By Maren Miller Bam, Attorney at Gustad Law Group
Were you stationed at Camp Lejeune between 1953 and 1987? Have you considered applying for service-connected disability compensation? Well, you may be eligible for monthly compensation. Read all about what you need to konw if you were stationed at Camp Lejeune and have suffered from disability.
What You Need To Know If You Were Stationed at Camp Lejeune
If you’ve never filed a claim for service-connected compensation, there are basically two parts to every claim:
- Do you suffer from a medical impairment caused by or aggravated by your military service?
- How severe is your impairment?
Exposure to toxic chemicals has been a major focus of the Veterans Administration (“VA”) for some time and as a result, the VA has made a number of medical conditions presumptive, meaning that the causal nexus or step one above is presumed or met automatically. There are a number of presumptive conditions caused by Agent Orange Exposure in Vietnam Era Veterans.
Now legislation is pending that will make a number of conditions linked to the toxic drinking water at Camp Lejeune, presumptive. The proposed presumptive conditions include:
- Kidney Cancer
- Liver Cancer
- Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
- Leukemia
- Multiple Myelomas
- Scleroderma
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Aplastic Anemia/Myelodysplastic Syndromes
If you suffer from one of these conditions or another similar condition, you should file for VA service-connected compensation right away. You can file using VA form 21-526EZ to have your claim expedited.
If you suffer from a condition that is not on the proposed list and you believe that your condition is related to your military service or exposure to toxins, you should still apply using 21-526EZ, but you should talk to your doctors about drafting a causal nexus statement outlining that your condition is “as likely as not” related to your military service.