See your local DAV Office for Claims Support. HK Lawmakers to VA: Provide Health Care to All Veterans Made Sick by Burn Pits Lawmakers to VA: Provide Health Care to All Veterans Made Sick by Burn Pits A soldier watches over the civilian fire fighters at the burn pit as smoke and flames rise into the night sky behind him at Camp Fallujah, Iraq on May 25th, 2007. (U.S. Marine Corps/Cpl. Samuel D. Corum) 4 Sep 2019 Military.com | By Patricia Kime A bipartisan group of congressmen is pressuring the Department of Veterans Affairs to extend health benefits and disability compensation automatically to veterans battling illnesses thought to be caused by exposure to open-air burn pits. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Florida, and Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-California, have both introduced legislation that would direct the VA to study illnesses thought to be related to exposure to the toxic fumes emitted by waste disposal sites in Iraq and Afghanistan and designate any linked illnesses as presumed to be caused by exposure, thereby automatically qualifying affected veterans for VA health care and disability benefits. Both also have signed on to support each other's bills, while Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas; Rep. Peter King, R-New York; and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pennsylvania, have thrown support behind Ruiz's bill. Bilirakis, who introduced the same measure in 2018, said the government needs to heed the lessons of Vietnam veterans, who fought nearly 20 years to establish a presumptive service link for exposure to Agent Orange and other toxic herbicides. Related: After Mandate From Congress, VA Opens Research Center for Burn-Pit Related Illnesses "It's not a coincidence that so many of the exposed veterans are all suffering from the same diseases," Bilirakis said in a statement last month. "We saw similar patterns with veterans who had been exposed to Agent Orange in earlier wars. Sadly, many of those veterans died while the VA took decades to study the issue." Ruiz named his bill after Air Force Staff Sgt. Jennifer Kepner, a medic who served in Iraq in 2004 and died in 2017 of pancreatic cancer, which her family said was caused by exposure to the massive 10-acre burn pit at Balad. Kepner left behind a nine-year-old daughter and a two-year-old son, as well as her husband, Ben Kepner. "At the beginning of the fight, we were denied care and help from the VA, not once, but twice. When you are going through that nightmare, the last thing you want is letters from the VA saying, 'There is nothing we can do,'" Kepner said in a statement released by Ruiz's office. "Jennifer Kepner was a hero who courageously battled pancreatic cancer while fighting for her fellow veterans suffering from pulmonary conditions and rare cancers linked to burn pit exposure," Ruiz said. "[Her] empathy and courage continue to inspire me in this fight for our veterans to get the health care and benefits they have earned and deserve." Either bill would have to survive the lengthy legislative process to become law, but there is a growing lobbying effort among veterans service organizations, as well as support among members of Congress to help service members with respiratory diseases, cancer and other debilitating illnesses their physicians say were caused by environmental exposures. The VA has not designated any illnesses as presumed to be related uniquely to service in Iraq or Afghanistan, with the exception of Gulf War veterans who served in Southwest Asia. Medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illnesses, often referred to collectively as Gulf War Syndrome, are considered service-related. In addition, any personnel diagnosed with a chronic disease within a year of leaving active duty are encouraged to apply for disability compensation, as their illnesses are likely to be service-related, and those diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, automatically qualify for health care and benefits. In 2011, an arm of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine reviewed all existing scientific literature and available data on burn pits and occupational exposure to smoke and found that there was insufficient evidence to connect any illnesses in veterans to burn pit exposure. The organization also found, however, that air quality and pollutant data taken and kept by the Defense Department and military services in Iraq and Afghanistan was scant or incomplete. At their peak, the Defense Department and military contractors ran 250 burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan to dispose of garbage, industrial waste, hospital discards and trash. As of March 2019, nine remained active -- seven in Syria, one in Afghanistan and one in Egypt. Pentagon officials said the pits are being used to dispose of waste during short-term contingency operations and areas where the infrastructure or contract support is not available for waste disposal, and the need or expense of installing an incinerator or landfill is unwarranted. The VA maintains a national registry, the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry, of veterans exposed to burn pits. Roughly 185,000 service members have signed into the database.
Thanks @HK_User ... Sent this to my Marine Vet son. He currently has no issues the he has made me aware of, thank God, but he also does not keep himself well informed of what the VA can and will do if he develops symptoms.
Information is the most important item the DAV can provide. In the last 3months 5 widows have received their benefits, one from 30 years ago and all because a local Tax Assessor told her to come see the DAV.
Yup even though the VA would not allow my Agent Orange claim12 years ago I filled on the Agent Orange Site and had my Meet Up with a VA Doc. Not that I will receive a dime but it did provide a Ton of Intel for me to pass along to each Vet in the Vietnam War. I pushed them real hard and bluntly to file their claim that would not be approved. Now they are in line come the first of Jan 2020 for compensation for any disease they have which may be connected to AO. Information is the most important item the DAV can provide.
