‘That’s karma’ 9/11 survivor advocates react to Giuliani applying for WTC Healthcare Program  

Days after news broke that former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was in critical condition suffering from pneumonia in a Florida hospital, his lawyer confirmed that Giuliani would seek to have his healthcare costs covered by the World Trade Center Healthcare Program. Michael Barasch told The Chief last week that Giuliani had mulled for years whether or not to join the WTCHP for his reactive airway disease that was caused by the dust and toxins swirling around ground zero, but only felt comfortable doing so after lawmakers passed legislation funding the program through 2040. 

Barasch, whose law firm Barasch & McGarry has represented more than 50,000 people suffering from 9/11-related illnesses, said that Guiliani’s illness shows that “toxic dust doesn’t care who you are.”