Merwin Steven E, Stewart Donald N, Smith Matthew H, Potter Kenneth D, Hinnefeld Stuart L
Dade Moeller & Associates, 1835 Terminal Drive, Suite 200, Richland, WA 99352, USA.
Health Phys. 2008 Jul;95(1):148-59. doi: 10.1097/01.HP.0000305824.21020.10.
There are many claimant-favorable factors inherent in both the reconstruction of radiation dose and the calculation of probability of causation under Part B of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. These factors result in an approximate 30% compensation rate for claims filed under EEOICPA, which is roughly an order of magnitude greater than the likely incidence of increased cancers as predicted by epidemiology studies and risk models. Additionally, there is essentially no chance that a claim that is denied compensation actually involves a radiation-induced cancer. The claimant-favorable nature of the Part B program is often misunderstood or ignored when the merits of the program are reported and debated. This paper provides details on how the technical aspects of the EEOICPA program that favor the claimants are being implemented.