Military Mass Torts

Marines and loved ones who have filed a Camp Lejeune water contamination claim may be offered a financial lump sum to end their claims early through what is being called the Elective Option (EO). Under the Elective Option, an eligible claimant can be offered up to $550,000 to resolve their administrative claim or lawsuit under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act (CLJA) of 2022.

If you were harmed by the toxic water at Camp Lejeune and filed a CLJA administrative claim, you may be contacted by the Department of the Navy or Department of Justice to accept an offer through the Elective Option program – but should you? Before you sign anything, you should learn more about the Elective Option and always talk to an attorney.

What You Should Know About the Camp Lejeune Elective Option

On 6 September 2023, the Department of Justice and Department of the Navy (DON) announced a voluntary process, call the "Elective Option," to help claimants quickly resolve qualifying claims under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022.  

What medical conditions qualify under the Elective Option?
The Elective Option may only be offered for the following health conditions that have been linked to the toxic water at Camp Lejeune:

• Kidney Cancer
• Liver Cancer,
• Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
• Leukemias
• Bladder Cancer
• Multiple Myeloma
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Kidney Disease / End Stage Renal Disease
• Systemic Sclerosis / Systemic Scleroderma

If you have not been diagnosed with one of these medical conditions, you cannot be eligible for EO.

Will I get a $550,000 settlement through the Camp Lejeune Elective Option?
The Elective Option does not guarantee any Camp Lejeune claimant a settlement offer. And if a claimant does qualify, the amount is certainly not guaranteed to be $550,000. Instead, $550,000 is the maximum allowable amount under the Elective Option program, and the Department of the Navy website states that “some eligible claimants will receive less […]”. The lowest one-time payment that can be received through the Elective Option is reportedly $100,000.

How does the Elective Option calculate a settlement offer to an eligible claimant?
To calculate a settlement offer given to an eligible claimant under the Elective Option, the federal government mainly considers the claimant’s diagnosed medical conditions and how much time that claimant was exposed to toxic water at Camp Lejeune. The Elective Option offers different settlement amounts for claimants who were at Camp Lejeune for 30 to 364 days; 1 year to 5 years; and more than 5 years.

Can I still sue if I accept the Camp Lejeune Elective Option?
No, once you accept the Elective Option for a Camp Lejeune administrative claim or lawsuit, you will be barred from filing a lawsuit for additional damages. Part of the Elective Option’s “deal” is that you accept the settlement and agree to take no further legal action against the federal government for any harm or losses related to water contamination at Camp Lejeune.

What happens if I was diagnosed with more than one injury linked to Camp Lejeune’s water contamination? Can I recover for both injuries?
No. This is a major potential drawback to the Elective Option for some claimants. Under the Elective Options, claimants can only qualify for one settlement offer. If you have multiple injuries or illnesses linked to Camp Lejeune water contamination, any EO offer should represent an amount based on the “worst” of your injuries/illnesses. Thus, you can only be compensated for a single harm or injury.

Does it matter when I was first diagnosed or treated for the condition (i.e. Is there a latency requirement for the Elective Option)?
Yes. In order to be eligible for an EO offer, you must have one of the eight medical conditions listed above. Furthermore, these medical conditions would have to have been diagnosed within 35-years of your last exposure to the toxic water at Camp Lejeune. As an example, a Marine who was exposed to the contaminated water at 20 years old must be diagnosed with a qualifying injury by age 55 in order to qualify under the Election Option. Of note, if your diagnosis date occurs after the Camp Lejeune Justice Act was passed into law in August 2022 then you would be deemed ineligible by the Federal Government.

How long do I have to accept a Camp Lejeune Elective Option offer?
The Department of Justice only allows claimants 60 days upon receiving an Elective Option settlement offer to accept and sign it, except for extremely rare and limited circumstances.

If I accept an Elective Option, how long does it take to receive the settlement payout?
The federal government has stated that Elective Option compensation will arrive as a one-time payment, usually within 60 days after the settlement offer is accepted by the claimant.

