Researchers question 9/11 health data

September 7, 2007

Some medical experts are questioning the accuracy of data about the health problems of Ground Zero workers in New York.

The New York Times said most of the information has come from the Irving J. Selikoff Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center, which has examined more than 15,000 workers since Sept. 11, 2001.

Critics say doctors at the clinic, which once had only six full-time doctors and a tiny budget, presented findings in scientifically questionable ways, exaggerating the health effects and giving imprecise descriptions of workers' symptoms.

The clinic's leaders acknowledge that their data collection efforts were troubled but said clinical care had to come first. The newspaper said the clinic was forced to tackle the enormous epidemiological challenge with "too little money, too few records and too little time to plan."

Copyright 2007 by United Press International


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