ME Says Ex-Cop's Death Not Linked to WTC Dust ; N. Arlington Man Helped in Ground Zero Effort

Oct 19, 01:19 PM

Current Headlines: By AMY WESTFELDT, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK The city medical examiner has ruled that the death of a retired police detective seen as one of the strongest cases to be linked to post-Sept. 11 illness was not caused by his exposure to toxic World Trade Center dust while working at Ground Zero.

Dr. Charles Hirsch, New York's chief medical examiner, rejected a New Jersey medical examiner's 2006 ruling that 34-year-old James Zadroga's death was "directly related" to his work cleaning up the trade center site. That ruling found that Zadroga, a native of North Arlington, died in January 2006 of sarcoidosis, a lung-scarring disease that deposits dangerous growths in the lungs.

After reviewing the autopsy report, Zadroga's medical records and slides of the detective's lung tissue, Hirsch concluded that the detective's death was not caused by exposure to dust, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press.

"It is our unequivocal opinion, with certainty beyond doubt, that the foreign material in your son's lungs did not get there as the result of inhaling dust at the World Trade Center or elsewhere," said the letter, dated Tuesday and signed by Hirsch and Medical Examiner Michele Slone.

Zadroga had become a symbol for the plight of Ground Zero workers whose health rapidly deteriorated in the months after their long days toiling in the rubble. He spent 470 hours sifting through the smoldering ruins, and by the first anniversary of the attack was plagued by a constant cough.

His autopsy results were the first scientific evidence blaming a death directly on Ground Zero exposure. Lawmakers and health advocates regularly cite Zadroga's case as a key example of post- Sept. 11 illness when lobbying for billions of dollars to fund research and continuing care.

To them, Zadroga's death was what doctors call a "sentinel case" the first definite Ground Zero health casualty suggesting more to follow.

"It's shocking ... how can they be so callous?" his father, Joseph Zadroga of Little Egg Harbor, said Thursday. "He had the acid reflux. He had short-term memory loss. ... He was on strong medications for the pain in his lungs."

He said he would meet with the medical examiner's office today. Hirsch spokeswoman Ellen Borakove declined to comment on the letter.

Michael Palladino, president of Zadroga's union, said he was shocked by the content of Hirsch's letter.

"I'm shocked and appalled that the medical examiner's office would send a letter to Mr. Zadroga, and stating that their unequivocal opinion with certainty beyond doubt is that he didn't die from the World Trade Center, when in fact they can't tell me what he died from," he said. "I don't trust it."

Palladino said that the letter may be related to the city's defense in a federal lawsuit accusing it of failing to adequately protect workers at the site.

Joseph Zadroga had asked Hirsch to review his son's case in a bid to be listed officially as a victim of the Sept. 11 attacks. Hirsch earlier this year ruled that a woman caught in the towers' collapse on Sept. 11, and who died five months later of lung disease, could be added to the victims' list.

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