Despite six years of investigation, the US is still not sure about the cause of a range of symptoms including headaches, blurred vision, dizziness and brain fog. The health problem was first reported among US diplomats and intelligence officers based in the Cuban capital but has since been reported on every continent except Antarctica.
The six-figure payments would be paid to those deemed hardest hit, such as those who have lost their jobs or had their careers derailed, according to the people briefed on the plan, who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan has not been authorized to be made public.
U.S. officials cautioned that the scope of coverage has not yet been finalized and could change as the State Department's regulations enter the final stages of a review process coordinated by the Office of Management and Budget.
The CIA determined this winter that no foreign country was likely behind “a global operation to use weapons or machines to harm Americans,” an assessment that cast doubt on long-held assumptions that the health attacks were the result of mysterious directed-energy weapons used by Russian or Chinese operatives.
Government investigators have looked into more than 1,000 cases, but the vast majority were attributed to pre-existing medical conditions, the environment or other factors, while dozens of other reported cases remain unexplained.
As information about the compensation package trickles down to federal employees, some say it is generous while others say the amount is insufficient given the past and future loss of income for people with severe neurological injuries who can no longer work.
The Biden administration has not yet released the criteria for determining eligibility for the compensation, but they are expected to do so soon. Current and former government employees and their families will be able to apply for compensation, according to a person briefed on the plan.
Under the Havana Act, Congress gives the secretary of state and the director of the CIA the power to determine eligibility, and concerns have already been raised about whether diplomats and intelligence officers will be treated alike.
“It is critical that the CIA and the State Department implement the Havana Act in exactly the same way, including using the exact same criteria for who is eligible for compensation. There should be no gaps between the agencies, which has been an unfortunate feature of the U.S. government's previous dealings with AHIs,” said Mark Polymeropoulos, a former senior CIA official who retired in 2019 after suffering from painful headaches and other symptoms following a 2017 trip to Moscow, where he helped run covert operations there.
The lack of solid evidence about the causes of the disease and an inability to clearly diagnose a wide range of symptoms, sometimes debilitating but common, makes formulating compensation plans particularly difficult for U.S. government officials.
State Department and CIA officials said Thursday that the Havana Act allows the agencies to pay employees for “qualifying brain injuries.”
The two agencies are working with the National Security Council to determine how the payment system would operate and more information is expected soon, CIA officials said.
The official added that the bill gives the CIA and other agencies “the authority to make payments to employees, eligible family members, and other individuals associated with the CIA.”
“As Director Burns has emphasized, nothing is more important to him and the CIA leadership than taking care of our people,” the official said, referring to CIA Director William J. Burns.
Officials from the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense and other agencies collaborated to develop a two-hour health exam that doctors and other health care workers can administer to U.S. personnel serving overseas to screen for possible new cases of the virus.
The triage process includes vision, vestibular and blood tests but not brain imaging, reflecting the ever-changing and sometimes controversial science on the injuries. While some doctors had previously seen “perceptible changes” in the brain as a result of the apparent attack, State Department doctors now say they believe the scans have no scientific validity.
Officials are also stepping up training medical staff in their global operations to be receptive to the experiences of potential victims, stressing that skepticism is no longer the norm.
In January, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the State Department, like the CIA, is focused on providing medical care to those who need it and will continue to pursue the causes of health problems.
“We will continue to do everything we can to learn more about these cases and there will be additional reports in the coming days. We are leaving no stone unturned,” he wrote.
