Firefighters are hopeful that 2020 will be the year that a loophole is closed in the system that provides cancer coverage to firefighters.
On Wednesday, firefighters from across the state gathered at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond to once again call for the passage of bills that would amend the Virginia Worker’s Compensation Act to add several cancers — including brain, colon and testicular — to the list of presumed work-related illnesses in the act.
A 2013 government study, supported by the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, shows firefighters are two times more likely to get testicular cancer. There’s an increased risk for multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, skin and prostate cancers, as well.
Current law requires a firefighter to know exactly what carcinogens they were exposed to in order to get cancer coverage.