Do Camp Lejeune Elective Option offers offset my military benefits?
The federal government has stated that accepting an Elective Option should not create any unintended benefits offsets, such as with benefits and coverage from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), TRICARE, Medicaid, or Medicare.

Can you get an Elective Option offer if your Camp Lejeune lawsuit has entered litigation?
Currently, the Department of the Navy is not offering Elective Option to claimants who have already entered litigation for a Camp Lejeune water contamination lawsuit. However, the Department of Justice has made several dozen offers to eligible plaintiffs who have filed a lawsuit in Federal Court. It should be noted that the majority of EO offers extended by the Department of Justice have been rejected by the claimant or plaintiff. .

What happens if you don’t qualify for the Camp Lejeune Elective Option?
Claimants who don’t qualify for the Elective Option should still file an administrative claim with the Department of the Navy.

Is the Camp Lejeune Elective Option Right for You?

The Elective Option offer may be in the best interest of some claimants or plaintiffs, but there will likely be many more other who will not benefit from it based on the strict eligibility requirements, such as latency, and the limited number of medical conditions.

Furthermore, claimants who suffer from multiple compensable medical conditions due to the contaminated water may not be fairly compensated under the Elective Option, which limits recovery to only a single injury.

Claimants who accept EO settlement offers forfeit their right to use another claim or lawsuit to pursue further damages. Whatever you get in the settlement would be all you could ever get for the harm Camp Lejeune’s toxic water has done to you and your family.

Before you sign a Camp Lejeune Elective Option settlement offer, talk to Military Justice Attorneys and do it quickly. You likely have 60 days or fewer to either accept the offer or request a reconsideration for a better offer. Contact Military Justice Attorneys as soon as possible, so we can help you review the Elective Option settlement offered to you and decide if it is fair before any legal time limits expire.

Why do so many people nationwide pick Military Justice Attorneys for legal counsel?

• We are a veteran-owned and operated law firm that specializes in the representation of active-duty service members and veterans.
• At MJA, ALL our attorneys were active-duty Marines. To us, this is personal.
• Our attorneys have more than 75 years of combined legal experience and have committed their lives to fighting for service members and their families.

To learn more about the Camp Lejeune Elective Option, or to get help deciding if you should accept a settlement offer, call (843) 773-5501 right away.

“Barracks lawyers” on Facebook have been working overtime since the Camp Lejeune Justice Act was signed into law. 

Like the barracks lawyers you remember from active duty (salty Lance Corporal types who had been busted down multiple times and would offer “legal advice” at the smoke pit), many of the folks posting so passionately online have no legal training and have never even read the Camp Lejeune Justice Act.

MJA has devoted its entire law practice to representing active-duty service members and veterans and is committed to dispelling misinformation surrounding the Camp Lejeune Justice Act. Our attorneys ALL served on active duty in the United States Marine Corps and are committed to helping Marines and their families get the recovery or treatment they deserve.

Contact us today to speak with one of our Marine veteran attorneys to see if you qualify.

WHO IS MILITARY JUSTICE ATTORNEYS (MJA)?

Military Justice Attorneys (MJA) is a veteran owned and operated law firm that focuses on representing active-duty service members and veterans in administrative, criminal, and civil matters related to their military service.

WHY IS MJA INVOLVED IN THIS LITIGATION?

At MJA, ALL our attorneys were active-duty Marines. And so were our brothers, uncles, grandfathers, and closest friends. We, too, had family members stationed at Camp Lejeune during the affected period who drank the water. To us, this is personal.

For decades, the drinking water at Camp Lejeune was contaminated by harmful chemicals. MJA understands what it means to be a Marine and will aggressively fight to get Marines and their loved ones the treatment or recovery they deserve.

WHAT IS THE CAMP LEJEUNE JUSTICE ACT OF 2022?

The Camp Lejeune Justice Act is a federal law that allows qualified individuals to sue and bring an action in federal court to recover damages from exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina between August 1, 1953 and December 31, 1987. Qualified individuals include veterans and their families, civilian employees who worked on base, or the legal representative of such an individual.

DO I QUALIFY FOR RECOVERY UNDER THE CAMP LEJEUNE JUSTICE ACT? 

