Jacob Ogles
After the death of a Florida sheriff’s deputy from lung cancer, Rep. Vern Buchanan signed onto legislation expanding medical care for veterans with similar ailments.
Sarasota County Deputy Stephen Shull, a pilot who served in the Coast Guard and Army, died Sunday from metastatic lung cancer. His passing came after he was exposed during service in Iraq and Afghanistan to toxic fire pits, sites where the military disposes of chemicals, oil, medical waste and other pollutants.
“I’m deeply saddened by the death of Stephen Shull, who served our country overseas and later protected our community here at home,” Buchanan said. “He is one of the many veterans who suffered from critical health problems after being exposed to toxic burn pits. Our country needs to learn from the tragic mistakes in long denying health coverage to Vietnam veterans and do the right thing.”
Buchanan signed on as co-sponsor for the Presumptive Benefits for War Fighters Exposed to Burn Pits and Other Toxins Act (HR 8261). The legislation, introduced by Rep. Raul Ruiz, a California Democrat, would add 12 diseases to the Veterans’ Affairs Department list of conditions presumably related to burn pit exposure, including chronic bronchitis, emphysema, lymphoma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, granulomatous disease, constrictive bronchiolitis, pulmonary fibrosis, pleuritis, sarcoidosis, interstitial lung disease, and any type of cancer or asthma diagnosed after exposure.
The Veterans Benefits Administration today doesn’t recognize those conditions as tied to airborne hazards and requires service members to provide specific evidence their medical condition comes from exposure to the burn pits.
The VA did launch a registry in 2004 where service members could self report their concerns. Since that time, 210,000 individuals have put their name in the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry, but the federal agency ultimately denied benefits to 75% of those people.
If the new legislation becomes law, there would be a presumption any service member exposed to the fire pits and developed these conditions would qualify for VA care. The only evidence required at that point would be records showing the veterans were deployed to any of the 34 countries where burn pits were used. Receipt of service medals from the Global War of Terror and the Gulf War would do the job.
It’s an issue of particular importance in Florida’s 16th Congressional District, home to 88,000 veterans. Buchanan has similarly co-sponsored legislation expending coverage for service members exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam.
