The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently established a presumption of service-connected conditions related to the contaminants discovered in the water used by servicemen at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. The new law allows any veteran stationed at the camp between 1957 and 1987 to file a Camp Lejeune water contamination class action lawsuit. Therefore, if you worked at the camp during the specified period, you should hire an attorney to help with a Camp Lejeune water contamination lawsuit in North Carolina.
To be eligible for the presumptive service connection, you must have served at the camp for at least one month during the specified period and prove that you later developed any of the specified Camp Lejeune service-connected conditions. Here are the eight Camp Lejeune service-related conditions specified by VA:
Adult Leukemia
Adult leukemia is a type of cancer that affects your blood and bone marrow through the uncontainable reproduction of white blood cells, preventing red blood cells from performing their functions effectively. This also leads to excessive bleeding, anemia, and infections. This cancer also invades your lymph nodes, causing inflammation, swelling, infections, and destruction of other body organs.
Veterans who served at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina between 1957 and 1987 and have developed adult leukemia are entitled to disability compensation. Being presumptively service-connected for adult leukemia means you do not have to prove your leukemia is connected to the service, you just need to prove that you served at the camp during the specified timeframe.
VA has established that the drinking water at Camp Lejeune was contaminated with high levels of benzene, perchlorethylene, trichlorethylene, and vinyl chloride during the specified period, which are known to cause various health complications, including adult leukemia. Some common symptoms of this type of cancer include fever, chills, excessive bleeding, easy bruising and bleeding, persistent fatigue and weakness, small red spots on the skin, swollen lymph nodes, a swollen spleen, and an inflamed liver.
Aplastic Anemia and Other Myelodysplastic Syndromes
If you served at Camp Lejeune during the specified period and later developed aplastic anemia or any other myelodysplastic syndrome, you are eligible for presumptive service connection benefits. The toxic chemicals found in the drinking water supplied to the camp at that time led to many serious conditions.
Aplastic anemia is a blood disease that prevents your body from producing enough blood cells. Your bone marrow produces blood cells that your body needs to perform different functions, such as carrying oxygen to different parts of your body and fighting infections.
Bladder Cancer
Many veterans who served at Camp Lejeune between 1957 and 1987 and their family members were later diagnosed with bladder cancer after consuming water contaminated with high levels of toxic chemicals from an off-base dry cleaner. Fortunately, these veterans are now eligible for presumptive service connection benefits. This also means they can also file a VA high-risk prostate cancer Camp Lejeune water contamination lawsuit.
Kidney Cancer
There are different types of kidney cancer, including renal cell carcinoma, urothelial carcinoma, Wilms tumor, sarcoma, and lymphoma. Although kidney cancer may not show any symptoms in its initial stages, it can later present numerous symptoms, including unexplained weight loss, fever, loss of appetite, blood in urine, chronic fatigue, and persistent back pain. If you served at Camp Lejeune between 1957 and 1987 and developed any of these symptoms, you should check if you have kidney cancer to claim your presumptive service connection benefits.
Liver Cancer
If you have been diagnosed with liver cancer and served at Camp Lejeune during the specified timeframe, you should file for a presumptive service connection. Scientific evidence has shown a strong connection between liver cancer and the toxic chemicals found in the drinking water at the camp between 1953 and 1987.
Multiple Myeloma
The majority of veterans stationed at Camp Lejeune at the time developed multiple myeloma, a form of cancer that affects a plasma cell that enables cancer cells to accumulate in the bone marrow and destroy healthy blood cells. If you served at the camp, you are entitled to disability compensation from the VA.
