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WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 27 — 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."
"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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