To be eligible for a claim you must have:

1. Lived or worked at Camp Lejeune or MCAS New River between August 1, 1953 and December 31, 1987;
2. Lived or worked there at least thirty (30) cumulative days during that period; and
3. Have been diagnosed with or experienced a qualifying medical condition.

WHAT MEDICAL CONDITIONS QUALIFY UNDER THE ACT?

The Camp Lejeune Justice Act does not specify which medical conditions will qualify for recovery. However, the VA had identified a number of “presumptive” conditions known to be related to the toxic water at Camp Lejeune. These are:

• Adult leukemia
• Aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes
• Bladder cancer
• Kidney cancer
• Liver cancer
• Multiple myeloma (cancer in the white blood cells / plasma cells)
• Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
• Parkinson’s disease

The VA also identified a larger list of conditions which may receive coverage. This list includes, but is not limited to:

• Bladder cancer
• Breast cancer
• Esophageal cancer
• Female infertility
• Hepatic steatosis (fatty liver disease)
• Kidney cancer
• Leukemia
• Lung cancer
• Miscarriage
• Multiple myeloma (cancer in the white blood cells / plasma cells)
• Myelodysplastic syndromes
• Neurobehavioral effects
• Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
• Renal toxicity
• Scleroderma (systemic sclerosis)

Other cancers and severe medical conditions not currently identified by the VA could still form the basis for a claim. Under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, claimants are required to prove the relationship between exposure to the water at Camp Lejeune and the harm claimed. In other words, the claimant must prove that exposure to the toxic chemicals caused the health condition. This is known a “specific causation.”

IS THIS A SCAM?

No, it’s not a scam. The Camp Lejeune Justice Act is a real law that waives sovereign immunity (legal doctrine that says you can’t sue the government) and creates a federal cause of action to allow qualified individuals to file a claim and ultimately a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

CAN’T I JUST FILE WITH THE VA TO GET THE SAME BENEFITS?

No, the Camp Lejeune Justice Act is not about VA benefits. Those harmed by contaminated water at Camp Lejeune have been able to apply for VA healthcare benefits since 2012.

The Camp Lejeune Justice Act goes beyond VA benefits and creates a federal cause of action to allow injured parties to bring a claim and ultimately a federal lawsuit for monetary damages in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

MJA encourages anyone who believes they may be injured to file a claim with the VA for benefits. However, please understand that the Camp Lejeune Justice Act creates a separate avenue for relief by allowing injured parties to bring an action in federal court. This is historic!

HAS THERE BEEN A CAMP LEJEUNE JUSTICE ACT SETTLEMENT?

No, there has not been any large-scale settlement agreement to date. Individuals impacted by contaminated water must bring a federal claim and/or lawsuit where they prove causation of their injuries and damages.

WHY WOULD I HIRE AN ATTORNEY? CAN’T I JUST FILE THROUGH THE VA OR DAV?

Veteran services organizations are a great resource for those who simply wish to apply for VA healthcare benefits. That is not, however, the purpose of the Camp Lejeune Justice Act.

Attorneys in this litigation will be responsible for investigating claims, obtaining military and medical records, identifying other supporting evidence, engaging medical and scientific experts to evaluate potential claims and prove causation, calculating individual damages, filing tort claims, and ultimately filing and trying civil lawsuits in federal court. Attorneys can also look at your individual case to determine what, if any, impact a recovery could have on other disability awards, payments, or benefits.

MJA is not aware of any veteran service organization that will be filing federal lawsuits for damages under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022.

CONTACT US TODAY

MJA has devoted its entire law practice to representing active-duty service members and veterans and will aggressively fight for Marines and their families who were harmed by contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. Contact us today to speak with one of our Marine veteran attorneys to see if you qualify.

The post Camp Lejeune Justice Act FAQs: Debunking the Barracks Lawyers appeared first on Military Justice Attorneys.

PRESS RELEASE – JULY 28, 2022

Liberty-Life Media, a pro-military media outlet, reports that MJA will represent Marine veterans and their families harmed by Camp Lejeune Water Contamination.

