Feinberg says no claims filed on cleanup illnesses,” ran an Associated Press headline last week, stirring up more mistrust of the BP claims process among Gulf Coast residents.  It is simply not true that sick cleanup workers have not filed medical claims with the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF), administered by Kenneth Feinberg.

Rather, Feinberg and the GCCF appear to be categorically rejecting those claims, saying there is not enough scientific proof that links the illnesses to the BP disaster.

Feinberg told Bridge The Gulf in a recent interview that the GCCF has received “a couple hundred” health claims related to BP cleanup, but has denied all of them for lack of documentation.

What proof do they need?
Feinberg says that the GCCF, which was set up by BP to compensate those impacted by its disaster in the Gulf, would grant health claims related to the cleanup effort.  But he said he has, ”reservations about whether those claimants can offer proof,” that the BP disaster caused their ailments.

“What proof do they need?,” asks Sean Kelley, a cleanup worker whose health claim was denied by Feinberg for insufficient documentation. Kelley had direct exposure to the oil. He removed oil from containment booms and laid boom for nearly two months along the Alabama and Mississippi coast.  Kelley believes that exposure to BP’s crude oil caused a number of his current health problems, including nausea, headaches, rashes, blurred vision, infections, cardiac issues, and neurological problems like uncontrollable shaking in his limbs, memory loss, and brain fogs that last for hours. He had internal bleeding as well.

Kelley’s denied claim included all medical bills from multiple doctor visits, and the results of a test showing his blood contains alarming levels of toxins that are found in BP’s crude oil.

If it is going to reject claims like his, Kelley says, “[the GCCF] has to come out and say what link and documentation they need.”

The GCCF has not provided clear guidelines for a cleanup claim it would grant. Even a doctor’s note linking an individual’s cleanup work to their health symptoms might not be enough, says Feinberg, because the “medical community” needs to agree on the linkage.

The burden of documentation
Advocates on the Gulf Coast wonder how many will go untreated – or even die – waiting for the “medical community” to connect their illnesses with the BP disaster.

“No doctors will help anybody,” says Kindra Arensen of Buras, Louisiana. Arnesen, her husband (who worked on the cleanup), and their two children have had infections, respiratory illnesses, headaches, and other ailments since the oil and dispersant disaster began.

Cleanup workers and coastal residents have been diagnosed with acid reflux, stress, and the flu, but seldom chemical poisoning.  Some patients say that when they brought up exposure to BP’s crude oil and toxic dispersants, their doctors have laughed, refused to do further testing, or privately admitted they can’t take on BP.

Claimants can accept an interim payment without abdicating the right to sue, but that option only reimburses past expenses.  This means that people have to pay for expensive medical bills out of pocket, and then hope that the GCCF reimburses them.  So far it has not.

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Don’t let BP and the GCCF shirk their responsibilities.