Camp Lejeune and “The Vietnam Veteran’s Song: A Memoir of a Marine”
About one year ago last week, on August 10th, 2022, historic legislation was signed offering hope and justice to thousands of people who suffered from exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
The law, known as the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 (or CLJA), allows qualifying individuals to sue and recover damages for harm due to exposure to toxic chemicals found in the drinking water at Camp Lejeune, if they resided or worked there between August 1, 1953, and December 31, 1987.
Nearly one million marines, their families and civilians were exposed to the toxic water at Camp Lejeune. A multitude of likely avoidable illnesses resulted. The CLJA divides these into “presumptively” covered illnesses, and “non-presumptively” covered.
*Presently, these eight conditions are the only ones for which there is sufficient scientific and medical evidence to support the creation of presumptive service connection. However, the VA will continue to review relevant information as it becomes available, so the conditions “presumably caused by exposure while at Camp Lejeune” may expand in the future.
The diagnoses that will automatically qualify you for compensation under the CLJA, or “presumptive” conditions, include:
- Adult leukemia*
- Bladder cancer*
- Kidney cancer*
- Liver cancer*
- Multiple myeloma*
- Bone marrow disorders, such as myelodysplastic syndromes*
- Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma*, and
- Parkingson’s Disease
In addition to the above “presumptive” conditions, some covered “non-presumptive” illnesses include:
- Breast Cancer
- Esophageal Cancer
- Lung Cancer
- Female infertility
- Fatty liver disease
- Miscarriage
- Neurobehavioral effects (such as memory loss, insomnia, headaches, poor concentration, dementia, and/or anxiety)
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Kidney disease
- Scleroderma (joint pain with chronic thickening/hardening of the skin)
Note that the litigation is ongoing, and new conditions may be added as more research is conducted and more evidence comes to light. If you or someone you know spent 30 or more days at Camp Lejeune between 1953 and 1987 and has been diagnosed with any of these illnesses, we recommend filing for compensation.
At the Herd Law Firm, PLLC, we support every man, woman, and child exposed to contaminants at Camp Lejeune, and believe you deserve attentive and quality legal representation. We are proud to be able to aid our veterans and their families in seeking restitution for their injuries, and have been entrusted by the Veterans of Foreign Wars to handle these claims on behalf of veterans and their families.
Click here for more information: CAMP LEJEUNE WATER CONTAMINATION – Herd Law Firm
And check out the song at the link below to support our brave armed forces!: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Wwf6shlhapY&feature=share
8/15/2023
