Recent Blog Posts

The omnibus spending bill Congress passed in December 2015 and President Obama signed included a provision years in the making: $4.4 million in compensation for each American hostage held captive in Iran 35 years ago. The 52 Americans were stationed at the American Embassy in Tehran when Iranian students stormed the building in 1979. The […]

I want to share a hard lesson learned by one of my clients, Brian, who sustained a career-ending knee injury when his car was hit by a truck. He asked me to share his story with the rest of the 9/11 community to ensure that others learn from his horrible experience with his own insurance […]

On January 9, Mayor Bill de Blasio presented former FDNY firefighter Ray Pfeifer the keys to the city at City Hall in honor of his tenacious advocacy of Zadroga Act reauthorization. Pfeifer, currently battling stage-four renal cancer, played a pivotal role in persuading Congress to continue health benefits for sick 9/11 responders until the year […]

It is with great sadness that we at Barasch & McGarry acknowledge the passing in January of another brave 9/11 responder who succumbed to 9/11-related illness at all-too-young an age. The Journal News recently reported that Thomas John Kelly, 58, an FDNY firefighter for 17 years in the Bronx and a resident of Carmel, New […]

Michael Barasch was honored along with other 9/11 union leaders and advocates by Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and Congressman Jerrold Nadler for their group effort in getting Congress to extend and reauthorize the Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. The law was passed by Congress at the end of December 2015. It guarantees full payment of all […]

Although it is a fairly rare cancer, thyroid cancer was one of the most prevalent 9/11-related diseases to emerge among WTC responders and Ground Zero rescue and recovery workers. The disease has a very short latency period of only 2.5 years after exposure, so it wasn’t very surprising to see thyroid cancer get a jump […]