VA Policy Excludes COVID-19 Vaccine Injuries From Toxic Exposure Benefits Program: Whistleblower

A hospital corpsman administers a COVID-19 vaccine to a fellow corpsman at Naval Health Clinic Hawaii on Dec. 16, 2020. (Naval Health Clinic Hawaii)

Legislation that provides benefits for military veterans who were exposed to burn pits and other toxic substances doesn’t include those who have been injured by the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a departmental document obtained by The Epoch Times.

In 2022, the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act was signed into law to expand Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care and benefits for veterans who were exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances during their time of service. Veterans who participated in a “toxic exposure risk activity” (TERA) as defined under the PACT Act during their service are eligible for the program.

Internal VA policy states that adverse outcomes from the COVID-19 vaccine aren’t considered part of the PACT Act.

“Vaccines and medications in general are not considered participation in a TERA [under the PACT Act] because there is no scientific or medical evidence that supports the conclusion that vaccines and medications administered to Service Members have resulted in long-term adverse health effects,” the policy reads.

Concerns

The department’s policy “denies the existence of scientific or medical evidence supporting long-term adverse health effects from vaccines like the COVID-19 vaccine,” said Trey Fleming, who’s currently employed by the VA.

Mr. Fleming spoke to The Epoch Times using a pseudonym because of concern about reprisals and emphasized that his views don’t reflect those of the VA.

The effect of the policy is that “veterans with vaccine injuries are excluded from receiving a VA examination and medical nexus opinion under the PACT Act,” he said.

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The stance on vaccines, according to Mr. Fleming, stands in stark contrast with how the department has approached other toxic exposure claims. For instance, he said claims processors have conceded exposure for controversial things such as exposure to gun smoke and ultraviolet radiation because VA policy instructs employees to liberally construe what constitutes a toxic exposure risk.

“Given this, the current evidence demonstrating the toxicity of COVID-19 vaccinations is more than sufficient for a claims processor to concede a toxic exposure risk, based on a claim of a disability due to an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) mRNA vaccine received in service,” he said. “However, the VA policy does not allow for such concessions.”

Mr. Fleming said the current policy is structured such that any side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine will be subsumed into another classification because vaccines are excluded from the PACT Act by “a biased policy.”

“This appears to be motivated by a profound conflict of interest on behalf of a secretary who mandated these same injections for VA health care workers,” he said.

Mr. Fleming worries about both short- and long-term side effects of the COVID-19 vaccination that was given to more than 90 percent of military personnel.

“I raised these concerns with my superiors, but they resort to deflection and bureaucratic evasion instead of addressing the merit of the serious issues I’ve raised about veteran welfare,” he said.

Tracking

Mr. Fleming is also concerned about the implications of this policy on tracking COVID-19 vaccine injuries that occurred after the Pentagon’s vaccine mandate of August 2021.

Currently, a COVID-19 vaccine injury claim could be made to the VA as a service-connected disability claim, although the process doesn’t create a tracking mechanism that would provide researchers with critical data regarding the long-term effects of COVID-19 vaccine, Mr. Fleming said.

“[But] recognizing the COVID-19 vaccines as an exposure risk would facilitate long-term tracking via VA claims data,” he said.

While evidence from a Pentagon database confirms a spike in the rate of myocarditis in the military in 2021, for example, the VA doesn’t attribute the condition to the COVID-19 vaccine.

“A record of myocarditis that occurred in service would potentially be eligible for service-connection [disability claim] if it resulted in a chronic condition and linked by a medical nexus, but it would not be attributed to the COVID-19 vaccines,” Mr. Fleming said.

“And what about the individual who experiences a heart condition or another adverse event due to the shot after he’s left the military?” he said. “There’s no way the VA is going to connect this to the shot received during service without a record of an adverse event occurring during service, along with a privately obtained medical nexus to their service to the country.

“Even if the veteran obtains this evidence, the condition will not be tracked as vaccine-related, and that’s my concern.”

That’s a major issue, according to Mr. Fleming, because long-term adverse effects might not show up until years after the member has left the service.

Mr. Fleming has proposed that Congress should compel the VA secretary to recognize the toxic exposure risk of the COVID-19 vaccines and allow claims processors to request examinations and medical opinions for veterans who are concerned that their unexplained disabilities may be due to the mandated vaccines.

He also wants the department to track COVID-19-vaccine-related claims and service-connected conditions related to the vaccine and to “ensure immediate attention is given to transparency, accountability, and the unbiased prioritization of veterans’ and service members’ health and compensation claims related to vaccine injuries.”

VA officials didn’t respond by press time to requests by The Epoch Times for comment.