After years of denying justice to those harmed by the toxic water, Congress recently passed the “Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022” which, once signed into law, will allow those who have been injured to file lawsuits for compensation.

If you or a loved one lived or worked at Camp Lejeune or MCAS New River for at least thirty (30) days between 1 August 1953 and 31 December 1987 and have been diagnosed with or experienced a qualifying medical condition, you may be entitled to significant financial compensation.

The attorneys at MJA all served on active-duty in the United States Marine Corps who will work tirelessly to give you the best possible representation.

Contact MJA today to determine your eligibility for the lawsuit.

The post PRESS RELEASE – MJA to Represent Camp Lejeune Families in Water Contamination Claims appeared first on Military Justice Attorneys.

MARINES DEFENDING MARINES

For over 30 years, Marines, their loved ones, and civilian contractors stationed and/or working at MCB Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River were exposed to drinking water systems contaminated with industrial chemicals. Numerous types of cancer, Parkinson’s disease, birth defects, female infertility, and other health conditions have been linked to these contaminants.

After years of denying justice to those harmed by the contaminated water, the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 recently became law, creating a federal cause of action to allow those who suffered from water contamination to file lawsuits for compensation.

If you or a loved one lived or worked at Camp Lejeune or MCAS New River for at least thirty (30) days between 1 August 1953 and 31 December 1987 and have been diagnosed with or experienced a qualifying medical condition, you may be entitled to significant financial compensation. The attorneys at MJA are ALL former active-duty Marines who will work tirelessly to give you the best possible representation.

Contact MJA today to determine your eligibility for the lawsuit.

CAMP LEJEUNE JUSTICE ACT

The “Camp Lejeune Justice Act”, contained within the larger PACT Act (Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act), creates a federal cause of action for those injured by contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

The Camp Lejeune Justice Act allows any individual, veteran, or their legal representative to file a claim and bring an action against the United States for damages. The bill prohibits the Government from asserting immunity and requires the claimant to prove that contaminated water caused their injuries.

All claims for damages due to exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune must be filed within 2 years after the bill becomes law.

ELIGIBILITY FOR LAWSUIT

To be eligible for a claim you must have:

1. Lived or worked at Camp Lejeune or MCAS New River between August 1953 and December 1987 (The areas affected cover all of Camp Lejeune including Camp Geiger, Camp Johnson/Montford Point, Tarawa Terrace, Holcomb Boulevard, Paradise Point, Hadnot Point, Onslow Beach, MCAS New River, Stone Bay Rifle Range, and Camp Lejeune Greater Sandy Run – See Benefit Coverage Area chart below).
2. Lived or worked there at least thirty (30) cumulative days during that period. (This includes but is not limited to Marines permanently stationed at Camp Lejeune. For example, Marines who attended Marine Combat Training (MCT) at Camp Lejeune for more than 30 days may also qualify. Those who were “exposed” during contaminated water (including in utero exposure) may also qualify);
3. Have been diagnosed with or experienced a qualifying medical condition (listed below).
4. Are NOT currently represented by an attorney.

QUALIFYING MEDICAL CONDITIONS

The VA had identified a number of presumptive conditions known to be related to the toxic water at Camp Lejeune. These are:

• Adult leukemia
• Aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes
• Bladder cancer
• Kidney cancer
• Liver cancer
• Multiple myeloma (cancer in the white blood cells / plasma cells)
• Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
• Parkinson’s disease

The VA also identified a larger list of conditions which may receive coverage. This list includes, but is not limited to:

• Bladder cancer
• Breast cancer
• Esophageal cancer
• Female infertility
• Hepatic steatosis (fatty liver disease)
• Kidney cancer
• Leukemia
• Lung cancer
• Miscarriage
• Multiple myeloma (cancer in the white blood cells / plasma cells)
• Myelodysplastic syndromes
• Neurobehavioral effects
• Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
• Renal toxicity
• Scleroderma (systemic sclerosis)

HISTORY OF CONTAMINATED DRINKING WATER AT CAMP LEJEUNE

In the 1980s, dangerous contaminants were found in several wells that provided drinking water to the residents of MCB Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River, North Carolina. These contaminants, listed below, leaked into the water from on-base storage tanks and industrial activities, and an off-base dry cleaner. The primary contaminants identified include:

• Benzene,
• Tetrachloroethylene (PCE),
• Trichloroethylene (TCE),
• Trans-1,2-dichloroethylene (DCE), and
• Vinyl chloride. 

