The government response to the Camp Lejeune water catastrophe has included years of extensive scientific research and studies by various public health agencies including the National Research Council (NRC) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). The most significant and meaningful study regarding the association between the Camp Lejeune water contamination and birth defects was the 2014 ATSDR Birth Defects and Childhood Cancer Study.

The ATSDR study looked at medical records and data for 12,598 children who were born to mothers with residential exposure to the contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. Only children born between 1968-1985 were included because adequate medical records were not available prior to 1968. The study also used the ATSDR’s advance water contamination modeling data for Camp Lejeune to quantify the level of maternal chemical exposure for each study group member.

The study concluded that children born to mothers with exposure to the polluted Camp Lejeune water during pregnancy had a significantly increased risk of birth defects. Camp Lejeune babies displayed almost a fourfold increase in the rate of neural tube birth defects such as spina bifida and anencephaly. A similar increase was found in the rate of children born with oral cleft defects. The data also showed a clear correlation between the rate of birth defects and the level of maternal exposure to the Camp Lejeune water. Mothers with the most extensive exposure to the Lejeune water had the highest rate of birth defects.

The results of the ATSDR study on birth defects, were consistent with the findings of several earlier studies that found an association between neural tube birth defects and PCE exposure.

In 2015, a special committee of medical experts was formed to advise the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) on how to administer health benefits to Camp Lejeune veterans (the “VA Committee). The VA Committee conducted a critical review and evaluation of all the previous research and public health studies. Based on these review, the VA Committee issued final guidance to the VA on what adverse health events could be associated with the Camp Lejeune water based on valid evidence.

The final conclusions reached by the VA Committee were published in a report called the VA Clinical Guidance on the Health Conditions Identified by the Camp Lejeune Legislation. The guidance report from the VA Committee reached a conclusive determination that there was valid evidence showing a connection between in-utero exposure the Camp Lejeune water and neural tube birth defects:

The committee concludes that neural tube defects may have resulted from in utero exposures to [PCE and TCE] in the contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune.

Victims of the Camp Lejeune water pollution victims have previously been entirely barred from bringing civil claims and getting compensation from the government. All prior Camp Lejeune water contamination lawsuits have been dismissed based on application of North Carolina’s strict 10-year statute of repose. In reaction to this injustice, Congress is now very close to passing a new federal law that will give Camp Lejeune victims the ability to file claims and get settlements.

The Camp Lejeune Justice Act (CLJA), was combined into a larger bill called the Honoring Our Pact Act (PACT Act) and passed by the House of Representative in March. In June 2022, the Senate passed a slightly amended version of the PACT Act. The amended version is now up for approval by the House at which point it will become law.

As soon as the CLJA signed into law, Camp Lejeune water contamination victims will be entitled to bring tort claims against the government and seek compensation. CLJA claimants will still need to establish proof of their factual allegations, the new law establishes a reduced standard of proof for causation. To prove causation, Camp Lejeune plaintiffs will be able to rely on a single, valid study associating their injuries to the Lejeune water contaminants.

Under this minimal evidentiary standard created by the CLJA, neural tube birth defects will be supported by presumptive evidence of causation. The ATSDR birth defect study and the VA Committee guidance have already concluded that birth defects are caused by the water at Camp Lejeune. Plaintiffs with birth defect claims will probably just need to prove that they lived or worked at Lejeune during the relevant period in order to establish their claims.

Our lawyers think that Camp Lejeune claims involving birth defects (specifically spina bifida) could have a very high value depending on the long-term severity of the birth defect. Spina bifida can result in lifelong physical and mental disabilities similar to other birth injuries such as cerebral palsy.  These cases could have a settlement value of $750,000 to $1,500,000 or possibly even higher.

Camp Lejeune lawsuits involving birth defects that do not involve major long-term disabilities may have a typical settlement payout range between $125,000 to $400,000, depending largely on the severity and permanency of the condition.