Source: Radio New Zealand
Bob Pearce on deployment in Iraq. Supplied
A landmark case has found that a veteran’s brain cancer must be treated as service-related because of potentially carcinogenic burn pits on his deployment in Somalia.
Open burn pits were used in many conflicts, including Iraq and Afghanistan, where there was not infrastructure to deal with the large amounts of waste created by military operations.
In the United States, a long list of conditions are automatically considered to be related to burn pit exposure – including several cancers and respiratory issues.
But in New Zealand, none of those conditions have been accepted as service-related until now.
New Zealand army veteran Bob Pearce was deployed to Iraq in 2017 as part of a mission training Iraqi soldiers to fight Isis.
Large burn pits were ablaze 24/7, leaving a smog over army camps, he said.
“The clouds of burning smoke would be all across the camp… it was kind of a fairly constant smell and sight and aroma across the camp.”
In some camps, chemicals, paint, human waste, petrol, and munitions were burned in the pits, according to American Veterans Affairs.
Since returning from his deployment, Pearce said he’d had respiratory and throat issues which had gotten worse in the last couple of years.
“My breathing’s become more laboured in certain cases, my throat’s constantly sore and my voice is totally changed. My sinuses and nose I feel is a lot more blocked.”
He worried about what would happen if his condition got worse.
Bob Pearce (right) on deployment in Iraq. Supplied
“I’m 56 now, and if this isn’t something that’s recognised by the government or veterans affairs, and if my respiratory condition deteriorates over time then I might not be able to get any help for it.”
High-profile veterans affairs cases showed veterans often had to go above and beyond to get the help they needed, he said.
Veteran advocate Teresa Cousins represented the veteran who won the appeal for his brain cancer to be treated as service-related at the Veterans’ Entitlements Appeal Board.
The decision would open the door for many other claims, Cousins said.
“This opens up the way for a lot of our people who served in Afghanistan and Iraq. It opens the way for more argument on East Timor and Bouganville.
“The biggest thing is we know is the conditions in Afghanistan and Iraq were terrible. We’ve got the data from America.”
However, Veterans Affairs would still assess them on a case by case basis.
For the veteran with brain cancer, it took nearly two years for his claim to be accepted.
Professor emeritus of environmental health sciences at the University of California, John Balmes, said there was strong evidence that burn pits caused respiratory problems, but the link with cancer had not been proven.
“That said, there’s enough concern because of the carcinogens that are contained in burn pits emissions, that the US department of veterans’ affairs went ahead and listed a number of cancers as likely to be caused by burn pit emissions.”
Head of Veterans Affairs New Zealand, Alex Brunt, said the recent decision on the veteran with brain cancer reflected the individual circumstances of that case, and there was not an established causal link between his condition and burn pit exposure.
The decision might lead other veterans to make similar claims, and each would be assessed on its own merits, Brunt said.
Veterans Affairs’ approach relied on an evidence-based framework and as international research evolves it would adapt its approach, he said.
Over 3500 New Zealand Defence Force personnel served in Afghanistan, and several hundred in Iraq.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand