Oct 25, 2007 10:30 pm US/Eastern
Medical Examiner: 9/11 Cop Died From Drug Cocktail
Family Stunned By Claim James Zadroga Died From Injecting Ground Up Pills
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
His death was the catalyst, forcing New York City politicians to take ground zero illnesses seriously.
Now a shocking report claims New York City Police Detective James Zadroga's death had nothing to do with the hundreds of hours he spent at the pit.
"He was a hero," his father Joseph Zadroga said. "I got so many things on my mind right now," Joseph Zadroga said. "Yes, I am (hurt)."
It took Zadroga nearly a week to go public with what New York City Medical Examiner Charles Hirsch told him, that he believes his detective son James got the lung disease that killed him by injecting ground up pills, not from spending 400-plus hours working at ground zero.
The denials Thursday were fierce.
Zadroga said he never, ever saw his son crush pills and inject them.
Last week the medical examiner wrote a letter to the Zadroga family stating "It is our unequivocal opinion, with certainty beyond doubt, that the foreign material in your son's lungs did not get there as the result of inhaling dust at the World Trade Center or elsewhere."
The city medical examiner rejected a New Jersey medical examiner's findings that James Zadroga's death was "directly related" to his work at ground zero.
On Thursday, the family produced another expert, Michael Baden, the chief forensic pathologist for the state police and a former city medical examiner.
"The cause of his death was dust inhaled at ground zero," said Baden, also famous for his forensic shows on HBO. "The lungs were filled with reaction to inhaled foreign materials. There was cellulose, plastic material, glass fiber."
The findings say James Zadroga was not capable of injecting drugs into his bloodstream. What's more, said Baden: "There was absolutely no evidence of needle track scars."
The Zadroga family lawyer, Michael Barasch, says the family's only interest in determining the cause of death is so that their son's name can be added to the 9/11 memorial.
They are calling on Mayor Michael Bloomberg to intercede.
The mayor's office did not return calls seeking comment.
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