Category: burn pits

Senate Passes Bill to Help Veterans Exposed to Toxic Burn Pits

The U.S. Senate on Aug. 2 passed a bill to expand healthcare coverage that would benefit veterans who had been exposed to military toxic burn pits. The vote to approve the PACT Act was 86–11. The bill now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk. In a statement, Biden called the bill’s passage the “biggest expansion…


GOP Rejects ‘Mandatory’ $400 Billion Appropriation in Burn Pits Bill

A bill designed to provide extra benefits to veterans affected by exposure to burn pits overseas is facing opposition by Senate Republicans over Democrats’ efforts to include $400 billion in spending that Republicans say is unrelated to helping veterans. The bill, dubbed the “Honoring Our PACT Act,” is overwhelmingly supported by members on both sides…


Supreme Court Upholds Federal Anti-Discrimination Law Protecting Veterans

Texas violated a federal anti-discrimination law protecting veterans by refusing to rehire a former state trooper after he was injured in the Iraq War while serving as a U.S. Army reservist, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on June 29. The Biden administration previously urged the court to reject the case, but switched sides during oral arguments…


Study Suggests Alternative Method May Diagnose, Explain Lung Disease in Veterans

An alternative method of analyzing lung CT scans may offer a better way to explain and diagnose lung damage in military personnel, according to a new study. Parametric Response Mapping (PRM), a form of computational analysis of images in high-resolution CT (HRCT) scans, was found to be effective in identifying and quantifying lung inflammation in…


Senate Hears Testimony on Soldiers’ Exposure to Toxic Burn Pits

At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on March 16, experts testified about the long-term health effects of exposure to burn pits that used jet fuel to incinerate medical waste, chemicals, human waste, and other trash at U.S. military installations during the First Gulf War and subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. One prompt for…


Senators Hear Testimony on Soldiers’ Exposure to Toxic Burn Pits

Experts testified at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on March 16 about the long-term health effects of exposure to burn pits that used jet fuel to incinerate medical waste, chemicals, human waste, and other trash at U.S. military installations during the First Gulf War and subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The hearing coincided with…


Biden Calls for New Protections for Veterans Exposed to Burn Pits

President Joe Biden travelled to Texas on Tuesday to call for new measures to protect veterans exposed to toxic burn pits during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Burn pits were widely used on the bases and battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan as a means of disposing refuse—anything from daily trash, to tires, batteries, and plastics….