Shaw Pittman: DOD Allegedly Covered Up Medical Records U.S. Newswire
30 Oct 13:29
Shaw Pittman: Vietnam-Era DOD Secretary Robert Mcnamara, Current VA and DOD Officials Allegedly Covered Up Medical Records To: National Desk Contact: Nicole Quigley, 202-973-1328, for Shaw Pittman, LLP, or
nquigley@levick.com
WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Former Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara is among 11 defendants named in two first-of-their-kind class action lawsuits for allegedly covering up medical records without which veterans of atomic, biological and chemical warfare testing cannot receive needed medical and other benefits. The plaintiffs include veterans, their families, and the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), who allege a deliberate and ongoing cover-up by U.S. government officials to conceal and ignore relevant records, many of which are personal medical records that would allow them to seek proper benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for the often devastating long-term health effects of the government's testing of weapons of mass destruction.
Brought by the law firm of Shaw Pittman, LLP, the complaints -- one for veterans exposed to atomic detonations and the other for veterans exposed to biological and chemical tests, as well as their survivors -- aim to hold the government officials personally responsible for their involvement in illegal and unethical activities and to obtain justice for aging veterans. The complaints tell disturbingly similar stories of government and military officials protecting the government and themselves from liability for the effects of cold war atomic, biological, and chemical experiments on their own troops, sailors, airmen, and marines.
The complaints point to several smoking guns, including a White House memo that describes the classification of records as a tactic to minimize public relations risks and ultimately limit the government's legal liability. The veterans and their families also cite original test documents and reports that record large-scale radiation overexposures and medical test procedures that directly contradict government and military official statements that veterans were not used as test subjects and were not exposed to unsafe levels of radiation.
The "Atomic Veteran" plaintiffs consist of approximately 415,000 surviving veterans exposed to radiation as part of the government's atomic testing and military programs in the 1940-1950s and their survivors. The plaintiffs in the second complaint are the approximately 10,000 military personnel used as involuntary test subjects in biological and chemical warfare tests in the 1960s known as "Project SHAD" (Shipboard Hazard and Defense). Additionally, VVA serves as a named plaintiff in the SHAD case on behalf of the thousands of Vietnam-era veterans affected by the government's actions
"The VA has a statutory mandate to advocate for and protect the interests of these veterans, but instead VA officials have purposefully failed them. This is the age of Enron, when the government contends that you are personally responsible for your unethical decisions. We're holding up a mirror and expecting them to practice what they preach," said Shaw Pittman partner David Cynamon, who filed the complaints.
"America's veterans deserve proper health care for illnesses that may be due to exposure to harmful agents as a result of their military service," said VVA National President Thomas Corey. "Veterans deserve to be told the truth about their military service, as well as accountability from senior bureaucrats and other government officials. Justice for our nation's veterans is at the heart of VVA's mission. This class action will help veterans obtain the justice to which they have long been entitled," Corey added.
Former Navy crewmember of the USS Navarro in 1963 and plaintiff Robert Bates said, "I wasn't asked if I wanted to be a human guinea pig. I wasn't told that I was part of an experiment until thirty years later. And now, I can't get my complete medical records from the government so that I can get needed benefits." Bates suffers from congestive heart failure and joint problems thought to be related to the chemical warfare tests.
The Shaw Pittman complaints allege a policy that government and military officials began in the 1940s and current officials continue to carry out in order to keep veterans from claiming their just medical benefits. For example, government and military officials admit that Project SHAD medical records were and remain "classified" and unavailable to veterans attempting to claim VA benefits for health problems arising from biological and chemical agents used on them by their own military. The government contends that other relevant records disappeared, were destroyed, or never existed.
"They tell you that they can't give you benefits until you prove you were involved, but they keep the documents that can prove it in a sealed vault behind their desks. This is not the government my husband intended to serve," said Pat Broudy, whose husband died due to lymphoma, a cancer known to be caused by radiation exposure. Her husband had served in the occupation of Nagasaki, Japan, trained on a radioactive target ship, and participated in mock assaults on ground zero following atomic detonations in the Nevada desert but was denied VA benefits.
Shaw Pittman began representing veterans as a result of a pro bono project that relied on the firm's litigation and scientific expertise. "As Americans, we expect our government and military officials to adhere to a basic standard of legal and ethical conduct. We've seen Congress and the Administration rightly insist that corporate officials be held legally accountable for their actions. They need to know that they can't hide behind their organizations anymore," said Shaw Pittman attorney Douglas Rosinski.
The complaints were filed October 29, 2002 in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
Shaw Pittman, LLP has offices in Washington, D.C., New York, Northern Virginia, London and Los Angeles. The firm provides business and technology legal services on a global basis. It can be accessed online at
http://www.shawpittman.com.
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10/30 13:29
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