"The goal of the app is really to make it super simple for people to access the most common VA transactions that they need to repeat a lot of times," and they can message their doctors, manage health appointments, check disability status and add files to claims and other features, some still in development, he said.

“Whether it be the veteran or a surviving spouse, there is no statute of limitation. If that Agent Orange Vietnam veteran died 30 years ago of a heart attack or a stroke, and had hypertension, we can now service connect that. The VA will send them a letter at their last known address saying, ‘We knew that you filed this claim. Please come back and ask for it again.'”

"A lot of veterans, you know a tough Marine like him, think that as warriors they shouldn't come in to file a claim shouldn't come in to get care because maybe someone else needs it, I am here to say to our veterans actually you are coming in to file your claim not only helps you but helps you battle buddies because we get a more complete picture of what veterans experienced in different situations," said McDonough.

ABC One-Hour Cleaners was responsible for improperly disposing of industrial solvents such as perchloroethylene, which inevitably led to severe water contamination at the military base. The military would also use chemicals to clean weapons and equipment, thereby increasing the extent of toxic contamination.

It’s estimated that more than a million people used the water over the course of these years without knowing that it was contaminated. Water tests conducted in 1982 found carcinogenic substances that cause severe, long-term damage to humans. By then, it was too late to reverse what had already been put into motion. As a result, many of the residents and workers at Camp Lejeune were diagnosed with cancer, miscarriage, birth defects, and even Parkinson’s disease.

Potential claimants only have until August 2024 to file. But Murray said neither that deadline nor the urgent-sounding ads are a reason to rush to sign an attorney. He said for now, the VFW is advising veterans to consult an accredited veteran service officer at a group like his or a state veterans affairs office. Those advocates who are trained to navigate the sometimes confusing bureaucracy of benefits.

“That represents a substantial percentage of veterans in our care that may have been exposed to a toxin that we were not aware of,” Elnahal said. “That could mean more benefits or a higher medical priority categorization for them … This is clearly already bearing fruit.”

PACT Act fraudsters may call veterans and falsely portray themselves as a VA employee or claim they can help them receive benefits. They have also sent emails and run commercials promising the same assistance — for a fee. Of course, some will mention specific service locations (North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune is a big one) and/or medical conditions, such as leukemia or liver cancer, that might make a vet eligible for payments.

“The Department of the Navy is committed to resolving all claims related to this matter in a fair and timely manner. All claims will be processed as quickly as possible; however, due to the large amount of claims anticipated to be received, we cannot forecast an expected processing time. Submitting your claim via email will assist in expediting your claim,” the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps says.

“The law just gives a very basic framework,” Murray said. "There's a lot of questions that we still have that need answers before we're 100% comfortable giving someone the recommendation to sign your name on the dotted line that may require money.”

Pasini, 73, enlisted in March of 1968. He was discharged in 1970 after serving in Vietnam and Okinawa, his health slowly deteriorating soon after.

“I’d been in Camp Lejeune… and in Vietnam areas that could’ve been sprayed with Agent Orange, so I developed primary progressive multiple sclerosis,” he said.

But this law established a two-year window in which to bring otherwise-barred lawsuits. That is one reason for the “hurry up” messaging in those personal injury lawyer ads seeking out plaintiffs. In fact, the advertising campaign kicked off long before the law was even adopted, meaning that personal injury lawyers were soliciting clients to bring lawsuits that were not even viable at the time the ads were running.

Maybe you’ve seen the lawyer ads on TV. For a period of some 35 years, a million people were potentially exposed to contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune, the Marines base camp in North Carolina. Since 2017, veterans from that era are presumed to have service-related illnesses from drinking that water. Now the Veterans Affairs Department inspector general has found the Veterans Benefits Administration hasn’t done a great job of processing those claims. The Federal Drive with Tom Temin gets the details from the deputy IG for audits and inspections, Brent Arronte.

The PACT Act also includes important updates for Vietnam era veterans. Specifically, two new presumptive conditions and additional Agent Orange and radiation presumptive locations are now covered. Veterans who may have previously been denied benefits for these new presumptive conditions may make a supplemental claim, a Vietnam veteran can refile a claim for hypertension, for example.

Two major types of errors were discovered in the Camp Lejeune disability claims process. Errors involving about 2,300 claims were made by staffers who assigned an incorrect effective date for benefit entitlement. Overall, the report said, veterans were underpaid at least $13.8 million in benefits for granted claims because VA regional office staff did not assign the earliest effective date permitted by federal regulation.

The bill redefines many conditions as "presumptive" — meaning the department will automatically consider those conditions a result of military service. A full list of presumptive conditions is available at VA.gov/PACT.

In this segment of Law Talk, Anna Czarples will be discussing the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, which recently passed Congress and went into effect after President Biden signed it in August. She will discuss who it affects and what it means for members of the military that were exposed to chemicals in the water. Some of the chemicals that were found in the water included Benzene. She also discusses some of the effects of exposure to these chemicals.

A recent example of legislation the VFW advocated for nationally is the PACT Act, which expanded Veterans Affairs (VA) health care and benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxic substances, according to the VA website.

“Administrative challenges should never prevent veterans from accessing the critical care and benefits they deserve. Congress must take action – that’s why I’m helping introduce this bill to address the backlog of personnel records to ensure veterans can swiftly process their claims and access the benefits they have earned.

McDonough and the group discussed the Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act — a law passed Aug. 8 providing benefits to veterans exposed to burn pits and toxins during their service, and access to other V.A. programs.