Ain’t just Washington DC Republicans and Democrats wheeling and dealing with austerity cuts to harm the people of this country, their health and the environment, (gotta keep that spending and revenue down so them wealthy job creators can keep on job creating) Feinberg, administrator of the GCCF is doing his part too, assisting British Petroleum and their $5 billion dollar plus profit this quarter by making austerity cuts to any sort of health claims people might direct towards the GCCF, as opposed to the less restrictive work he did with the 9-11 and Agent Orange funds.
In a new report, released by AEHR, Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, it’s demonstrated how Ken Feinberg has changed his ways when it comes to the health of those so harmed by tragedy, in this instance, all the people who live along the Gulf Coast, helped clean it up or just happened to be visiting at a really unfortunate time.
According to Feinberg, he has received roughly 200 health related claims, but has rejected them all because they failed to show “proof,” by way of medical documentation, documentation…documentation!…that the illnesses were related to toxic exposure from the oil spill.
This standard of medical proof should be compared to his previous, less restrictive requirements:
The Agent Orange Settlement Fund:
No proof was required for medical causation. All that was necessary was for the claimant to show they were in an area where the herbicide, Agent Orange was sprayed and that they had a related medical diagnosis.
That’s all.
The 9-11 Victims Compensation Fund:
Feinberg also did not require proof of medical causation. Approximately 80-90% of the claims he received were due to respiratory illnesses caused by exposure to toxic air pollution. Again, all the claimants needed to show was that they were in the vicinity, rescue workers or civilians and they had a medical diagnosis.
But now, things have changed…
These are the times of austerity, cutting back, living within our means, tightening our belts, etc…so GCCF claimants must now have proof. From the report:
“By requiring medical proof of causation, Feinberg has effectively denied the human right to health for people suffering from illnesses associated with the BP oil disaster toxins, but who cannot provide medical proof that their specific illnesses were caused by specific exposures to the hazardous substances. Furthermore, given the inconclusive state of scientific evidence that a specific toxic exposure caused a specific physical harm, Feinberg’s requirement that GCCF claimants provide medical proof of causation is outrageous.”
So, that means all the people who had the misfortune of living in the area, or were trying to clean-up British Petroleum’s catastraphuk, and are now sick or at risk of getting sick in the future…well, sorry ’bout that.
Making people whole, making things right…
To a point.
After all, some of this making whole stuff is really expensive, and haven’t you heard? There’s still a recession on…and we here at BP only made five billion dollars last quarter, so, you know, be reasonable. Do you understand how many people might make health claims if they thought we’d pay them? Neither do we, and we’d like to thank Feinberg for helping to keep it that way.
Read the report:
Have a nice day.
Drake Toulouse: Photography and Words 
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