If you served as a Marine at Camp Lejeune during a certain period, you might qualify for benefits for injuries you suffered from exposure to toxic chemicals. Additionally, any family members who lived with you on the base may also qualify for benefits. The Camp Lejeune lawsuit lawyers with Laborde Earles Injury Lawyers can handle your case and fight for your benefits.
While you rest and recuperate from your injuries, we can go after what you deserve. We work on a contingency-fee basis, so we won’t charge you any upfront fees or costs to start your case.
Water Contamination on Camp Lejeune Caused Serious Medical Complications
According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), four chemicals contaminated the drinking water on Camp Lejeune in North Carolina between 1953 and 1987:
- Trichloroethylene (TCE)
- Tetrachloroethylene (PCE)
- Vinyl chloride (VC)
- Benzene
The ATSDR found that these toxic chemicals can lead to the following diseases and medical conditions:
- Kidney cancer
- Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
- Cardiac defects
- Leukemias
- Eye defects
- Low birth weight
- Fetal death
- Major malformations
- Miscarriage
- Neural tube defects
- Oral cleft defects
- Small for gestational age
- Breast cancer
- Cervical cancer
- Esophageal cancer
- Lung cancer
- Ovarian cancer
- Prostate cancer
- Rectal cancer
- Impaired immune system function
- Neurological effects
- Neurobehavioral performance deficits
- Decreased blink reflex
- Mood effects, such as depression
- Severe, generalized hypersensitivity skin disorder
- Liver cancer
- Multiple myeloma
- End-stage renal disease
- Parkinson disease
- Scleroderma
- Bladder cancer
- Brain cancer
If you suffered any of these conditions, diseases, or another disease, the water contamination on the base might have been a factor. We can consult with your doctors, who can help link your injuries and illness to your service time at Camp Lejeune.
Qualifying Medical Conditions for VA Benefits in a Camp Lejeune Case
The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) offers healthcare benefits to veterans, guardsmen, and reservists who served at Camp Lejeune or MCAS New River for at least 30 consecutive days between August 1953 to December 1987.
To qualify, you must have suffered one or more of the following conditions:
- Adult leukemia
- Kidney cancer
- Liver cancer
- Multiple myeloma
- Aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes
- Bladder cancer
- Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- Parkinson’s disease
Our Camp Lejeune lawsuit attorneys can help you file a claim or appeal a denial of benefits.
Laws Protecting Camp Lejeune Veterans and Their Families’ Right to Compensation
A couple of laws play an important role in helping veterans and their families seek healthcare benefits and compensation. The Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012 originally gave veterans and their family members the right to recover benefits to access the healthcare they need. They may qualify for other forms of compensation as well.
More recently, the House of Representatives and the Senate passed the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022. If the president approves the act, it will give veterans and their families a two-year period to file lawsuits for the injuries and illnesses they suffered due to the water contamination on Camp Lejeune. This law would remove North Carolina’s statute of repose.
How Our Camp Lejeune Lawsuit Lawyers Can Help
Whether you are just starting your claim or seeking benefits after receiving a denial from VA, our legal team can help. When we investigate your case, we can help gather the required evidence, which may include:
- Military records of your active-duty service at Camp Lejeune or MCAS New River for a minimum of 30 days between August 1953 and December 1987
- Medical records showing you suffered one or more of the eight illnesses on the presumptive conditions list
If you are a family member of a Marine who served at Camp Lejeune during this time, we can help gather supporting documentation showing:
- Your relationship to the veteran, such as a birth certificate or marriage license
- You lived on Camp Lejeune during the required period of time
- Medical records and bills from your diagnosis and treatment for one of the required conditions
Our lawyers dedicate themselves to providing client-focused legal services, and we want to see how we can help you. You deserve to focus on your health or tend to a loved one during this time, not hassle with a claim or lawsuit. We can take care of the legal process while you recover and cope with your illness.
We can also help if you lost a loved one due to a condition from the toxins they suffered while serving at Camp Lejeune. Our wrongful death lawyers can handle your case while you grieve with your family in peace.
Make Sure You See a Doctor for Conditions Related to Your Camp Lejeune Service
One of the most important things you can do for your case is to see a doctor. Without medical documentation, you cannot link your service at Camp Lejeune to your illness or injury. Medical documentation can also give us an idea of how much your ongoing healthcare costs will amount to, which is important for your case.
Let Our Camp Lejeune Lawsuit Attorneys Help You and Your Family
Our attorneys at Laborde Earles Injury Lawyers have committed themselves to helping veterans and their families collect the benefits they deserve. We can discuss your case further and explain how our Camp Lejeune lawsuit attorneys can help during a free, no-obligation consultation. You can ask questions and discover your legal options.
Do not wait to start your case. The sooner you reach out to us, the better we can protect your rights to compensation. Call us today!