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During my last year in the Navy, I was stationed at Camp Lejeune Naval…

Since 2002, at least 270 environmental accidents on U.S. Marine Corps bases on Okinawa have contaminated land and local waterways but, until now, almost none of these incidents has been made public. U.S. Marine internal reports highlight serious flaws in training and suggest that the lessons of past accidents have not been effectively implemented. Moreover, recent USMC guidelines order service members not to inform Japanese authorities of accidents deemed “politically sensitive”, raising concerns that many incidents may have gone unreported.

One of our readers asked this questions recently: “FTCA vs Medicare – which takes precedent?” According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), under the Medicare Secondary Payer Act, medical bills paid by Medicare for tort victims are conditional payments. If there is a tort recovery, Medicare is required to be reimbursed.

Andersen Air Force Base (AAFB) is a 20,000-acre site located on the northern end of the island of Guam. Since 1940, AAFB provides support for Strategic Air Command operations. Hazardous substances associated with AAFB operations include solvents such as trichloroethane (TCE) and paint thinners; dry cleaning fluids and laundry products; fuels such as JP-4 and gasoline; pesticides; antifreeze; aircraft cleaning compounds; and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

In addition, the typical language of “limited or suggestive evidence” and “conflicting scientific evidence” that once again surfaces from the VA. As we all know all too well, there is plenty of definitive scientific evidence that shows elevated risks for certain cancers and other health concerns as a result of exposure to Camp Lejeune toxic water contamination.  Four studies in 2014 from the ATSDR reveal this in the military, spouses, children and civilian workers from the base.  The results are neither “limited or suggestive”.  All of those studies can be found here.

This week, a New York Times article by author George Johnson entitled “A Cancer Cluster is Tough to Prove” takes a hard look at the current state of progress involving Camp Lejeune water contamination, as well as the frustrations faced by those exposed.