VA Benefits And Mesothelioma

Episode summary

Filing for VA benefits after a mesothelioma diagnosis feels like the obvious first step, but hosts David Foster and Larry Gates explain why it isn’t always the right first move. Many veterans served a few years, then spent decades in high-risk civilian jobs like shipyards and refineries — and how that exposure history is argued across the VA and the civil systems can change the outcome. This episode walks through the real “should I file?” decision, what a VA claim does and doesn’t cover, and why understanding the full exposure picture first helps protect a family’s options.

• VA benefits and a civil claim are separate systems with different rules.
• Most veterans also had decades of civilian asbestos exposure that matters.
• Filing in the wrong order can complicate how exposure is argued.
• A free eligibility review can map both paths before you file anything.

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Full transcript

Welcome And Why This Matters

You're listening to MESO, the mesothelioma podcast, where support, education, and outreach come together for families facing mesothelioma. Welcome to the MESO podcast. I got Larry Gates, my esteemed colleague, with me today. So uh and glad to be here with you. Uh so today we thought we'd talk about uh VA benefits and kind of the nuances of that, uh asked some questions. We had some questions brought in to us, so we're going to answer them and just trying to make sure everybody kind of understands uh what happens if they get mesothelioma or lung cancer and whether they should or shouldn't file a VA claim. Definitely. We have to take care of our veterans, don't we, Dave? Both Larry uh Larry's dad died, he was a veteran, and uh he died of mesothelioma. My dad was also a Korean War veteran and um and he had uh asbestos-related lung cancer. So we kind of know this from both sides of the fence. So all right.

When A VA Claim Backfires

Uh the first question is um how do I file a VA uh claim if I have mesothelioma or lung cancer? Well, the people ask us that all the time, and and our first answer is let's make sure it makes sense to file a VA claim. And the reason for that is that, and and Larry's seen this firsthand, is that uh if someone has mesothelioma or lung cancer and they were in the Navy uh for four years, and then they got out, and the rest of their career they were working in, you know, shipyards or boilers or HVAC, then filing a VA claim may not make sense because it may confuse the uh you know the the claim. Uh the claimants when we're trying to make the claim uh worth less, can it? It can cost you the case. You can if you file a VA claim, that's exactly right, Larry, you you might be throwing hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions out the window. True. It causes finger pointing, because the people in the Navy are going to say, hey, uh it was caused by that company, and the people of the company are gonna say, no, no, no. He he was with the VA. He even filed a VA claim. What would you advise a veteran to to do then, uh to talk with a mesothelioma advocate or lawyer first? That that's absolutely the right answer, Larry. Talk talk to the experts, right? I mean you're going, you have mesothelioma go to a a physician that's an expert. In this case, go to a a uh a legal expert that actually files both the mesothelioma claims and the VA claims. Definitely. That's some great advice. Yeah. So your your father, he was a veteran, and then what did he do? And then he went to work with shell refinery, uh, instrument man. He was all over the the plant for 22 years. Uh so he he did not file a uh a uh VA claim. It just uh uh I guess on the advice of the attorney, and uh uh he went the right way. Yeah. Well and and then keep in keep in mind the scope of it, the the VA claim, if you're a if you're a Navy veteran and you were their career Navy veteran, you retired, then yeah, it absolutely makes sense, right? So they were in the boiler room or whatever function they were they served on a ship or in in the military, the Air Force, you have a lot of air Air Force guys. You've you've had some big cases that were that were Air Force mechanics and that sort of thing, then it might make a sense to file both. But we want to always f look at it, make sure it it makes sense, and then file the the uh mesothelioma claim outside the VA and then file the VA claim.

