Despite the PACT Act, much work remains to support veteran health

“Now the real work starts …” 

That was the thought rushing through my head as I stood steps away from President Joe Biden as he signed the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics — or PACT Act.  

The legislative process had been decades in the making with many starts and stops along the way. As joyous as the bill signing was, a successful implementation is even more important before those suffering from deployment-related respiratory disease, including my husband Army Captain Le Roy Torres, get the help they need. 

While Le Roy’s story is similar to many of the more than 3 million service members deployed to the Middle East since 9/11, it is also different. After his 2007 tour of duty in Iraq, Le Roy returned home with a debilitating lung injury caused by toxic burn pit exposure. The severity of his condition cost him his job as a Texas State Trooper. His case made it all the way to the United States Supreme Court, and even though the court ruled in our favor, our litigation continues in the lower court as we fight for Le Roy to receive what he’s entitled to.  

Sadly, many others are suffering a similar fate as Le Roy — or worse. The culprit is often burn pits, a method of incinerating waste on military bases. Burning materials such as plastics, medical waste and batteries — using jet fuel as an accelerant — injects harmful chemicals into the air and can irrevocably damage the lungs and health of those who breathe it.  

Previously, veterans would have to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that their illnesses are service-connected. That was extremely difficult with limited screening options and a lack of established processes at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The entire burden of proof was on the veteran. But under PACT Act, there is now a presumption that a veteran’s illness is service-connected. By removing the burden of proof, the new law should help veterans exposed to toxic substances and airborne hazards gain access to health care options and benefits they have earned. However, in cases such as my husband’s, the only definitive means of diagnosing his disease is via a surgical lung biopsy, a barbaric procedure that comes with its own set of risks.  

The passage of the PACT Act is a positive development. But its implementation is also a major undertaking that will create new challenges for the underfunded and understaffed VA. How will they conduct the toxic screening exposures mandated in the PACT Act? Can they manage staffing up with physicians, nurses and administrative staff to handle the expected influx of veterans seeking care?  

The VA must meet the challenge and do it effectively and efficiently — no easy task for the government’s second-largest department and its more than 300,000 employees. As a former 23-year VA employee, I know the wheels can turn slowly. Fortunately, there are new technologies on the market that the VA can harness to accelerate treatment and provide more relief to those veterans suffering from deployment-related respiratory disease, estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands.  

Remember, these are veterans we’re talking about. When they signed up to serve, few had ever heard of burn pits, let alone the dangers of exposure to burn pits as well as dust storms and other particulate matter. Our troops never imagined that the burden of proof would be on them to show a correlation between the injuries they received and their service.  

Truthfully, I don’t have any idea how much time I have left with my husband. No one does. His disease is progressing, its impact is severe, and we are under no illusion about the future. Every day together with our family is truly a gift.  

Our future is uncertain, but we remain hopeful that the PACT Act can help others in our situation. For that to happen, the same level of attention and energy must be paid to its implementation as was to its passage. Lives depend on it — and in the most literal sense of the word.  

The national cameras may have moved on, but America’s veteran community is still sick and dying. 

Rosie Torres is a senior advisor to 4D Medical and the co-founder and executive director of BurnPits 360, a non-profit organization that advocates Congress to help veterans suffering from injuries caused by military exposures. Torres is a national veterans advocate who worked at the Department of Veterans Affairs for 23 years.