LEJEUNE HEALTH SURVEY: STUDY OR COVER UP?

(JACKSONVILLE, NC) – It doesn’t take a doctoral degree in science to know that a survey of two Superfund sites thousands of miles from each other may show higher incidence of cancer and other diseases than found in the general population.

Yet, that is exactly what the Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry, aka ATSDR, plans in a health survey of a group from Camp Lejeune and a comparison group from Camp Pendleton.

Courtesy, USMC.

The Camp Lejeune wells were contaminated with organic solvents and other toxic chemicals over a 30 year period from 1957 until 1987. As much as 500,000 to 1,000,000 people may have been exposed to contaminated water on the base.

During June to December 2011, ATSDR will conduct a health survey of persons who resided or worked at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina before 1986 who may have been exposed to contaminated drinking water.

The purpose of the survey is to learn more about participants’ health. Health surveys also will be mailed to a comparison group of former active duty Marines, sailors, and civilian employees, sampled from those who lived or worked at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California.

It seems that Camp Pendleton was selected for the health survey because it met the requirements for an external, unexposed comparison group, similar in all respects to the Marines and civilian workers at Camp Lejeune except for exposure to VOC-contaminated drinking water.

The Marine Corps denies responsibility for illnesses, injuries and deaths from the contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. Major General Payne, Jr., former Marine Corps Assistant Deputy Commandment for Installations and Logistics (Facilities), in Congressional testimony before the Investigations and Oversight Committee of the House’s Science and Technology Committee on September 16, 2010, stated that compensation could not be provided to veterans for “claims for illness, disease, or injury without a demonstration of causation [my emphasis] and we do not have that…”

The Marine Corps is not involved in the VA disability and compensation claim process. However, a staffer forgot to tell General Payne that the VA has approved disability compensation for a number of Camp Lejeune Marine veterans who met the causation criteria for a VA compensation and disability claim.

By law, a veteran must provide evidence to the VA that a current disability is at least as likely as not due to military service. In simply terms, this means that evidence supporting a current disability must at least be equally balanced for and against a service connection.

Camp Lejeune veterans who file a VA disability claim for diseases that occurred after military service would need a medical nexus opinion from a medical care provider stating the veteran’s current disability is “at least as likely as not” due to military service. This is only part of the evidence required by the VA. Obtaining military service and medical records, civilian medical records, and searching for a doctor who will sign-off on a nexus opinion can be an exhausting process, even for a healthy person. For a veteran with stage 3 or 4 cancer in pain, the process can be tortuous