Benzene found in groundwater often indicates contamination from refined petroleum products (e.g., gasoline, jet fuel, diesel fuel). PCE, another common groundwater contaminant, is a chemical widely used for dry cleaning fabrics and for metal degreasing operations. According to a Public Health Assessment conducted in 2017, “TCE and vinyl chloride were the chemicals that contributed most to the increased risk of cancer.”

Researchers identified the contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune in 1980 at the Hadnot Point and Tarawa Terrace water treatment plants. In February 1985, the base shut down the Tarawa Terrace’s two most contaminated wells and closed the Tarawa Terrace water treatment plant altogether in March 1987.

It is estimated that nearly 1 million people were exposed to the toxic drinking water at Camp Lejeune from 1953-1987. This includes children living on-base, civilian employees who worked on-base, Marines permanently stationed there or in training, and dependent spouses. The contaminated drinking water could have adversely affected pregnant women and their babies, in particular, as “women in the first trimester of pregnancy are one of the most sensitive populations for exposure to TCE.”

MARINES DEFENDING MARINES

This is not simply ANOTHER CASE for MJA. As with any mass tort litigation, if you have spent even a few minutes on Facebook or Google you have already been bombarded with advertisements from big name plaintiffs’ firms who specialize in mass tort litigation. Most of these attorneys never served in the military and certainly don’t know what it means to be a Marine. To them, this is just another case. No different than a hip implant litigation or hernia mesh lawsuit.

But to us, it’s different.

At MJA, ALL our attorneys were active-duty Marines. And so were our brothers, fathers, uncles, grandfathers, and closest friends. We understand what service and sacrifice mean and live by the motto: Semper Fidelis. It is for that reason that our entire law practice centers on representing active-duty service members and veterans. This is at the heart of who we are and what we do. We have served military service members before this litigation and will serve them after. As Marines ourselves, MJA will work tirelessly on your behalf.

CONTACT US TODAY

If you or a loved one lived or worked at Camp Lejeune or MCAS New River between 1 August 1953 and 31 December 1987 and have been diagnosed with or experienced a qualifying medical condition, contact us today to determine if you are for a lawsuit.

The post Marines Defending Marines – Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Lawsuit appeared first on Military Justice Attorneys.

From 2002 to 2016, the U.S. Department of Defense contracted with 3M, a Minnesota company, to manufacture and supply ear plugs for servicemembers. The ear plugs 3M provided were called the Dual Ended Combat Arms Earplugs (CAEv2) and were provided as standard issue to members of every branch. The ear plugs were supposed to provide two features depending on which side the member inserted.

One side of the ear plugs was designed to block most sound much like traditional ear plugs. The other side was designed to block harmful loud noises while allowing less harmful sound, such as conversations, to be heard. Unfortunately, the ear plugs were flawed in their design and did not perform as 3M represented that they would.

This design flaw led to serious hearing problems for many members of the Armed Forces and led to a claim by the DoD against 3M. The DoD alleged that 3M discovered the design flaw in 2000 but continued to provide the service branches with the ear plugs without warning of any issues with the ear plugs. The claim by the DoD was settled by 3M for over 9 million dollars in 2018. However, the DoD settlement is not structured to compensate servicemembers whose hearing was damaged as a result of the 3M ear plugs.

Servicemembers who served between 2002 and 2016 and suffered hearing loss or tinnitus may be entitled to financial compensation. Currently, MJA is participating in multi-district litigation in order to get our clients the compensation they deserve. If you or a loved one served in the Armed Forces between 2002 and 2016 and has suffered hearing loss or tinnitus, please contact us for a free consultation and case evaluation.

The post 3M Combat Arms Earplugs Lawsuit appeared first on Military Justice Attorneys.