By Jonathan Sharp, Guest Columnist
Veterans have been facing countless risks while they were on active duty that endangered their lives. A more obscure health-care threat veterans stationed at military bases encountered was toxic exposure.
Camp Lejeune is the perfect example in this regard, as for nearly 35 years, the drinking water at the military facility was heavily contaminated with volatile organic compounds. It is estimated that half a million veterans who spent time there developed a serious disease due to drinking tainted water.
While one would think Camp Lejeune veterans are easily granted VA disability compensation for the crippling illnesses, the reality is very different. The VA claim approval rate is just 17 percent, which excludes many veterans with qualifying diagnoses from obtaining the money they deserve for their suffering.
In 2012, the situation was even direr, as the claim approval rate was only 5 percent. The main reason why so many Camp Lejeune veterans have their claims rejected has to do with the medical professionals who review these claims.
After filing a lawsuit on behalf of these veterans, the students at Yale Law School discovered that most “subject matter experts” in charge of evaluating VA disability claims were general and preventive medicine doctors, lacking the necessary experience to assess the complex diseases Camp Lejeune veterans had. Nevertheless, the VA insisted that their medical professionals had “appropriate credentials” and received four hours of training on the issues regarding the military base’s contaminated water and claim evaluation.
The VA mishandled a whopping 40 percent of disability claims filed by Camp Lejeune veterans last year. This resulted in 21,000 veterans having their benefits delayed or denied. Furthermore, the claims filed by another 2,300 veterans were assigned incorrect dates, denying them $14 million in retroactive payments, and a total of 1,500 claims were denied for other technical and procedural errors, according to the department’s top watchdog.
There are more than 2,906 veterans in Cherokee County, some who lived at Camp Lejeune.
Richard, a 74-year-old veteran, experienced firsthand the problematic way in which the VA handles disability claims.
“I was stationed at Camp Lejeune from 1972-75. We had no idea the water was contaminated at the time,” he said. “Two years ago, I found out I had kidney cancer, and doctors told me it could be service-connected, so I filed for disability with the VA. My claim was denied twice.”
A glimmer of hope for these veterans is the Camp Lejeune Justice Act. Under this bill, which was signed into law Aug. 11, veterans who were stationed at the military base between Aug. 1, 1953, and Dec. 31, 1987, for at least one month and developed a qualifying disease can file a claim with the U.S. government. And to increase their chances of having their VA disability claims approved, Camp Lejeune veterans should collaborate with a specialized attorney, claims agent or veterans service officer.
Because these professionals have the necessary training and certification in the VA claims and appeals processes, their assistance can be of great help in having a disability claim approved.
The writer is chief financial officer at Environmental Litigation Group P.C. of Birmingham, Ala.