Submitted by Scott Chernoff, Oct 18, 2007 00:12

Dear Ms Garland, I applaude you for writing this article and i am sorry i didn't get to read it sooner than now.I am a retired NYC Police Officer.I was forced to retire in January 2005 with a low paying,non line of duty disability pension,i collect $462.13 a month,after taxes and child support.I had applied for a line of duty disability pension in 2004 in regards to me suffering from 9/11 related PTSD,Depresion,Anxiety and Alcoholism,which was denied by the NYC Medical Board.I developed the symptoms of PTSD in early 2002 which manifested into Depression and Anxiety,except for Alcoholism which was in 2003.Ever since i was an emergency responder on that day and working as security at the site from December 2001 to May 2002,my Life has suffered irreparable damage to this day.I started to feel the effects of PTSD in early 2002 and it slowly manifested itself into Depression and Anxiety which caused stress on my marriage which ended in divorce in late 2002.It lead to me having my first nervous breakdown on Dec 26th,2002,not being to handle mentally the stress of my divorce.It was one of many,four to be exact,hospitalizations at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan.One of which i received six sessions of electro convulsive therapy.I developed Alcoholism in early 2003 to help cope with the trauma,flashbacks,panick attacks,uncontrolable rage,suicidal ideation,feelings of hopelessness and helplessnesss,intense fear,stress of my divorce,legal fees,bankruptcy,selling of my house that proceeded from 2003 to 2005.The Alcoholism made my suffering worse and eventually lead me to get arrested for petit larceny in lower Manhattan in March 2003 at a Department Store.By that time i had lost all hope of ever recovering from my mental illness and was hoping that i would either end up dead somewhere,arrested or mentally institutionalized for good.The Psych Department deceitfully reworded my PTSD and stated that i only suffered from Depression,Anxiety,Alcoholism and even went as far as to say Bipolarism?!All of which they stated was caused by my marriage ending!! Even though they had full knowledge of me experiencing 9/11 and working at the site they chose to disregard that important aspect and bury it under alot of words in my Psych Report that was looked at by the Medical Board in which they denied me what i had truly deserved to be awarded.They even went as far as to prosecute me through it's own court system and tried to fire me in 2004.They knew of my medical history and chose not to acknowledge it when it came to prosecuting me.My family had to help in paying for a lawyer that would help resolve it more efficiently than the PBA had retained for me because they had given up hope for me and save my job.I felt like i had noone to hear my pleas or look at my past.Fortunately the lawyer i had retained saved my job but in return i had to retire as soon as possible which would be before my 10th year and would have been more money in my pension payout.At this present time i have been able to retain a lawyer,Jeff Goldberg,that is suing the City on my behalf and i am also apart of the class action suit on behalf of the emergency responders.You can see why the Police Unions as well as the Police themselves don't trust what the Medical Division is doing as well as the Depts administration.I am one of thousands of cops that have been become ill since 9/11 and they have chosen to deny honest people through deceit,lies,greed and violating labor law practices.If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me with my email address.Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Scott Chernoff

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