Joe Biden Says It’s Time To Diagnose Veterans With Toxic Air Problems

Nikki Attkisson | Last Updated : November 13, 2021

On the first day of his presidency, on Veterans Day, President Joe Biden, the father of an Iraq war veteran, unveiled a new endeavor to understand better, treat, and diagnose medical conditions faced by troops deployed to hazardous environments.

It’s Time To Diagnose Veterans With Toxic Air Problems

According to White House officials, the emphasis is on troops’ breathing troubles and the likelihood of a relationship between rare respiratory tumors and exposure to filthy air while serving overseas. Starting with lung and breathing issues, federal officials have said that they would expand their inquiry if new links are found by research. On Thursday, in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, Vice President Biden planned to participate in a wreath-laying ceremony and deliver a speech.

Joe Biden Says It's Time To Diagnose Veterans With Toxic Air Problems

This new government program will offer veterans more time to make medical claims based on their symptoms. More data from troops who are suffering will be obtained, and veterans will be given more time to file medical claims if symptoms like asthma and sinus troubles occur.

As a rheumatologist and immunologist, Dr. Richard Meehan has discovered that deployment is connected with a broad range of respiratory disorders. The co-director of the National Jewish Hospital Center for Excellence on deployment-related Lung Disease, which is located in Denver, is a former US Naval Reserve officer who deployed in the Middle East in the 1990s and again in 2008.

Joe Biden believes that his son Beau’s death from severe brain cancer after returning from Iraq may be linked to his exposure to chemicals in the air, especially in enormous pits where the military burns garbage. After his return from Iraq, Beau Biden died of an aggressive form of brain cancer. Any scientific data do not support such a link. As the loss of his son Beau Biden marked a turning point in Joe Biden’s personal life, he decided to withdraw from the 2016 presidential race. From October 2008 through September 2009, the younger Biden served as a Delaware Army National Guard captain. Two years after he was diagnosed with cancer in 2013, he died at the age of 46.

According to Meehan, who is investigating the issue, military personnel in Southwest Asia were exposed to inhaling pollutants. Because of the poor quality of the air in certain countries, he said, civilian federal employment standards would prohibit soldiers from working there. Additionally, the Department of Defense and private donors fund the center.

Returned soldiers with respiratory disorders are being compared to the general population in order to determine whether there is a higher incidence of lung illness among soldiers. Military personnel are in peak physical condition and can run faster than the average American and be stronger and more fit. It’s unusual to get home and find yourself unable to climb the stairs or move anything without inhaling forcefully.

He suggested that while comparing the two groups, they should be compared to another group that is in excellent condition. There has been a glaring omission in studies that have shown no rise in cancer rates.” Government standards allow veterans to make claims within ten years after returning from active duty. The government has re-evaluated the criteria for determining whether a veteran’s claim is legitimate and why.


Nikki Attkisson

With over 15 years as a practicing journalist, Nikki Attkisson found herself at Powdersville Post now after working at several other publications. She is an award-winning journalist with an entrepreneurial spirit and worked as a journalist covering technology, innovation, environmental issues, politics, health etc. Nikki Attkisson has also worked on product development, content strategy, and editorial management for numerous media companies. She began her career at local news stations and worked as a reporter in national newspapers.

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