Veteran’s Widow Lobbies to Aid Radiation Victims

Monarch Bay resident Pat Broudy, whose husband died from lymphatic cancer nearly 20 years ago, continued her quest here Tuesday to help thousands of other military veterans who were exposed to nuclear radiation.

She and other advocates lobbied Department of Veterans Affairs officials for regulatory changes that would help provide compensation to radiation victims.

The officials called the meeting to hear comment on a Clinton administration proposal to revamp the epidemiological tables used to determine whether radiation caused the illnesses. The tables are based on the estimated quantity and length of time an individual was exposed to radiation.

The Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Institutes of Health have said the tables are obsolete.

But Broudy and others who appeared at the hearing questioned the soundness of the proposal, saying the tables do not adequately account for inhaling uranium. The advocates also said statistics show that fewer than 500 claims out of 15,000 filed from atomic veterans have been approved.

The current system is based on “flawed studies and flawed standards,” Broudy said. “I have no confidence in any of the studies the government has ever done regarding medical cause.”

Broudy said she favors changing standards to ensure that contaminated veterans are immediately entitled to benefits.

But R.J. Vogel, undersecretary for the Veterans Benefits Administration, defended the agency’s effort to develop new tables. He said identifying the cause of illness is more complex than some suggest.

Broudy’s group is also seeking redress through the courts. Lawrence W. Leck, a Chicago attorney representing veterans in a class-action lawsuit, said Tuesday that oral arguments could begin as early as this fall.