(Thumbnail image: The New York Times)
 

The federal government reached an agreement with lawyers that would pay up to $657 million to 9/11 first responders if they agree to end their lawsuits. The City of New York is hoping the legal struggle that has lasted several years will be resolved. Many of those responders have reported respiratory problems resulting from their work at ground zero. And believe the city did not take enough safety precautions

"I'm 52 years old, and they told me I got the lungs of a 90-year-old man." 

NBC reporter Jeff Rossen tells MSNBC it will be hard to weed out fraudulent claims.

"There are other people who were barely exposed at all and, in fact, some who have no health problems who are already staking a claim for some of this money.  What's the potential for fraud?"

ROSSEN: "Well, look, there's a huge potential for fraud.  They're going to have to be very careful of that...  There were a lot of people down at ground zero, not just first responders, people who lived around there.  I was down there for weeks and weeks covering it every single day.  You know, and so, you have to be very careful about who you give that money to."


A reporter for the Fox affiliate in New York explains the flipside of addressing that concern.  He says 9/11 responders have already waited for years.  


HUDDY: "Now those involved would have to prove they were indeed at the site after the attacks and turn over any and all medical records.  At that point, and this is a big sticking point, a claims administrator would then decide the validity of the individual claims, and that process could take more than a year...  The settlement money; the lawyers apparently will get a third of the money from these settlements and obviously these folks, again, have been waiting quite a long time already..."


Many of the effected aid workers are voicing their disappointment with the plan.  Retired New York police officer Glen Klein told The New York Daily News he doesn't believe the money is enough.  


KLEIN: "A million dollars is not a lot of money if you have cancer and need chemotherapy...  What's going to be left for your family after you die?"


NPR's Robert Smith says critics should consider how complex the 9/11 situation really was before they condemn the plan.  

SMITH: "What you may not remember is what logistical chaos it was there.  I mean, thousands, tens of thousands of people rushed into this scene afterwards...  So when you started to talk about legal liability, this became a very, very complex case...  And all through this process, the city is playing hardball.  They're saying, 'we don't know how you got these illnesses and you can't definitively link them." 

The plan's own complexity may also create problems.  If only 95 percent of plaintiffs agree to it, the plan cuts over $80 million from the aid it would provide if all plaintiffs agree.  If 95 percent don't agree, there's no deal.  A legal expert says it may be a tough sell.  

HOSTIN: "I think the question on everyone's minds, Tony, is 'was it really worth the wait?'  Six years of legal wrangling, two years, as you mentioned, just to negotiate this settlement, and in order for this really to work, 100 percent of the plaintiffs have to agree to participate in it...  You've got people who will get anywhere between $1,000 for their injuries up to one to two million dollars for their injuries.  And so I would suspect that some of them will opt out of this class and still sue the City of New York."

Writer: Ben Stewart