Families & Close Living Contacts

One survey of approximately 1,200 ill veterans performed by Senator Reigle's staff found that 77% of spouses, 68% of children born after the war, and 25% of the children born before the war are either experiencing similar symptoms to those of the ill veterans or have birth defects.  A survey of 10,051 ill veterans performed by Operation Desert Shield / Desert Storm Association found that 51% of spouses were ill and 22% of children.  While not scientific studies, these surveys seem to show a widespread incidence of illness among family members of ill veterans.

Possible exposure sources for families and close contacts include both traditional sources, such as infectious diseases, as well as exposure to equipment contaminated by chemical or biological warfare agents.  Soldiers generally brought home equipment, such as uniforms, gas masks, sand samples, etc., without the equipment having been through any type of decontamination procedures - even general washing.  Equipment was generally not collected, confiscated or examined by either military or civilian sources.

Female spouses have reported a high rate of miscarriages, menstrual and reproductive problems, and burning semen during sexual intercourse.  The Association of Birth Defect Children (ABDC) provides information, resources and a registry of children with birth defects possibly related to their parents' service in the Gulf.  See the Health & Research Organizations area of the Resources section of this Guide.  Others reporting problems include siblings, parents, fiances, housemates and others in close contact with ill veterans. 

A small number of spouses are receiving health care from the DoD, mainly the spouses of active-duty veterans.  In April 1996 the VA began a limited, poorly funded study to provide registry exams, without follow-up treatment, to spouses and children of registered, ill veterans.  Otherwise,  there is little to no health care, and no compensation, for the family members and close contacts of ill veterans.

A recommendation has been made to include ill spouses, children, and family members on separate, supplemental VA claims.  An ill veteran will file a claim for themselves, and then file an additional claim on behalf of the ill family member.  Any compensation for family members will be routinely denied, however, by filing you establish an initial claim date.  If VA regulations ever change, for instance, as they have regarding the relationship between spina bifida in children and their parents exposure to Agent Orange, you will already have an established claim.  As well, filing a claim for family members will put the VA on notice about the extent of ill family members.

(Continued on page 8)

Veterans

Not all veterans who served in the Persian Gulf War are ill.  Of the 697,000 U.S. troops who served in the war, approximately 108,000 are on a Registry and, of these, 80,000 are symptomatic.  As of February 1996, about 80,000 are on the VA Registry, with 80% symptomatic, and 28,800 are on the DoD Registry, with 85% symptomatic.  According to a 1995 VFW survey, only about half of ill gulf vets have turned to the VA or DoD for registration and treatment, the rest seeking private medical care.  Therefore the numbers of ill may well be significantly higher than reported by the Registries.  Veterans from Great Britain, Canada, Australia, Czechoslovakia and other coalition countries are also ill.

Civilian Participants

Civilians who were present in the Persian Gulf area during the war had many of the same exposures as military personnel to chemical, biological, and radiation contamination, endemic infectious diseases, and other toxic materials.  Civilian participants include media personnel, DoD contractors, Red Cross workers, and Iraqi and Kuwaiti civilians living in the area.

Civilian Non-Participants

Civilian non-participants were not present in the theater of war.  However, they worked in direct, close  contact, both during and after the war, with either military personnel or military equipment used in the war.  Therefore, they may have been exposed to infectious diseases or chemically or biologically contaminated personnel or equipment.

Reported ill civilian non-participants include those who cleaned and repaired returned tanks and airplanes, repackaged used returned parachutes, sorted, cleaned, repaired and painted returned equipment, removed clothing and equipment from the evacuated injured and dead, and/or boarded returned ships.  Air stewards who ferried the troops back from the war and medical personnel who treated the ill and injured are sick as well.

The governmental response to these ill civilian non-participants has been non-existent.  Although some may be eligible for workman's compensation, proof that exposure occurred through contact with contaminated personnel or equipment is difficult to prove without scientific studies, and none are being planned by the government.  Medical care and compensation from the government or involved corporations seems to be unavailable for civilian non-participants.

Second Edition - Fall 1997          Page 7