Using A VA Placeholder Claim

What we can do is put in a placeholder. Can you kind of explain what that means, Larry? Aaron Ross Powell, Jr. It just means that uh you can actually put the uh VA mesothelioma claim on hold because all the the the money, the most of the money the family is gonna get is gonna be from the claim they file through the th with the attorney. Okay. Asbestos funds. Or uh if they go on to sue the company. But mostly it's gonna the most of the money is gonna come without the VA. Can a spouse file VA claim after the veteran passes away if meothelium or lung cancer? Definitely. Definitely. The spouse can always can always file uh the the the claim once the uh uh client passes away. And they'll essentially get the the same kind of benefits, correct? I think they'll get the same, don't you? Okay, yeah. So um What kind of V veterans do you see come in that that possibly Navy bets, uh-huh, uh Marines, Air Force, uh but most of them are Navy bets. Yeah. Uh being on those ships that were heavily uh had asbestos all over the ships, in in in the bunk rooms, uh in the boiler rooms especially, all the paints, it it was everywhere. I got I got a trivia for it, I don't know if you know this, but uh more veterans died in the World War I and the Korean War from asbestos than died of uh and and were injured, then died, you know, injuries on the ships and bullets and all of that. So the asbestos saved saved some people. Took a while though, didn't it? Yeah, it took a while.

Denials Appeals And Local VA Help

Trevor Burrus, Jr. That's exactly right. So Dave, what uh what can a family do if the the V8 claim to mesothelioma, if the misothilioma claim has been denied? Trevor Burrus Good question, Larry. Um you would have thought I asked you to ask me that, but uh but obviously that would be we just fed off each other. Yeah, so we're feeding off each other. Well, that happens a lot. In in many cases, uh as I mentioned earlier, uh if it's the lifetime, if you were a career military guy and and you got mesothelioma or lung cancer, that makes it a little easier to file. But if you're just in four years, two years, eight years, well, it may or may not make sense. But um what what happens if it gets denied? Well, it it happens often, especially for people that weren't career Navy, career uh uh Air Force, that sort of thing. And then you can appeal it. And that's when we kind of step in to help you with that. You know, let us do that for you. You we'll take the heavy listing there. A lot of times we'll we'll bring in an expert that files these claims and let them do it. Uh we can also go, in one case here in Houston, we had somebody file and denied, and I went with them to the the the regional office here, and we filed an appeal and talked to one of their uh regional representatives, and they were fantastic. All those guys are were career military, they know the system inside and out, so uh we can always just walk them right over there. And that's true in almost every major uh major city. There's a regional service center that we can go to. Aaron Powell You know, not many law firms, not all law firms do that, Dave. Absolutely they don't, yeah. So but Danziger and Niana. We're gonna make sure they're they they get that get that money they deserve. They f they fought in the war, they serve their country, and they they're gonna get it. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Dave, I tell you a lot uh have this asked to me a lot. Where are the major VA medical centers that they can get treated? Trevor Burrus, Jr. In in most of the major cities, there's something there. Uh but uh Houston, obviously, Michael DeBakey, um in Boston, they have two giant uh medical centers there that uh are associated with the um the Harvard Center and um Dana Farber. So they get great care from Harvard-trained doctors, right there, um surgeons and medical oncologists. It's true of California, um in uh Chicago, they have a big VA center. Uh Duke has has a, you know, in North Carolina has a center's affiliation there. So uh I know there's some in in uh Florida, several in in uh Tampa, Miami. So again, if something like that happens, connecting with us, we'll we'll know the doctors that are associated with that and get you over there and get you that second opinion, or a referral to another expert uh treatment center that's affiliated with that that uh VA medical center. That is awesome to know because our bench deserve that type of treatment. They they've been through a lot and that's wonderful

