{"id":3952,"date":"2022-09-29T06:54:43","date_gmt":"2022-09-29T10:54:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wcmoa.org\/?p=3952"},"modified":"2022-09-29T06:57:04","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T10:57:04","slug":"va-to-screen-all-patients-for-toxic-exposure-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wcmoa.org\/staging\/va-to-screen-all-patients-for-toxic-exposure-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"VA to screen all patients for toxic exposure issues"},"content":{"rendered":"
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VA to screen all patients for toxic exposure issues<\/h1>\n
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By\u00a0<\/span>Leo\u00a0Shane\u00a0III<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n
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A soldier uses a bulldozer to maneuver refuse into a burn pit at Balad, Iraq, in 2004. (Defense Department photo)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Veterans Affairs physicians will begin screening all department patients for\u00a0military-related toxic exposures<\/a>\u00a0starting in November, the latest step in efforts to understand the scope and severity of injuries caused by\u00a0burn pit smoke<\/a>\u00a0and other battlefield toxins.<\/p>\n

The new screening tool, mandated under\u00a0legislation passed by Congress this summer<\/a>, has been used at 15 VA medical center pilot locations over the past few weeks.<\/p>\n

VA Under Secretary for Health\u00a0Dr. Shereef Elnahal\u00a0<\/a>told reporters Wednesday that of the more than 13,000 veterans who have gone through the screening so far, about 37% said they have \u201cconcerns\u201d about possible toxic exposure issues during their time in the ranks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat represents a substantial percentage of veterans in our care that may have been exposed to a toxin that we were not aware of,\u201d Elnahal said. \u201cThat could mean more benefits or a higher medical priority categorization for them \u2026 This is clearly already bearing fruit.\u201d<\/p>\n

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RELATED<\/h6>\n
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\"An<\/picture><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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What are military burn pits? And why are veterans worried about them?<\/a><\/h6>\n
The fires used in combat zones to dispose of waste may have caused serious illnesses in hundreds of thousands of U.S. service members.<\/h6>\n
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By\u00a0<\/span>Leo\u00a0Shane\u00a0III<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n

The issue of military toxic exposure \u2014 particularly poisonous smoke from\u00a0burn pits<\/a> \u2014 has been a focus of national attention in recent months. In August, Congress finalized and President Joe Biden signed into law the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics, or PACT, Act, a sweeping measure to improve the research, care and benefits surrounding those injuries.<\/p>\n

Past Department of Defense studies have estimated that nearly 3.5 million troops from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may have suffered enough exposure to burn pit smoke to cause health problems.<\/p>\n

VA officials said by better screening all department patients, they\u2019ll be able to provide more information to physicians about common injuries and a better picture to researchers about the impact on the veteran population.<\/p>\n

The screening tool will be expanded to all VA medical sites and the 9-million-plus veterans enrolled in VA medical care just before Veterans Day. Patients will be required to go through the screening at least once every five years, looking for any signs of lingering respiratory problems or emerging health issues.<\/p>\n

The toxic exposure screening will not initially be available to veterans outside the VA health care system, Elnahal said.<\/p>\n

The move comes as VA officials are also urging all veterans to look into whether they are eligible for free health care coverage through the department under benefits expansion included in the PACT Act.<\/p>\n

Starting on Saturday, tens of thousands of veterans from the Vietnam War, first Gulf War and Post-9\/11 conflicts will be eligible for new health care coverage. Veterans will have one year to enroll and could be eligible for lifelong coverage if physicians find evidence of serious service-connected health problems.<\/p>\n

More information on enrollment is available at\u00a0the VA website.<\/a><\/p>\n

VA officials said they are working to handle the additional workload if the bulk of those newly eligible individuals enroll.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur number one strategic challenge is hiring,\u201d said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. \u201cWe have concrete efforts we are doing to meet very aggressive hiring goals in a tough labor market.\u201d<\/p>\n

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About\u00a0<\/span>Leo\u00a0Shane\u00a0III<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n

Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VA to screen all patients for toxic exposure issues By\u00a0Leo\u00a0Shane\u00a0III \u00a0Sep\u00a028, 05:29\u00a0PM A soldier uses a bulldozer to maneuver refuse into a burn pit at Balad, Iraq, in 2004. (Defense Department photo) Veterans Affairs physicians will begin screening all department patients for\u00a0military-related toxic exposures\u00a0starting in November, the latest step in efforts to understand the scope…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wcmoa.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3952"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wcmoa.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wcmoa.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wcmoa.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wcmoa.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3952"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wcmoa.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3954,"href":"https:\/\/wcmoa.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3952\/revisions\/3954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wcmoa.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wcmoa.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wcmoa.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}