The federal government awarded a settlement to a late Vermont soldier for cancer caused due to the exposure to smoke from pits used to burn waste.
As per the lawsuit, the soldier was a Vermont National Guard veteran and local firefighter who got diagnosed with cancer while serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. He had sued the White River Junction VA Medical Center, alleging that the facilities failed to diagnose his colon cancer as he suffered from severe intestinal issues and lost 75 pounds.
The veteran breathed in smoke from the pits that were used to burn plastic water bottles, human and medical waste, ammunition and chemicals on military bases. Initially, the doctors wrongly identified bowel syndrome, but later a colonoscopy revealed that the veteran had stage 4 cancer, when he was taken to an emergency room.
A physician from the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston informed that the veteran's cancer could have been detected earlier, as his symptoms showed relevant signs of the disease.
The veteran received a $3 million settlement on October 19.
