§300mm–51 Research regarding certain health conditions related to September 11 terrorist attacks

Summary

The WTC Program Administrator must fund and carry out research on physical and mental health problems tied to the September 11, 2001 attacks. This includes studies to learn which conditions are linked to the attacks, and extra research to improve diagnosis or treatment when doctors are unsure. The research must cover enrolled WTC responders and certified-eligible WTC survivors under treatment, and people exposed in the same geographic areas and ways as those who meet the program’s eligibility rules. It must also include studies of sampled groups outside the New York City disaster area — including Manhattan up to 14th Street and parts of Brooklyn — with control groups to spot long-term effects in less exposed populations. The Administrator, working with the Secretary of Education, must set up a research group large enough to study health and education impacts of airborne toxins or other hazards from 9/11, including people who were 21 years of age or younger at the time (including screening-eligible and certified-eligible survivors). The work must be done with the WTC Scientific/Technical Advisory Committee, and privacy and human-subject protections must be at least as strong as those for research funded by the Department of Health and Human Services.