--this not only leads to more research, but more funding for treatment.

Personally, given what was in that World Trade Center dust, it's ridiculous for anyone to be denying a whole host of medical consequences in those exposed. Being nearby or downwind that day, or the days after, is likely analogous to having gone swimming in a toxic waste dump; there's no question that toxic substances were aerosolized and not only breathed in, but absorbed through skin pores as well.