Veterans Disability: Information From Military May Help VA Assess Claims Related to Secret Tests
NSIAD-93-89
Published: Feb 18, 1993. Publicly Released: Mar 09, 1993.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined secret, U.S. military chemical and biological warfare research experiments that exposed service members to hazardous substances, focusing on: (1) all chemical and biological experiments conducted secretly by the military services during the past 50 years; (2) the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) handling of disability claims associated with these experiments; and (3) VA efforts to contact veterans who participated in the experiments and invite them to file claims.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct the Secretaries of the Army and the Navy to aggregate and provide information to VA on their past mustard gas testing activities. The information should include the location of the tests, the dates of the tests, the units involved, the types of exposures experienced, and the names of participants to the extent they are available. |
Secretaries of the military departments are directed to provide information on the locations, chemicals tested, and dates of each chemical weapons research program. They must also identify military units involved and individuals within the units known to have participated.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct the Secretaries of the Army and the Navy to provide a point of contact for VA within each service to assist veterans in obtaining information about their test experiences. |
DOD provided points of contact for each military service to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
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Topics
Biological warfareChemical exposureChemical warfareCompensation claimsMedical information systemsMedical recordsMedical researchToxic substancesVeteransVeterans disability compensationChemicalsHuman experimentation