[CPEO-MEF] VOCs, HEALTH: "Poisoned Patriots" part 2

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Poisoned patriots? Stricken Marines seek help with illnesses


By Abbie Boudreau and Scott Bronstein
CNN Special Investigations Unit
September 25, 2009

Editor's note: This report is part two of a two-part series.

TAMPA, Florida (CNN) -- For Rick Kelly, the first sign of cancer was a 
feeling of discomfort in his chest.

"My wife would hug me, and it became almost unbearable," he said. "I 
went to a doctor, and they sent me to the oncologist, and they did 
biopsies on both sides. And then I ended up with a double mastectomy."

Kelly is one of 20 retired U.S. Marines or sons of Marines who once 
lived at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and who are now suffering from 
breast cancer, a disease that strikes about one man for every 100 women 
who get it. Each of the seven men CNN interviewed for this report has 
had part of his chest removed as part of his treatment, along with 
chemotherapy, radiation or both.

All 20 fear that water contaminated with high levels of toxic chemicals 
may have caused their illnesses, but the Marine Corps says no link has 
been found between the contamination and their diseases. Without that 
link, the men are denied treatment by the Department of Veterans 
Affairs, which says it can't treat them for a condition that hasn't been 
shown to have been "service-related."


...

For the entire story, see
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/09/25/marines.breast.cancer.folo/index.html

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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