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For nearly 35 years those who lived onboard North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune were exposed to toxic chemicals while drinking, cooking, swimming, and bathing in the water provided. From 1953 to 1987 those serving at the sprawling Marine base were exposed to the contaminated water that seeped into the soil and poisoned groundwater at fuel depots, base junkyards, even a dry cleaner.<\/p>\n
The toxic compounds discovered in the drinking water included Benzene, Tetrachloroethylene, Trichloroethylene, and Vinyl Chloride which is a byproduct of the breaking down of several toxins in the groundwater.<\/p>\n
The tainted water was up to 400 times what was allowed by safety standards. More than a million Marines, Sailors, civilian workers and their families were exposed.<\/p>\n
The listing of cancers and other serious diseases or conditions resulting from ingesting the water is extensive. The government subsequently passed the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2021, allowing those affected by the toxic water there to file a lawsuit in federal court to compensate for pain suffering and expenses related to their diagnosis and treatment. The Department of Veterans Affairs will cover medical costs for the wide array of maladies.<\/p>\n
As if on cue, the scammers piped themselves onboard.<\/p>\n
The government plan to pay billions of dollars to victims of toxic water at Camp Lejeune has unleashed a wave of fraudulent claims that threatens to disrupt or taint what could be one of the largest-ever mass tort cases.<\/p>\n
Mikal Watts, whose Texas firm has 6,000 Camp Lejeune clients, said its internal auditors determined hundreds of referrals from other lawyers for Camp Lejuene and other cases were bogus, often based on doctored medical records and fictional reports of diseases or other sickness. Some of the would-be plaintiffs, he said, had been recruited through call centers based in India.<\/p>\n
Another lawyer, Donald Marcari, said his Virginia-based firm has rejected scores of suspicious Camp Lejeune claims, including a few from people who listed home addresses that turned out to be a Burger King or a local chapel, or who offered confusing or illogical replies to routine questions about their time at the base or how they got sick.
\n\u201cAs soon as you go outside the script, they can\u2019t answer,\u201d said Marcari, a former Navy attorney.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n