Veterans Assistance
01-29-2009, 01:40 PM
According to a revealing statistic, more than 30 percent of Americans beset with mesothelioma (a rapacious cancer that attacks the internal lining of the lungs, abdomen, and heart) were exposed to asbestos during military service.
Out of the hundreds of occupations exposed to asbestos, veterans account for 30% of all mesothelioma cancer patients. Due to common military practices, veterans who served between 1940 and 1970 have a great risk of developing asbestos-related illnesses. Additionally, Navy personnel and workers employed in shipyards from the 1930s through the 1970s hold a greater risk of developing asbestos cancer (http://www.asbestos.com/mesothelioma) caused by asbestos exposure.
Currently, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs does not presently recognize epithelial mesothelioma (http://www.asbestos.com/mesothelioma/malignant/epithelial.php) as a service-connected medical condition.Thus, even if a veteran has been diagnosed with mesothelioma (of which nearly 100 percent of all cases are caused by asbestos exposure), the VA may refuse to treat them - unless the veteran can provide proof that the cancer is caused by exposure to asbestos while in service.
Veterans with asbestos-related illnesses find themselves in a unique and troubling situation, as they virtually have no avenue to seek compensation through the current government system. Ailing veterans are prohibited by law to seek compensation from the U.S. government through the court system. Our Organization has a Veterans' assistance department that helps veterans file and win their VA Claims. It's a completely free service headed by a 24 year Navy Veteran, who specializes in helping disabled veterans file for claims. For more information on options for a mesothelioma treatment (http://www.asbestos.com/treatment/), or how you can get free assistance with filing for asbestos-related VA Benefits please see the resources as the Mesothelioma (http://www.asbestos.com) Cancer Center.
Veteran Advisor
01-29-2009, 04:08 PM
Veterans with asbestos-related illnesses find themselves in a unique and troubling situation, as they virtually have no avenue to seek compensation through the current government system. Ailing veterans are prohibited by law to seek compensation from the U.S. government through the court system. Our Organization has a Veterans' assistance department that helps veterans file and win their VA Claims. It's a completely free service headed by a 24 year Navy Veteran, who specializes in helping disabled veterans file for claims. For more information on options for a mesothelioma treatment (http://www.asbestos.com/treatment/), or how you can get free assistance with filing for asbestos-related VA Benefits please see the resources as the Mesothelioma (http://www.asbestos.com) Cancer Center.
Veterans who believe they were exposed to asbestos and suffered injury as a result can pursue a claim if they can show they were in fact on one of those asbestos-laden ships (DD-214) and obtain a medical opinion that states subsequent diagnoses were "as likely as not" (under Reasonable Doubt doctrine) linked to exposure to the exclusion of other likely non-service causes. Many of these cases are easier to win if submitted by widows who can show their mate died of lung cancer and was stationed on a ship between 1930 and the early 70s, but vets themselves can also win them with evidence of likely exposure and linkable illness.
The following excerpt from a 2008 BVA decision outlines the best way to obtain service connection for illness due to asbestos exposure. Please bear with the lengthy text as it outlines, in detail, the path to winning the claim. For your convenience, I have the most crucial elements in bold face:
"In this case, VA medical evidence of record confirms that the veteran was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma in 2006, thereby satisfying the first element of a service connection claim.
As noted, the veteran attributes his mesothelioma to in-service exposure to asbestos, and the Board notes that the record contains a favorable etiology opinion. In this regard, according to a February 2007 letter, the veteran's VA physician, Dr. Butler, indicated that the veteran has stage IV mesothelioma which is most likely due to asbestos exposure. He further indicated that a person does not have to contract asbestosis in order to contract mesothelioma from asbestos exposure.
Notwithstanding the above, the dispositive issue in this case is whether the veteran was actually exposed to asbestos during service. The veteran, in a July 2006 statement indicated that he was exposed to asbestos while serving at Mather Air Force Base. He stated that he was assigned to the base supply unit from 1959 to 1961, and his job required him to keep track of B52 and KC 135 parts. He reportedly worked on the second floor of the base supply building and kept track of inventory via computer. He testified that he was often asked to report downstairs in the base supply building to count inventory by hand. When counting inventory, he was ordered to wear his fatigues, as opposed to his blue uniform. He remembered feeling worried because B52s and KC135s contained asbestos. He recalled a stack of asbestos sheets, and having to brush the asbestos particles off of the parts so that he could read the part numbers.
The veteran's service medical records do not demonstrate that he was exposed to asbestos during service. His service medical records are negative for complaints of asbestos exposure, or diagnoses of a pulmonary disability, to include asbestosis or mesothelioma.
However, the veteran's DD-214 shows that his military occupational specialty was an inventory management specialist, and the veteran has submitted a copy of a February 2007 email provided by a member of the inventory control team who worked at Mather Air Force Base from 1978 to 1986. She indicated that the inventory control team required individuals to physically go into warehouse storage areas to count inventory by hand. She stated that the team was compiled of supply troops from various shops, including those assigned to desk jobs, who normally wore the air force blue uniforms. During the inventories, she indicated that the team member had to wear fatigues during the duty day and physically report to the warehouse to perform inventory. She stated that, at that time, there was very little emphasis on environmental safety and health, therefore no one seemed too concerned that the B52 and KC 135 aircraft parts contained asbestos. She stated that since her supply days, she has spent 17 1/2 years working various environmental jobs for the Air Force. She further stated that in approximately 1982, the government started taking environmental safety and health issues more serious, and people were encouraged to take safety precautions.
The veteran has also submitted a medical treatise article which indicates that most cases of malignant mesothelioma are associated with a previous exposure to fibrous minerals, of which asbestos is the most important. The record also contains an online excerpt which indicates that there was a presence of B52s and KC 135s at Mather Air Force Base during the veteran's period of military service. Also of record is a "Deconstruction Training Manual - Waste Management Reuse and Recycling at Mather Field," issued in July 2001 that discusses, among other things, the various uses of asbestos, and the potential health effects related to asbestos exposure.
Although the veteran's service medical records and personnel records show no evidence of in-service asbestos exposure, given Dr. Butler's favorable opinion, the statement from the member of the inventory control team at Mather, the veteran's contentions, and the online medical article, the question as to whether the veteran was exposed to asbestos during service is at least in an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence. When such reasonable doubt exists in connection with a claim, it will be resolved in favor of the claimant. 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. In this case, when resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the veteran, the Board finds that the veteran was exposed to asbestos during service. Consequently, the three requirements for the grant of service connection for mesothelioma have been satisfied, and service connection for such disability is granted.
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for mesothelioma is
granted."