{"id":72530,"date":"2023-01-04T20:33:26","date_gmt":"2023-01-04T20:33:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/01\/04\/40-of-vets-express-worries-about-military-toxic-exposure-injuries\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T16:09:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T16:09:02","slug":"40-of-vets-express-worries-about-military-toxic-exposure-injuries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2023\/01\/04\/40-of-vets-express-worries-about-military-toxic-exposure-injuries\/","title":{"rendered":"40% of vets report worries about military toxic exposure injuries"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just two months after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2022\/12\/30\/new-in-2023-va-health-records-overhaul-faces-critical-juncture\/\" target=\"_blank\">Veterans Affairs officials<\/a> launched <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2022\/09\/28\/va-to-screen-all-patients-for-toxic-exposure-issues\/\" target=\"_blank\">new medical screenings<\/a> focused on military toxic exposure issues, about 400,000 veterans have already reported potential health concerns related to those issues, department leaders said Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VA physicians have screened more than 1 million patients since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/burn-pits\/2022\/11\/07\/new-va-toxic-exposure-screening-starts-nov-8\/\" target=\"_blank\">the start of November<\/a>, a total they said surpassed their initial estimates for patient outreach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The five-minute survey is conducted with all veterans seeking health care within the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2022\/07\/21\/after-a-5-year-wait-va-gets-a-new-top-medical-leader\/\" target=\"_blank\">Veterans Health Administration<\/a>, and is designed to both look for potential hidden health issues related to military toxic exposure incidents and highlight new benefits available to veterans with related injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2022\/09\/28\/va-to-screen-all-patients-for-toxic-exposure-issues\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1741.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">VA to screen all patients for toxic exposure issues<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The move is part of the PACT Act, passed this summer to improve benefits for veterans dealing with those injuries.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Of the group already surveyed, 40% have reported possible toxic exposures during their time in service, reflecting the massive scope of the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The list of contaminants includes breathing in smoke from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/burn-pits\/2022\/03\/29\/what-are-military-burn-pits-and-why-are-veterans-worried-about-them\/\" target=\"_blank\">open-air burn pits<\/a> used throughout Afghanistan and Iraq, working near <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/01\/29\/court-rules-va-must-pay-disability-benefits-to-blue-water-vietnam-veterans\/\" target=\"_blank\">Agent Orange<\/a> residue in Vietnam, experiencing elevated radiation levels at various military sites throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and drinking contaminated water at military bases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When Congress approved the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act \u2014 better known as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2022\/12\/29\/new-in-2023-pact-act-processing-set-to-start-jan-1\/\" target=\"_blank\">PACT Act<\/a> \u2014 last summer, advocates had estimated the benefits included in the legislation could help as many as one in every five living veterans in America today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the recent survey results suggest that rate could be even higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese screenings are paramount to improving the health outcomes for veterans and providing them with the health care and benefits they\u2019ve earned as quickly as possible,\u201d VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. Shereef Elnahal said in a release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur health care teams reached an incredible breakthrough in a short length of time \u2026 This is among the first steps we have taken to deliver even more benefits and health care to veterans who have been exposed to toxins during their service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Jan. 1, VA officials began processing PACT Act benefits claims for more than 212,000 veterans who had applied since last August. Payouts for those cases are expected to begin in coming weeks, although more complicated claims may take longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The legislation included presumptive benefit status for 12 types of cancer and 12 other respiratory illnesses linked to burn pit exposure in the Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan and the War in Iraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2022\/03\/29\/what-are-military-burn-pits-and-why-are-veterans-worried-about-them\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/burn-pit-balad-air-base-dvids-march-2008-file-dvids.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">What are military burn pits? And why are veterans worried about them?<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The fires used in combat zones to dispose of waste may have caused serious illnesses in hundreds of thousands of U.S. service members.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It also provides new benefit status for hypertension and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) among veterans who served in Vietnam and radiation-related illnesses for veterans who served in several new locations in the 1960s and early 1970s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The cost of providing the benefits is expected to top more than $278 billion over the next 10 years. In addition, VA will spend millions more on research related to the toxic exposures in the hopes of providing quicker and better medical care for long-term health conditions related to the exposures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The surveys will play a key role in that research work, providing information about what veterans were exposed to and ways to track recurring medical complications that may be related to those contaminants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More information on the PACT Act is available <a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/resources\/the-pact-act-and-your-va-benefits\/\" target=\"_blank\">on the VA\u2019s website<\/a> or by calling 1-800-MYVA411 (1-800-698-2411).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since November, VA officials have screened more than 1 million veterans for health issues related to things like burn pit smoke and chemical contamination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":80089,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,89,12,26,62,19],"tags":[8478],"coauthors":[3222],"class_list":["post-72530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans","tag-va-benefits"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"EKLTWLTKYJGTLKCMTDZ2ZB7G5Q","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/burn-pits\/2023\/01\/04\/40-of-vets-express-worries-about-military-toxic-exposure-injuries\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>40% of vets report worries about military toxic exposure injuries - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Since November, VA officials have screened more than 1 million veterans for health issues related to things like burn pit smoke and chemical contamination.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"40% of vets report worries about military toxic exposure injuries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Since November, VA officials have screened more than 1 million veterans for health issues related to things like burn pit smoke and chemical 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