VA officials announced Monday that it has added nine rare respiratory cancers to the list of illnesses considered to be related to exposure to burn pits and other particles in the air encountered overseas, a designation that will expedite affected veterans' access to health care and benefits.
The move follows a White House announcement last November that it planned to establish presumption for the illnesses that have become more common among veterans in the past 32 years, with advocates and health experts zeroing in on burn pits used to dispose of trash and industrial waste in Iraq and Afghanistan as a likely culprit.
The new additions are rare, affecting roughly six per every 100,000 Americans, and the expedited benefits are being offered to affected veterans who served in the Persian Gulf since Aug. 2, 1990, as well as Afghanistan, Syria, Djibouti or Uzbekistan on or after Sept. 19, 2001.
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VA Secretary Denis McDonough told reporters Monday that the move, published Tuesday in the Federal Register, will “keep President Biden's promise … in ensuring that veterans who suffer from those conditions and their survivors will get the benefits and care they've earned.”
“If you suffer from any of those conditions … you may be eligible for disability benefits without having to prove causality between your service and your condition,” McDonough…
