VSO Offers Vets Help with Camp Lejeune Claims
The Hamilton County Veteran Services Office is available to help qualifying veterans file for service-connected disabilities related to water contamination at Camp Lejeune. As part of the Camp Lejeune Justice Act passed in August, anyone who was exposed to contaminated water at the U.S. Marine Corps base in North Carolina for at least 30 days between August 1953 and December 1987 can file a claim with Veterans Affairs if they have been diagnosed with one or more of these presumptive conditions:
- Adult leukemia
- Aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes
- Bladder cancer
- Kidney cancer
- Liver cancer
- Multiple myeloma
- Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- Parkinson’s disease
“We encourage Hamilton County veterans who served at Camp Lejeune during the aforementioned dates to contact us,” says Lisa Charles, the County’s Veteran Service Officer (CVSO). “We are here to help veterans, their surviving spouse, and their ‘helpless children,’ complete the necessary paperwork to support their VA claim at no cost.”
Ads by personal injury lawyers that solicit clients to file Camp Lejeune lawsuits are prevalent on the Internet, television and in print. What many veterans and their families don’t understand is that they can file the paperwork themselves or with a CVSO with relatively little time and effort.
“We are concerned about the significant attorney advertising targeting veterans and veteran families because of the law that passed this summer,” says Hamilton County Commissioner and Carmel attorney Christine Altman.
“Personal injury attorneys typically charge up to 40% of the recovery received. That’s money that could be going to the recovery of those suffering from serious illness instead.”
If awarded through the VA, the veteran, surviving spouse, or helpless child may receive monthly compensation based on the veteran’s health condition(s) and severity. If they file through a lawyer, their compensation will be awarded in one-time lump sum.
The Hamilton County Veteran Services Office can help with all VA compensation and pension claims at no charge to the veteran or their family.