Bill would help track cancer cases among firefighters

Photo: Brian Tumulty, USA Today

WASHINGTON – Firefighters contract cancer 14% more often than other people because of the toxins they're exposed to on the job, according to congressional lawmakers who want to establish a registry to track those cancer cases.

Legislation unveiled Tuesday would create a National Firefighter Cancer Registry and direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to track the types of cancers contracted by volunteer and professional firefighters.

Studying, quantifying and understanding cancer risks for firefighters could lead to better methods of prevention, said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., one of the bill’s authors.

Menendez said research on 9/11 first responders who developed cancer already has proven a link between those cases and toxins at Ground Zero.

“And while that was an extraordinary and tragic event that continues to take lives, there’s been little attention given to a firefighter’s routine and daily exposure to dangerous toxins during the course of their entire career,’’Menendez said.

The one major study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) -- which lawmakers cited Tuesday -- covered about 30,000 career firefighters in Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. It found higher rates of many types of cancer among the firefighters, but was limited by its sample size and under-representation of some groups, according to Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J.

Rep. Richard Hanna, R-N.Y., who developed the idea for the registry after talking to a local cancer survivor, said, “We know there are 84,000 different chemicals, many of which didn’t exist years ago."

House fires can expose firefighters to deadly, flammable chemicals such as synthetics used in living room couches and cleaning fluids under a kitchen sink.

Hanna’s inspiration for the legislation came from Brian McQueen, past chief of the Whitesboro Volunteer Fire Department, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in December 2013. After his physicians linked McQueen’s cancer to his more than three decades as a volunteer firefighter, McQueen developed an educational program in central New York to alert others to the potential dangers.

“My passion is to provide cancer education to firefighters across the Northeast, especially throughout New York State,’’ McQueen said. “This actually started when Congressman Hanna attended one of our cancer prevention programs at his home fire department in Barneveld, N.Y. I sat down with him after the program and told him there’s no data. That’s why we’re here today.’’

Lymphedema Treatment Act Needs Your Help!

The Lymphedema Treatment Act now has four new cosponsors, bringing the total to 37: Hastings (R-WA4), Lobesack (D-IA2) Schakowsky (D-ILL9) Yoho (R-FL3).

Have you called/written your representative since the bill was introduced on January 15th?

Take 5 minutes of your time and contact your representative and ask that he/she cosponsor our bill HR 3877.

http://www.capwiz.com/lymphedematreatmentact/home/

Specific goals of the Act are:

• -to provide comprehensive lymphedema treatment coverage, according to current medical treatment standards;
• to enable patient self-treatment plan adherence by providing necessary medical supplies for use at home, as prescribed for each patient (including gradient compression garments, bandages, and other compression devices); 
• to reduce the total healthcare costs associated with this disease by decreasing the incidence of complications, co-morbidities and disabilities resulting from this medical condition.

Help support this important legislation! 

Critical Legislation to Improve Health Care for Lymphedema Patients Introduced

U.S. Congressman Dave Reichert (R-WA) and cosponsors Congressmen Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Leonard Lance (R-NJ) and Bruce Braley (D-IA) introduced the Lymphedema Treatment Act, HR 3877, to ensure Medicare coverage for the millions of Americans who suffer from this condition.

"Seniors who suffer from lymphedema should not be punished for taking the necessary steps to treat their condition," Reichert said. "By rectifying Medicare's failure to cover compression garments we give seniors their best chance and real hope to fight back against this chronic disease. I am pleased to be joined by my colleagues from both sides of the aisle in this fight against lymphedema."

Lymphedema is a chronic condition resulting from damaged or inadequate lymph nodes or lymphatic vessels that afflicts millions of Americans. It is a disease that one can be born with but it is most often caused by cancer treatments that damage the body's lymph system or immune functions.

Due to the painful swelling that results from lymphedema, compression therapy is an essential component of treatment but compression supplies are not covered by Medicare despite being an ongoing necessity. HR 3877 closes this coverage gap by requiring Medicare to cover lymphedema compression items.