Compensation Options Beyond The VA

to know. Question from the audience. What financial options, the major three, are available for mesothelioma and lung cancer victims? Well, one is is of course is uh Social Security benefits. Uh the disability, though. Disability, Social Security, uh that's always available. Uh when someone has mesothelioma, it's one of one of the priority diseases. So they get fast tracked. Yeah. And sometimes it can take 30 to 90 days to get uh you know an opinion whether they they they are it's viable claims. But with that called the extreme docket? No, no, that's something else entirely. Okay. Uh but but uh good question. Uh but this this is uh just fast track and they'll be prioritized within 20 days to get an answer whether they're eligible. Excellent. So what other things uh can what other ways can they get compensation, Larry? You got mesothelium, what's gonna happen? Well I'll tell you that that the well again, the major thing is the asbestos trust funds, uh where there's thirty billion dollars set aside for asbestos and misothelium victims. Yeah. Uh law firm at DD is an expert at doing that. We've been doing it over almost 30 years, uh-huh, and we've recovered over two billion dollars. Wow. You know, the uh trust funds are what everybody hears about, they see the commercials, but uh most people don't know that there's a lot more money outside those trusts. And so with the viable companies, the people that didn't go bankrupt. So those are companies that went bankrupt, they're trying to avoid, you know, going under, and so they file bankruptcy, but much, much more money outside of that. Uh hundreds of billions of dollars outside of that that we can tap into. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Do you have an example of a uh uh of a bet that could do that? What what kind of a better uh I mean you could it could be uh you know a shell uh you know a shell refinery plant, you know, that somebody was exposed in the 60s or 70s, or g a GM plant, you know, auto automaker, so I shouldn't be uh picking on a specific company. Could so it could be a refinery, could be an auto plant, could be a smelter, something like that. Uh it takes a uh uh a a law firm that has years of experience that knows what they're doing in order to here's a good question. How and people say all the time, um uh how much is in that mesoothelioma trust fund? How much am I gonna get? Well, our average uh our average case is our clients get over a million dollars. Okay. A lot of times it's a lot more than that. Depends on the asbestos exposure. Uh and then sometimes it's a little bit s smaller than that. But our average is uh over a million dollars. You know, people see these commercials, $30 billion trust fund, but it they need to understand it's not one trust fund. There was actually hundreds of trust funds. And now there's about 35 that are viable. You know, really good trust funds that are worth filing for. Some of the others are just the money is uh is not there. And they don't get it all at once, do they, Dave? No, they certainly don't. And that's a good question, right? Never one check. Each defendant that they file against, each trust pays uh accordingly. Yeah. So uh let's see. Uh how long does it take to get money for a mesothelial massel? Well, that's a very good question, Dave. It's uh uh you know you get the John Mansville Trust that uh uh that that comes quicker. We can get that sometimes within two or three months. But usually within a year, the checks start coming in. Again, they don't all come at once, they come at different times, different amounts. Uh-huh. But uh in the hands of uh an attorney that's very experienced that knows what they're doing, we're gonna get that uh to them in in a shortest period of time that we can. Okay, I got a a good question for you. Is the money they get taxable? Good good question, Dave. The asbestos proceeds from misothelium and lung cancer claims are non-taxable. Oh, good. So they yeah, they don't even have to report them. And that's correct. That is one thing. Good, good, good. What when a lawyer says no upfront cost, contingency P, what's that mean? Contingency means that we're going to uh cover all the upfront costs. It's not going to cost them a a thing to file the uh to file the claim. We want them concentrating on one thing, their medical and their

Key Takeaways And Resources

treatments. Well, look, I know we talked about a lot of things today, the V VA benefits, a lot of that. And there's, you know, we probably should get a VA regional uh representative over here sometime talk to them. But we appreciate everybody joining us and uh letting Larry, my esteemed colleague, uh come on and and help us uh field some of these questions. Thank you for allowing me to be with the uh the head of our mesothelioma department. Larry, the pleasure was all mine. So we'll do it uh another time, hopefully. Thank you for listening to MESO, the mesothelioma podcast. For more information, resources, and support, visit our sponsors Danziger and Dayano at Dandel.com.

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Frequently asked questions

Should I file a VA claim right after a mesothelioma diagnosis?

Not always first. As the hosts explain, your military and civilian asbestos exposure are argued across different systems, so understanding your full exposure history before filing can help protect your options. Reviewing your eligibility first can show the order that fits your situation.

Can I pursue VA benefits and a separate mesothelioma claim at the same time?

Yes. VA benefits and a civil claim are separate tracks with different rules, and many veterans are eligible for both because they had additional asbestos exposure in civilian jobs after their service.

Why does my civilian work history matter if I was exposed in the military?

Many veterans served a few years and then spent decades in high-risk civilian roles like shipyards and refineries. That later exposure is often central to how a mesothelioma claim is built, so it shouldn’t be left out of the picture.

Veterans: explore your options