Program offering free health screening to former DOE employees introduces early detection of lung cancer with low-dose CT scan – Los Alamos Reporter

NNSA PRESS RELEASE

Officials from the Department of Energy, the Worker Health Protection Program and several health-related organizations gathered in Los Alamos last week to announce the expansion of health screening and the addition of a lung cancer early detection program for former Los Alamos and Sandia National workers. laboratories.

Early detection of lung cancer using low-dose CT scanning will now be offered to former DOE workers at high risk for lung cancer, and medical screening exams are now available to all former DOE workers.

The DOE Former Worker Health Screening Program (FWP) provides free medical examinations and assessments to former DOE federal workers, contractors, and subcontractors to assess and treat potential health risks and occupational illnesses related to their work in the nuclear weapons complex. The new lung cancer early detection program offers low-dose CT scans to a subset of high-risk former workers. The FWP helps identify any work-related illnesses or conditions early, enabling timely medical intervention and support.

The Los Alamos event followed a similar event Wednesday, hosted by the New Mexico Building Trades Council in Albuquerque, home of Sandia National Laboratory. Speakers included Todd LaPointe, director of DOE’s Office of Environment, Health, Safety and Security, Dr. Steven Markowitz, co-director of the Worker Health Protection Program, and Rebecca Trujillo of Española , retired LANL employee and former outreach coordinator for the Spanish Veterans Workers Program.

Trujillo retired from her position at LANL, where she worked on computers, in 1999 and went to work for FWP in 2000, opening the Spanish office that same year. She said she often sees clients when she’s out of town and they thank her for helping them find the medical help needed to save or prolong their lives. She retired from the program in March 2023.

Occupational health experts from the City University of New York and Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health independently administer the New Mexico Worker Health Protection Program to provide medical assessments objectives, with funds provided by the DOE under a cooperative agreement.

The program provides medical evaluations to workers who may have been exposed to various chemical hazards and toxic substances and who may present with a range of adverse medical/health problems due to their prior work in the nuclear weapons complex. Tests include medical and employment history, complete physical exams, laboratory tests, chest x-ray, breathing tests, and hearing tests. A beryllium blood test and special chest x-ray reading for occupational lung diseases are included. All test results are reviewed, interpreted and communicated by occupational physicians, with a medical review offered every three years. People with additional risk factors who meet program eligibility criteria are offered annual low-dose CT scans, a proven method for detecting lung cancers before symptoms appear and before treatment is successful.

For more information, visit the Worker Health Protection Program at http://www.worker-
health.org

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