keeps piling up. Yesterday, Mount Sinai released a study showing that about 70% of Ground Zero workers have respiratory issues. The study was conducted amongst 9,442 workers who were at Ground Zero in the days after September 11, with the majority of them having "new or worsened chronic breathing conditions since responding to the attacks." Mount Sinai Medical Center's Dr. Robin Herbert said, ""There should no longer be any doubt about the health effects of the World Trade Center. Our patients are sick and are going to need health monitoring and treatment for the rest of their lives." Further, the head of Mount Sinai's community and preventive medicine Philip Landrigan said, "What these people inhaled was extremely toxic. It was pulverized dust. It was like Drano. It penetrated deep in the lungs, deep in the sinus cavities."