The VA is proposing to extend eligibility for the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC) for legacy participants and applicants through Sept. 30, 2028. This three-year extension would ensure continued benefits and stability for nearly 15,000 veterans and their caregivers. PCAFC provides critical support such as training, respite care, counseling, and stipends to family caregivers of veterans with serious service-connected injuries. For updates, see https:// bit.ly/4lHeBxT.
Burn Pit exposure not good for your brain, either: A combined National Institutes of Health, Defense Department, and Department of Veterans Affairs medical study of military toxic exposure symptoms indicates that those exposed to burn pit smoke are facing a greater risk of mental health and brain trauma issues. The study showed higher rates of depression, mood disorders, intracranial injuries, and traumatic brain damage among those exposed, with longer exposure increasing the risk. Help for those exposed is available through the VA since the PACT toxic exposure act came into effect in March 2024. For more information, see https://bit.ly/44KTwN9.
Psychedelic therapy for PTS: No doubt the Vietnam generation will probably remember the famous (or infamous) line by Dr. Timothy Leary: “Tune in, turn on, drop out,” which helped to usher in the psychedelic wave of LSD, acid rock, strobe lights, and black light posters. Whether you did or didn’t partake at the time, or as a member of a younger generation exposed to the trauma of war, psychedelic therapy to help treat posttraumatic stress (PTS) is gaining a foothold, even within the VA. For more information, see https://bit.ly/4m9FvhL.
“Forever” PFAS Chemicals associated with Type II Diabetes: Research has linked exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, and Type II diabetes. PFAS chemicals are found in aqueous film-forming foam to fight fires, which the U.S. armed forces have used for decades, especially at airfields, on ships, and at munitions and fuel storage facilities. A number of other diseases and conditions are associated with PFAS exposure.
Referred to as “forever chemicals” because they do not break down naturally in the environment, almost 600 military installations, both overseas and in the U.S., have been contaminated with the chemicals after years of long-term use in training and operations. Since the groundwater at most of the contaminated sites was also affected, military members not directly exposed to the chemicals through work, and family members who resided on bases, can also be impacted.
The VA, as directed under the PACT Act, is expected to begin a registry of service members who were believed to have been exposed to PFAS. For the interim, disability claims from PFAS exposure are determined on a case-by-case basis. There is also legislation pending to compensate military families for health care costs associated with conditions resulting from exposure to PFAS.
PFAS exposure is a national issue, potentially affecting millions, and with a corresponding huge price tag to address adequately. For more information about PFAS and military exposure, see https://bit.ly/3II2phN.
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