Using FOIA, Grewal Demands Docs Regarding 9/11 Health Benefits Program
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal on Thursday filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the federal government following the Trump administration's announcement that it would be transferring the provision of medical services to 9/11 responders away from the World Trade Center Health Program.
March 29, 2018 at 01:42 PM
3 minute read
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal on Thursday filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the federal government following the Trump administration's announcement that it would be transferring the provision of medical services to 9/11 responders away from the World Trade Center Health Program.
Grewal filed the FOI requests with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which supervises both the CDC and the NIH, and the Office of Management and Budget.
In his fiscal 2019 budget, Trump proposed moving the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health from its current home within the federal Centers for Disease Control to the National Institutes of Health. NIOSH currently houses, supports and supervises the World Trade Center Health Program, which Trump's proposal would leave as a stand-alone entity within the CDC.
Critics of the proposal—including a bipartisan group of congressional leaders—have said the move is misguided and ignores the track record of success the World Trade Center Health Program has achieved through its working relationship with NIOSH over a period of many years. Further, critics have noted that the federal government has so far offered little information to justify the move.
“All Americans should be able to agree that short-changing the heroes and survivors of 9/11 is wrong,” Grewal said. “Any budget proposal that fails to honor our country's commitments to their well-being would be an indecent proposal. Yet the president appears to have made this proposal without much, if any, input from the affected 9/11 responders and survivors, and really without much, if any, thought at all.”
More than 80,000 people are enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program, which provides health evaluations, medical monitoring and treatment for physical and mental health conditions related to the 9/11 attacks. Enrollees in the program include first responders to the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the Flight 93 crash site in Shanksville, as well as survivors of the World Trade Center attack.
New Jersey is among the states with the most residents enrolled, and members of the New Jersey State Police have benefited from the program, according to the Attorney General's Office.
Grewal said in his requests: “New Jersey seeks information about what consideration (if any) the federal government gave to the views of 9/11 responders and survivors before the president offered his proposal, and what analysis (if any) the federal government performed to evaluate how the proposal might affect the WTC Health Program.”
Opposition to the move is being led by U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-New York.
“This program is working as perfectly as a program can be,” King said to Newsday in February. “This serves no purpose.”
The federal government did not respond to requests for comment.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllAppellate Division Tosses Challenge to Rutgers Board Members That Ensnared NJ Lawyer
5 minute readOn the Move and After Hours: Einhorn Barbarito; Hartmann Doherty; Lowenstein Sandler; Lindabury McCormick
5 minute read'A More Nuanced Issue': NJ Supreme Court Considers Appellate Rules for Personal Injury Judgments
5 minute readTrending Stories
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250