Veterans Affairs Proposes Additional Aid for 'Atomic Veterans'

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Veterans Affairs Proposes Additional Aid for 'Atomic Veterans'
  
WASHINGTON, Dec. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Veterans exposed to radiation 
during their military service and diagnosed with cancer of the bone, 
brain, colon, lung, or ovary will have an easier time applying for, 
and receiving compensation for their illnesses, if proposed 
regulatory changes are approved. 

Hershel W. Gober, Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), proposed 
adding these cancers to the list of illnesses presumed to be 
connected to the military service of specific veterans, thereby 
lessening their burden of proof when seeking compensation. 

"Veterans who were injured by radiation during their military service 
should receive fair and appropriate compensation," Gober said.  "No 
less than veterans who were wounded on the battlefield, they earned 
VA's support and the nation's gratitude." 

The proposed changes apply to those veterans who participated in 
"radiation-risk activities" while on active duty, during active 
service for training or inactive duty training as a member of a 
reserve component.  Those activities include the occupation of 
Hiroshima or Nagasaki, internment as a POW in Japan, or onsite 
involvement in atmospheric nuclear weapons tests. People in this 
group are frequently called "atomic veterans." 

In 1988, Congress established a presumption of service connection for 
13 different cancers in veterans exposed to "ionizing radiation," 
with later changes bringing the number to 16.  Under provisions of 
the Radiation-Exposed Veterans Compensation Act (Pub. L. 100-321), 
veterans are presumed to be service connected if they participated in 
a radiation-risk activity and later developed one of the following 
diseases: leukemia (other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia), cancer 
of the thyroid, breast, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, 
pancreas, gall bladder, bile ducts, salivary gland, or urinary tract, 
multiple myeloma, lymphomas (except Hodgkin's disease), primary 
cancer of the liver (except if cirrhosis or hepatitis B is 
indicated), or bronchiolo-aveolar carcinoma. 

The proposed changes would also expand the definition of "radiation-
risk activity" to include exposure to radiation related to 
underground nuclear tests at Amchitka Island, Alaska, prior to 
January 1, 1974, and service at gaseous diffusion plants in Paducah, 
Ky., Portsmouth, Ohio, and Oak Ridge, Tenn. (area K25). 

VA's proposed changes ensure equity in the treatment of veterans and 
federal civilians who are being provided benefits for the first time 
for health problems caused be radiation.  These changes bring 
veterans benefits up to the same standards used for civilians under 
the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) of 1990, as amended 
this year.

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Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
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Personal Website: http://sandyfl.nukeworker.net
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