Former deputy mayor fights for 9/11 related medical compensation

(New York-WABC, May 17, 2006) (WABC) -- Former Deputy Mayor Rudy Washington, who worked side-by-side with Rudy Giuliani at Ground Zero, is fighting to get the state to pay his medical expenses.

Mr. Washington is the latest victim to claim toxic debris from 9/11 is to blame for his serious respiratory problems.

His friends say it is both tragic and shocking: Tragic that Rudy Washington is seriously ill; Shocking in that the city of New York is now fighting his worker's compensation claim.

It is one of the most enduring images of 9/11 -- Rudy Giuliani amid the destruction at ground zero. But it is the man you don't see who is now suffering.

Of all the members of the mayor's inner circle, Deputy Mayor Rudy Washington has been diagnosed with severe asthma -- making him the highest-ranking city official to fall victim to the chronic respiratory effects of the World Trade Center attack.

Former New York City Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro: "You can hear it in his voice, you can see it in his labored breathing, you can see it in the tiredness of the experiences from his breathing problem over the course of a normal work day."

Mastro was himself a deputy mayor. Rudy Washington, he says, spent days and weeks at ground zero, coordinating the clean up and directing outreach efforts during the recovery.

"He and his staff were down there everyday," he added.

And it's Washington, he says, who was in perfect health before 9/11. He adds that the state of New York approved his worker's compensation claim. But the city, he says, signalled its intention to fight the claim.

"We just want to make sure he gets the best care he needs to stabilize his condition," Mastro said.

It has been a similar struggle for many of the responders on 9/11: police officers and firefighters who have had to fight to have their claims approved.

Jackie Moline is with Mount Sinai Hospital and has been treating and evaluating thousands of people with 9/11-related illnesses.

"Some people have scarring in their lungs, some have asthma, reactive airways ... people have chronic sinus problems," she said.

Rudy Washington himself refuses to discuss it. And there's no comment either from the Bloomberg administration. City lawyers say they are now "in discussions with Mr. Washington's lawyers."

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