BurnPits : PresumPtionsAtLAst
Military & Veterans Affairs Committee
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they sound like — pits in the ground where waste is burned . When in operation , these pits were used to dispose of almost all military waste , including medical and human waste , petroleum , plastics , rubber , chemicals , paint , munitions , and metals . 2 Due to the wide array of items burned in those pits , it was exceedingly difficult to prove exposure to any particular chemical or toxin . Because they generally could not prove exposure , affected veterans had difficulty demonstrating that their condition was related to toxic exposure and were essentially blocked from receiving compensation or medical care .
Veterans and advocates alike are enthusiastic about these new presumptions , but there is still progress to be made . We need a more expansive list of presumptions to fully envelop the wide variety of disabilities from which veterans suffer . While respiratory issues make up a large percentage of the issues , 3 many of these veterans are also living with — or dying from — multiple forms of cancer . 4 n
1
86 FR 42724 .
2
U . S . Department of Veterans Affairs , Public Health : Airborne Hazards and Burn Pit Exposures , https :// www . publichealth . va . gov / exposures / burnpits / index . asp ( last visited Sept . 10 , 2021 ).
3
See generally Jason Liu , Scd et . al ., Burn Pit Exposure and Respiratory and Cardiovascular Conditions Among Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit
Registry Participants , 58 JOURNAL OF
OPERATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL
MEDICINE 7 ( 2016 ).
3
See generally Catherine Valentine and Brianna Keilar , Surviving Combat Only to Die at Home : Returned Staff Sgt . Wesley Black is Picking Out His Coffin at 35 Years Old , CNN ( June 21 , 2021 ). https :// www . cnn . com / 2021 / 06 / 21 / politics / homefront-iraq-afghanistanburn-pits / index . html ; Kenzi Abou-Sabe and Didi Martinez , Veterans Face Uphill Battle to Receive Treatment .
Author : Morgan MacIsaac- Bykowski - Stetson University Veterans Law Institute
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