ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com)—
An Iraq War Vet says the V.A. wasted taxpayer dollars on a worthless medical trip. Meanwhile, the veteran says he's "wasting away" without the treatment he needs to save him. FOX Files Investigator Chris Hayes has been following his case, while exposing a dirty secret the military is finally beginning to acknowledge.August 10th, we told you how Tim Wymore finally hoped to get a diagnosis. He struggles to breathe and requires a wheelchair. He believes his problems are linked to his exposure to toxic burn pits in Iraq. It used to be common practice to burn trash on military bases. Veterans and military contract workers testified that military bases in both Iraq and Afghanistan burned everything from tires, to plastics, to nuclear waste.
When Wymore repeatedly told doctors that he inhaled the thick, black smoke for years -- he thought he finally got them to listen. They arranged to fly him to the V.A.'s War Related Injury and Illness Center in New Jersey for answers. Tim Wymore texted me during his visits August 9 & 10th to say he was disappointed. When he returned, he told me they did "nothing. They didn't do anything for me. They didn't even X-ray me."
Wymore said it was almost all talk. He said one doctor "basically explained to me what he read from the V.A. records down here [in St. Louis] you know. I went there thinking they were going to do their own tests, or whatever. I go in there he's reading off you know."
His wife Shanna said medical staff looked to her. She added, "They did not know a thing about burn pits. They wanted to learn from me."
Congressman Todd Akin wrote a letter to the V.A. Secretary in Washington D.C. stating he's "ashamed of the care Tim Wymore received." The Congressman called the medical trip a "waste of both time and resources." Akin cited that the Wymores "were provided with information (some printed off the internet!) that the Wymores have known for months."
Dave Autry with the Disabled American Veterans said he's heard repeated complaints about medical treatment. He said, "Unfortunately it's not an uncommon story. We've heard similar stories from any number of service members and Veterans." Autry told me part of the problem is the military's reluctance to own up to what's long been a dirty secret. He said the Department of Defense just recently began acknowledging the issue last year and that led the V.A. to begin considering health affects only this April, 2010.
Veterans in the St. Louis area, wth burn pit concerns, can call the St. Louis area office for Disabled American Veterans at 314-552-9883. Ask for a National Service Officer. You can also visit the organization's Web site at www.dav.org. The DAV will also take calls about any other disabling condition a Veteran suffers.
Read the entire letter from Congressman Todd Akin to the V.A.'s Secretary on a link to this story.
Watch Investigator Chris Hayes' previous burn pit reports here.
Contact the Disabled American Veterans Office
Phone: 314-552-9883.
Website: www.dav.org.
