St. George, UT -- (ReleaseWire) -- 06/30/2021 --Cancer. It's nearly impossible to find a person who hasn't been impacted by the word in some way. But if an individual lived in parts of southern Utah, northern Arizona, or eastern Nevada during the 1950s and '60s, there may be an additional risk.

These individuals are known as downwinders, a term identifying the thousands of individuals exposed to nuclear testing at the Nevada Test site in the 1950s and '60s.

In 1990 the federal government formally recognized the increased cancer risk for this group by enacting the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act for qualifying individuals to receive a one-time payout up to $50,000. This act was amended in the year 2000 to add a few more cancers and additional counties.

But time to file for the compensation is running out.

That's where Becky Barlow and the Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program (RESEP) Clinic at Intermountain St. George Regional Hospital come in — to get people screened and through the paperwork in time to qualify for the money they are owed.

"Unless the law is amended, it is due to expire in 2022," Barlow said. "It's important for us to get as many people who qualify their compensation before the deadline runs out."

Barlow said she thinks the law needs to be extended, particularly since the youngest people who qualify will only be 60 years old when the time limit runs out. In the meantime, she's focused on spreading the word to help those who qualify receive the help they need.

All services at the RESEP Clinic are free of charge to those who qualify.

"Our program is two-fold," Barlow said. "First, we provide cancer screening physicals for people who lived in one of the affected counties during the nuclear testing in 1951-1958, or July 1962. We want to give them information about their increased risk of cancer."

The second part of the services offered at the RESEP Clinic is to assist people in filing the application and providing the proof necessary to qualify for the government compensation.

"Qualifying individuals must show a diagnosis of one of 19 qualifying cancers, as well as proof of living in the affected areas for a total of 24 months from 1951 to 1958 — not necessarily consecutive — or just the month of July 1962," Barlow said. "You'd think it would be fairly easy to prove, especially just one month in 1962, but a lot of people were sent to the area to stay with grandparents or other relatives during that time and there is no record of it."

According to Barlow, the impacted counties in Utah include Millard, Sevier, Beaver, Piute, Wayne, Iron, Garfield, San Juan, Washington and Kane, along with Apache, Coconino, Gila, Navajo, Yavapai and Mohave county north of the Grand Canyon in Arizona and Lincoln, Nye, White Pine, Lander, Eureka and a small part of Clark county in Nevada.

Barlow said there are a lot of misconceptions about the program and if people have any questions, they can call the RESEP office at 435-251-4760 to clarify.

"If at all possible the government wants to give the money to the person who contracted cancer," Barlow said. "However, if they've passed away the family can apply, in a certain order, starting with the legal spouse, followed by the children of the person impacted and then grandchildren. You are not allowed to apply for a sibling, however."

Because of the time it takes to review and adjudicate the claims, Barlow strongly recommends anyone who is interested in applying to try to have the paperwork filed by January 2022.

"Time is of the essence," she said.

About Intermountain Healthcare
Intermountain Healthcare is a nonprofit system of 25 hospitals, 225 clinics, a Medical Group with 2,600 employed physicians and advanced practice clinicians, a health insurance company called SelectHealth, and other health services in Utah, Idaho, and Nevada. Intermountain is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes and sustainable costs. For updates, see https://intermountainhealthcare.org/news.