By FireRescue1 Staff
RALEIGH, N.C. — A bill that would designate nine different types of cancer as occupational injuries passed a North Carolina House committee.
WRAL reported that the legislation includes coverage for esophageal, intestinal, rectal, testicular, brain and oral cavity cancers, as well as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, multiple myeloma and mesothelioma.
Rep. David Lewis, a co-sponsor of the bill, says it’s the least the state can do for firefighters.
“These men and women risk their lives to protect ours, oftentimes to the detriment of their own health,” he said in a speech in the House. “Firefighters still are exposed through the normal course of their duties to things that can, and often do, kill them. No other professional is expected to brave that alone, to brave that without the support of their employers. That’s what workers compensation is for: If you’re hurt at work, if you’re made sick at work, then your work helps restores your health.”