[BobbyB]

Exam could help veterans

June 26, 2007 11:32 PM EDT

Kara Gormley gets answers on veterans' benefits




COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - We've uncovered important information that anyone serving in the Gulf, or anyone who has loved ones in the Gulf right now needs to hear. There is one test that could help veterans and their families financially. WIS News 10's Kara Gormley investigates what and who it covers.

Almost 2,000 pages outline veteran's benefits, but currently only three ailments are being recognized by the government as being associated with people who have served or are serving in the Gulf region.

Conditions entitling a veteran to compensation, right now, are only chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and irritable bowel syndrome.

"It's not because we've proven something caused them," says Bryan Kerouc of Disabled American Vets. "But the overwhelming amount of veterans coming back with those three conditions was an alert."

Despite findings by the ALS Association linking Lou Gehrig's disease to military service in the Persian Gulf, ALS is currently not covered, and neither is cancer that develops over a year after a vet gets out of the military. Kerouc says, "There is no scientific evidence to date that says the environment is causing it over in the Persian Gulf, that it was the immunizations, that it's the oil fires, that it's the mustard gas or chemicals, no scientific facts yet that explain why the veterans have these conditions."

Not yet is the key phrase.

"My cancer presented itself in 2001," says Vietnam vet Major John Hopkins. Hopkins' prostate cancer is attributed to an herbicide used in Vietnam, something we now know as Agent Orange. It's covered by the VA.

Major Hopkins says, "The one good thing that came out of Vietnam is they said if you have prostate cancer, we're going to say it's Agent Orange. We are not going to quibble."

But it took the government over two decades to do that. Hopkins says, "How many PTSD cases did we ever hear from Korea? You never heard the word. It was a battle fatigue."

Now, years later, Kerouc says the majority of claims he handles are related to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Just because a condition isn't covered now, doesn't mean it won't be recognized later. That's why Kerouc says anyone who is serving or has served in the Persian Gulf region needs to take something called a Persian Gulf registry exam.

Currently, Kerouc says a lot of people who are serving are not. "They figured the exam they received when they left the military, that exit examination, was thorough enough. Well, it's not. That is not an examination that is specific to Persian Gulf war disabilities."

Kerouc says the exam is given by the VA. He says the medical information in it could help veterans and their families down the road financially.

If you are in the military or are a veteran who has served in the Persian Gulf, and you have a disease or ailment that is not on the list, advocates say you can still file a claim. But they say you need to have the medical evidence to support your claim that comes from the Persian Gulf registry exam or from your doctor.

Reported by Kara Gormley

Posted by Chantelle Janelle


http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6714610

[BobbyB]

National Registry of Veterans with ALS

http://www.durham.hsrd.research.va.gov/alsregistry.asp