Sec. 721. PROGRAMS RELATED TO DESERT STORM MYSTERY ILLNESS
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## SEC. 721 PROGRAMS RELATED TO DESERT STORM MYSTERY ILLNESS **[**[10 U.S.C. 1074 note](/us/usc/t10/s1074)**]** ###
(a)Outreach Program to Persian Gulf Veterans and Families The Secretary of Defense shall institute a comprehensive outreach program to inform members of the Armed Forces who served in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf Conflict, and the families of such members, of illnesses that may result from such service. The program shall be carried out through both medical and command channels, as well as any other means the Secretary considers appropriate. Under the program, the Secretary shall— ####
(1)inform such individuals regarding— #####
(A)common disease symptoms reported by Persian Gulf veterans that may be due to service in the Southwest Asia theater of operations; #####
(B)blood donation policy; #####
(C)available counseling and medical care for such members; and #####
(D)possible health risks to children of Persian Gulf veterans; ####
(2)inform such individuals of the procedures for registering in either the Persian Gulf Veterans Health Surveillance System of the Department of Defense or the Persian Gulf War Health Registry of the Department of Veterans Affairs; and ####
(3)encourage such members to report any symptoms they may have and to register in the appropriate health surveillance registry. ###
(b)Incentives to Persian Gulf Veterans To Register In order to encourage Persian Gulf veterans to register any symptoms they may have in one of the existing health registries, the Secretary of Defense shall provide the following: ####
(1)For any Persian Gulf veteran who is on active duty and who registers with the Department of Defense's Persian Gulf War Veterans Health Surveillance System, a full medical evaluation and any required medical care. ####
(2)For any Persian Gulf War veteran who is, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, a member of a reserve component, opportunity to register at a military medical facility in the Persian Gulf Veterans Health Care Surveillance System and, in the case of a Reserve who registers in that registry, a full medical evaluation by the Department of Defense. Depending on the results of the evaluation and on eligibility status, reserve personnel may be provided medical care by the Department of Defense. ####
(3)For a Persian Gulf veteran who is not, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, on active duty or a member of a reserve component, assistance and information at a military medical facility on registering with the Persian Gulf War Registry of the Department of Veterans Affairs and information related to support services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs. ###
(c)Compatibility of Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs Registries The Secretary of Defense shall take appropriate actions to ensure— ####
(1)that the data collected by and the testing protocols of the Persian Gulf War Health Surveillance System maintained by the Department of Defense are compatible with the data collected by and the testing protocols of the Persian Gulf War Veterans Health Registry maintained by the Department of Veterans Affairs; and ####
(2)that all information on individuals who register with the Department of Defense for purposes of the Persian Gulf War Health Surveillance System is provided to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for incorporation into the Persian Gulf War Veterans Health Registry. ###
(d)Presumptions on Behalf of Service Member ####
(1)A member of the Armed Forces who is a Persian Gulf veteran, who has symptoms of illness, and who the Secretary concerned finds may have become ill as a result of serving on active duty in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War shall be considered for Department of Defense purposes to have become ill as a result of serving in that theater of operations. ####
(2)A member of the Armed Forces who is a Persian Gulf veteran and who reports being ill as a result of serving on active duty in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War shall be considered for Department of Defense purposes to have become ill as a result of serving in that theater of operations until such time as the weight of medical evidence establishes other cause or causes of the member's illness. ####
(3)The Secretary concerned shall ensure that, for the purposes of health care treatment by the Department of Defense, health care and personnel administration, and disability evaluation by the Department of Defense, the symptoms of any member of the Armed Forces covered by paragraph
(1)or
(2)are examined in light of the member's service in the Persian Gulf War and in light of the reported symptoms of other Persian Gulf veterans. The Secretary shall ensure that, in providing health care diagnosis and treatment of the member, a broad range of potential causes of the member's symptoms are considered and that the member's symptoms are considered collectively, as well as by type of symptom or medical specialty, and that treatment across medical specialties is coordinated appropriately. ####
(4)The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that the presumptions of service connection and illness specified in paragraphs
(1)and
(2)are incorporated in appropriate service medical and personnel regulations and are widely disseminated throughout the Department of Defense. ###
(e)Revision of the Physical Evaluation Board Criteria ####
(1)The Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall ensure that case definitions of Persian Gulf related illnesses, as well as the Physical Evaluation Board criteria used to set disability ratings for members no longer medically qualified for continuation on active duty, are established as soon as possible to permit accurate disability ratings related to a diagnosis of Persian Gulf illnesses. ####
(2)Until revised disability criteria can be implemented and members of the Armed Forces can be rated against those criteria, the Secretary of Defense shall ensure— #####
(A)that any member of the Armed Forces on active duty who may be suffering from a Persian Gulf-related illness is afforded continued military medical care; and #####
(B)that any member of the Armed Forces on active duty who is found by a Physical Evaluation Board to be unfit for continuation on active duty as a result of a Persian Gulf-related illness for which the board has no rating criteria (or inadequate rating criteria) for the illness or condition from which the member suffers is placed on the temporary disability retired list. ###
(f)Review of Records and Rerating of Previously Discharged Gulf War Veterans ####
(1)The Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, shall ensure that a review is made of the health and personnel records of each Persian Gulf veteran who before the date of the enactment of this Act was discharged from active duty, or was medically retired, as a result of a Physical Evaluation Board process. ####
(2)The review under paragraph
(1)shall be carried out to ensure that former Persian Gulf veterans who may have been suffering from a Persian Gulf-related illness at the time of discharge or retirement from active duty as a result of the Physical Evaluation Board process are reevaluated in accordance with the criteria established under subsection (e)(1) and, if appropriate, are rerated. ###
(g)Persian Gulf Illness Medical Referral Centers The Secretary of Defense shall evaluate the feasibility of establishing one or more medical referral centers to provide uniform, coordinated medical care for Persian Gulf veterans on active duty who are or may be suffering from a Persian Gulf-related illness. The Secretary shall submit a report on such feasibility to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives not later than six months after the date of the enactment of this Act. ###
(h)Annual Report to Congress **[**Repealed by section 1031(e) of P.L. 108–136**]** ###
(i)Persian Gulf Veteran For purposes of this section, a Persian Gulf veteran is an individual who served on active duty in the Armed Forces in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf Conflict. # TITLE X GENERAL PROVISIONS * * * * * * * ## Subtitle B Counter-Drug Activities
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Sec. 721
PROGRAMS RELATED TO DESERT STORM MYSTERY ILLNESS
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