Camp Lejeune Multiple Myeloma Lawsuit Filed By Son of Marine Stationed At Base in 1970s

The son of a U.S. Marine stationed at Camp Lejeune in the 1970s has filed a lawsuit alleging he developed multiple myeloma from the Camp Lejeune drinking water, which was contaminated with a number of cancer-causing chemicals when he was living on the base.

The complaint (PDF) was filed by Robert Park and his wife, Jennifer, under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022, which was signed into law by President Biden last summer.

The new law opened a two year window for veterans, military family members and other individuals exposed to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune to file a lawsuit against the U.S. government, which had previously denied all claims under qualified immunity defenses and the North Carolina Statute of Repose, which was already expired for many claims by the time information about the Camp Lejeune water contamination was publicly disclosed.

Park now joins thousands of Marines and their family members who have are pursuing Camp Lejeune settlement benefits for various types of cancer, neurological disorders and other disease linked to contaminants in the water.

According to the Camp Lejeune multiple myeloma lawsuit, Park’s father, James Franklin Park, was stationed at the U.S. Marine training base with his family from June 1975 through June 1979.

“Plaintiff Robert Park extensively used the water supplied to him by the Defendant at Camp Lejeune for drinking, bathing, swimming, and other such activities,” the lawsuit notes. “He played a lot of sports, including baseball, basketball, football, and soccer, causing him to drink more water than his siblings and others around him.”

Park was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in August 2005. Multiple myeloma is a form blood cancer related to lymphoma and leukemia, and is one of the types of cancer known to be associated with Camp Lejeune water contamination.

The lawsuit indicates Park underwent several rounds of radiation and chemotherapy, as well as stem cell transplants, developing a dangerous methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection; an antibiotic-resistant “superbug” and kidney damage before the cancer went into remission in 2006. However, the cancer has left him with a number of severe and permanent injuries, including impaired memory, impulse control and motor function. He also suffers from difficulty thinking, sleeping and auditory hallucinations, the lawsuit claims.

“The water provided by the Defendant at Camp Lejeune was highly contaminated with various chlorinated organic compounds, such as tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene, dichloroethylene, and vinyl chloride, as well as benzene,” Park’s lawsuit states. “These compounds, regardless of the source, are likely to cause a variety of health problems, including but not limited to cancers, liver and kidney damage, central nervous system disturbances in humans, birth defect, disfigurement, pain, suffering, and possibly death to whom Defendant provided the water system.”

The lawsuit notes that benzene exposure is a known cause of multiple myeloma.

Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Risks

Estimates suggest more than a million Marines and their family members were exposed to contaminated Camp Lejeune water between the early 1950s and late 1980s, with some reports suggesting that toxic chemicals from Camp Lejeune may be responsible for more than 28,000 cases of bladder cancer, 50,000 cases of breast cancer, and 24,000 cases of renal cancer, as well as thousands of cases involve multiple myeloma, Parkinson’s disease and other health complications. It is also believed Camp Lejeune water caused birth defects and wrongful death for thousands of unborn children exposed in utero.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a study in 2014, which looked at deaths among Camp Lejeune civilian workers between 1979 and 2008. When they compared those deaths to deaths at another military base which was not known to have contaminated water, they found that Camp Lejeune workers had higher rates of death due cancers of the breasts, bladder, kidneys, lungs, oral cavity, prostate, and rectum.

Workers were also found to face an increased risk of dying from multiple myeloma, kidney diseases, leukemias and Parkinson’s disease.

Many of these injuries, including multiple myeloma, are specifically listed by the Department of Veterans Affairs as injuries Camp Lejeune workers and residents can be compensated for under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act.

March 2023 Camp Lejeune Lawsuit Update

A rapidly growing number of Camp Lejeune lawsuits have been filed over the past 30 day, since each claimant had to wait 180 days after notifying the U.S. government of their intention to pursue a claim. However, the size and scope of the litigation is expected to continue to increase rapidly over the next two years, before the August 2024 deadline for filing lawsuits.

Under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, all claims must be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, which has been granted exclusive jurisdiction.

While the U.S. government passed this landmark legislation, the law does not include any automatic right to settlement benefits for veterans and their family members. Rather, each claimant must file a lawsuit and establish that they were exposed to Camp Lejeune water for at least 30 days between August 1953 and December 31, 1987. It is also necessary that they present expert testimony or support to establish that there is a causal relationship between the Camp Lejeune water and injury, or that such a relationship is at least as likely as not.

At this time, Camp Lejeune injury lawyers are reviewing claims for a wide variety of cancers and other complications that may have been caused by the chemicals in the water, including:

Camp Lejeune Cancer Lawsuits:

• Multiple myeloma
• Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
• Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)
• Brain Cancer
• Breast cancer
• Bladder cancer
• Central Nervous System Cancer
• Cervical cancer
• Colon Cancer/Colorectal Cancer
• Esophageal cancer
• Hodgkins Lymphoma
• Kidney cancer
• Liver cancer
• Lung cancer
• Ovarian cancer
• Leukemia
• Prostate Cancer
• Rectal Cancer
• Thyroid Cancer

Other Side Effects Eligible for Camp Lejeune Lawsuit Settlements:

• Parkinson’s disease
• Renal Toxicity/Kidney Disease
• Kidney Damage
• Hepatic steatosis (fatty liver disease)
• Aplastic anemia
• Scleroderma
• Birth defects
• Miscarriage
• Female Infertility
• Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
• Epilepsy (seizures)
• Immune Disorders
• Nerve Damage
• Neurobehavioral effects
• Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS or Pre-Leukemia)
• Neurobehavioral effects (tremors, lack of coordination, movement or motor problems or other symptoms consistent with undiagnosed Parkinson’s disease)