VA to host listening session to examine PFAs, cancer link

Kerr County-area veterans are invited to a listening session that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will conduct to focus on its plan to assess a link between certain environmental exposures during military service and cancer.  The online seminar is planned from 9-10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, November 19, according to Kerr County Veterans Service Officer Jenna Sanchez.  To listen or provide feedback, registration must be completed by November 15 at https://www.research.net/r/PFGH8YL.

The VA is asking for public opinion on the importance of completing this assessment of scientific literature and historical claims data relating to the possible relationship between exposure to Per- and Plyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs) and kidney cancer.  “Our veterans are encouraged to speak up about medical conditions they have been diagnosed with since serving or being exposed to toxins,” said Kerr County Veterans Service Officer Jenna Sanchez.  “This will help the VA conduct research and this is how presumptive conditions can be added.”

The population of the study will include U.S. service members who may have experienced environmental and/or occupational exposures to PFAs during military service, but additional inclusion criteria will be considered during the scientific assessment.  The VA will also ask for input on future assessments during this event.

Space will be limited to 30 slots for speakers, and written comments must be submitted through www.regulations.gov. on or before December 20.

For more information, contact Erin Dursa, PhD, MPH, Director of Surveillance Military Environmental Exposures, Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20420.  Also, Dr. Dursa’s office is available by phone at (202) 461-7297.

Once the conclusions of the assessment have been appropriately reviewed by experts, there may be a formal evaluation to inform decisions regarding veterans’ qualifying period of service, such as those who served on active military, naval or air service in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War, as well as Somalia, Afghanistan, Djtbouti, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen or Uzbekistan from September 11, 2002, until present day.