Toxic WTC tactic

City probing 9/11 hero's STDs, pimples

By SUSAN EDELMAN

Last Updated: 4:54 PM, October 30, 2009

Posted: 4:37 AM, October 25, 2009

Comments: 19

The city is digging into the history of a hero firefighter's sexually transmitted disease from nearly a decade before 9/11 as part of its legal battle against World Trade Center rescue and recovery workers.

City lawyers grilled a doctor who treated FDNY veteran Raymond Hauber for an STD in 1992. Hauber died in August 2007, at age 47, of esophageal cancer.

The FDNY's medical board found the firefighter's cancer was job-related -- including his round-the-clock search for victims at Ground Zero -- and declared him disabled in the line of duty.

Last October, Mayor Bloomberg signed a law renaming a Staten Island boulevard "Firefighter Raymond W. Hauber Way."

A lawsuit by Hauber's family seeking compensation for his death is one of the first of 9,500 toxic-injury claims set for trial next May, and the legal maneuvers have already heated up.

In hardball tactics, lawyers for the city have hired private investigators to snoop on rescue and recovery workers. The Law Department would not comment.

In Hauber's case, the city subpoenaed Staten Island internist Nader Attia, who last saw the firefighter five years before 9/11. He did not treat Hauber for the gastrointestinal disease GERD, which led to his cancer in 2006.

The firefighter told Attia he was "worried about syphilis" after breaking up with a girlfriend.

Two years later, the bachelor told Attia he feared a gonorrhea infection from another woman. Tests showed he had chlamydia, a common sex-related disease, and not syphilis or gonorrhea.

The doctor testified that the STD was not connected to Hauber's gastrointestinal disease.

City lawyers also asked Attia about Hauber's case of jock itch, pimples, an upset stomach from barbecue ribs, and "obesity." Hauber was an avid outdoorsman who loved to cook.

"This is a desperate grab at straws, throwing mud and trying to confuse things," said Hauber family attorney Andrew Carboy.

"It makes us feel betrayed," said Hauber's brother, Paul.

He recalled that Raymond, who had the day off on 9/11, was at an auto shop when the first plane hit. Raymond raced to his firehouse, Engine Co. 284 in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, to join the rescue effort, taking only nap breaks the first week, Paul said.

"They're trying to dig up dirt so they can walk away from it," he said.

The city says it must probe whether post-9/11 illnesses were triggered by any pre-existing problems to avoid unwarranted payments.

At the same time, the city has filed a motion to block the testimony of FDNY medical-board doctors who assessed Hauber, claiming their deliberations are "privileged."

Topics

Comments (15)

Post Your Comment

Report Abuse

sue

10/26/2009 6:47 PM

I hope the Mayor and NYC are happy with all the money they are spending to hire a private investigator to find out that the man had sex...I wonder if Mayor Bloomberg is going to stick his hand in his pocket to pay the millions of dollars the city is spending to NOT compensate the firefighters.
Report Abuse

eddied

10/26/2009 4:02 AM

The city won't let their own doctors testify because their opinion hurts the citys position? Whatever happened to relying on the truth to make decisions? Again Bloomberg proves what a poor example of a human being he is....is this how he made so much money....trying to steamroll goodm people?
Report Abuse

miracle

10/26/2009 3:59 AM

It is deeply disturbing that Mayor Bloomberg seems so comfortable taking the low road. What is his problem with the Fire Department? It seems almost personal.
Report Abuse

eagle4life

10/25/2009 5:06 PM

This man bloomberg has lost touch with the working man he is tryin to buy himself another term vote him out and send a message where are the UNIONS wake up look what this piece of trash mayor is doing to your membership oh wait i forgot he paid you guys off also ,our heros deserve more vote him out already and sent a message to city hall we cant be bought
Report Abuse

GAH

10/25/2009 4:29 PM

Term limits, folks. That's the only answer. We had em, Bloomberg and the city council overruled the people. Vote the bums out.
Report Abuse

Anonobserver

10/25/2009 12:50 PM

I hope his family files another suit for invasion of the man's privacy. The stigma of STDs is part of what prevents some people from getting treatment. It's far better for people who suspect they may have a STD to go to the doctor or a clinic and get tested than not go and risk passing it onto others. Good work, the idiots who invaded this man's private life have probably ensured a bunch of people NOT going to the doctor and spreading more STDs.

And anyone can get them. A friend of mine lost her virginity in her early 20s to a guy she didn't realize was cheating on her. When he tested positive for herpes, he tried to blame it on her. Fortunately, she didn't have it (and dumped him). He was a clean cut, church going guy, who just hid the cheating very well.
Report Abuse

LeeD

10/25/2009 12:49 PM

Bloomberg, Bloomberg, Bloomberg. He uses NYC (our) money to pay attorneys to deny the claims of our heroes.

Voting for Bloomberg is like living with the enemy. Do so at your own risk!!!!
Report Abuse

mogul22

10/25/2009 12:37 PM

Vote Bloomberg OUT. This is disgusting! The city should have fought paying the drug pushers who got $500,000 grand for tons of fake suits, not this. Will $85 million prove this is not a democracy, but a fire sale?