Burn Pit Claims Under the Defense Base Act

The Defense Base Act (DBA) was created to offset the dangers associated with contractors and subcontractors deployed overseas. The DBA provides contractors and subcontractors who are injured while working overseas with health insurance and the opportunity to receive a disability rating. U.S. government contractors and subcontractors overseas are covered by DBA insurance if they are injured, regardless of citizenship and regardless of position. If you work on a U.S. base and get hurt or injured, you can likely file a DBA claim.

What Are Burn Pits?

Many qualified DBA contracts and subcontractors working overseas may have been exposed to toxins from burn pits during the course of their employment. Burn pits are large areas where trash and other items marked for disposal were gathered and burned. Burn pits were sometimes extremely large, in one instance in Afghanistan, a burn put was nearly 10 acres in size. To ignite the burn pits, jet fuel was often poured over the trash and then lit on fire. In some of the burn pits, the trash and burned items contained cancer-causing carcinogens, which were then released into the air when the trash was burned.

Burn Pit Claims

Currently, many burn pit-related claims under the DBA have been denied by Employer/Carriers, forcing injured workers to prove their condition was caused by exposure during the course of their employment. Recently, the U.S. Congress passed the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxins Act (PACT Act), which created a presumption of a causal relationship between exposure to burn pits and certain health issues. Contractors or subcontractors making burn pit claims must be aware that civilians covered by the DBA are not entitled to that same presumption of a causal relationship between the burn pits and health conditions that they may develop. Obtaining medical evidence to connect a condition to exposure can be extremely difficult. The science and medicine to address this issue has taken many years to determine the causal link between toxic exposure and resulting injuries.

As medical research advances, the link between burn pits and different health issues will become more clear. Such research will benefit civilian contractors covered by the DBA. Until then, if you worked near or around burn pits in a qualifying country and develop any of the qualifying health conditions, you should immediately contact your medical provider. You should discuss with your doctor, in detail, your work, the distance to burn pits, the frequency of burn pit exposure, and the length of time working at or near burn pits. With this information, your doctor may be able to determine whether your condition could be burn pit related. If your doctor issues a report that your condition was caused by burn pit exposure, you should immediately notify the Employer who had you work at or near burn pits.

Do You Need Help with Your Defense Base Act Claim in Florida?

If you or someone you love has or is considering filing a Defense Base Act claim, let the attorneys at Friedman Rodman & Frank fight to help you recover the damages you deserve. Expenses and injuries sustained on the job can quickly become overwhelming, and having an experienced roster of DBA attorneys by your side can make a world of difference in the compensation you receive. Our experienced attorneys have successfully represented injured workers at every stage of their claims, ensuring that they obtain the compensation that they deserve. With our team, you can have faith that your claim is being pursued properly. If you have questions about your case, call us today at 877-627-5116 and schedule a free and no-obligation initial consultation with a DBA lawyer.