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When the alerts came on September 11, 2001, I first made sure my kids were safe and then headed to home base, which for me was that concrete lifesaver – Bellevue Hospital. I helped empty the hospital where I had trained, triaging patients to other facilities in preparation for World Trade Center survivors. Then we waited for hours for survivors who never came.
A few days later I visited the disaster site, and when I arrived, I was handed an N95 mask. I made my way through the rubble, very aware that I was in the presence of potentially toxic chemicals and fumes. It was a bright, sunny day, but there was still a film in the air.
With all due respect to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is claiming the public was lied to and has released 170,000 documents related to the attacks to supposedly verify a coverup, I have a simple response.
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We knew.
We knew there were potentially serious health risks.
Firefighter Gerard McGibbon, of Engine 283 in Brownsville, Brooklyn, prays after the World Trade Center buildings collapsed September 11, 2001 after two hijacked airplanes slammed into the twin towers in a terrorist attack that killed 2,977 people. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
We knew the molten debris and toxins were a problem. We knew that there would be health risks and consequences from the terror attacks for generations to come, not only for first responders—heroes who put their lives on the line to try to save the few people they could—but also for survivors and the people who lived in the surrounding New York City neighborhoods.
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Over the years, I have treated many patients with health consequences from direct exposure, from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) to asthma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and cancer. Many have come to me who simply lived in the neighborhood and were rightfully worried that their symptoms could be connected to that exposure.
I have shared patients with the well-designed and executed World Trade Center Health Program, which has helped monitor my patients with CT scans of the chest and other screening tools.
A firefighter walks through the rubble of the World Trade Center after it was struck by a commercial airliner in a terrorist attack. A hijacked American Airlines Boeing 767, originating from Boston’s Logan Airport, struck 1 World Trade Center (north tower) at 8:45 a.m. At 9:03 a.m., a United Airlines 767, also hijacked in Boston, crashed into 2 World Trade Center (south tower). The second tower came down 39 minutes after the first. (Todd Maisel/NY Daily News via Getty Images)
Over the years, it has become clearer that increased cancer rates have been tied directly to the toxins released into the air that fateful day. The Northwell WTC Health Program has revealed that 57,000 cancer cases have been linked to 9/11 toxic debris. Cases have jumped 75% from 2023 to 2025 alone. There has been a twofold increase in lung cancer in just five years. Skin, prostate, breast, and thyroid cancers, as well as lymphomas, are the most common.
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Monitoring continues, and the trends continue to increase. More than 9,000 people have died from health-related effects of 9/11, far more than died in the attacks themselves.
Rescue workers sift through the wreckage of the World Trade Center September 13, 2001, in New York City, two days after two hijacked airplanes slammed into the twin towers, leveling them in a terrorist attack. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
As I have written previously, the American psyche was punctured on 9/11 in a way that changed us forever. Here in New York, in some ways we are stronger, but we are also more fearful. The physical and emotional impact of that day lingers today.
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We knew about these risks, though the extent of the impact was far greater than anyone realized at the time, whether patient, doctor, or public health official.
How could we know? We could only predict, screen, and treat.
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