Yes, there is a story about Agent Orange, and we knew that it harmed our troops and we knew how long it was to get the medical community to accept that, the military to accept it, the VA to accept it.
Christopher Shays
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Agent Orange Updated October 25th 2009
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These are serious studies for the veteran who is serious about researching a particular topic.
"WASHINGTON -- A new report from the Institute of Medicine
finds suggestive but limited evidence that exposure to Agent Orange and
other herbicides used during the Vietnam War is associated with an
increased chance of developing ischemic heart disease and Parkinson's
disease for Vietnam veterans.The report is the latest in a congressionally mandated series by the IOM that every
two years reviews the evidence about the health effects of these
herbicides and a type of dioxin -- TCDD -- that contaminated some of the defoliants."
VA Extends “Agent Orange” Benefits to More Veterans
October 13, 2009
Parkinson’s Disease, Two Other Illnesses Recognized
WASHINGTON – Relying on an independent study by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki decided to establish a service-connection for Vietnam Veterans with three specific illnesses based on the latest evidence of an association with the herbicides referred to Agent Orange.
The illnesses affected by the recent decision are B cell leukemias, such as hairy cell leukemia; Parkinson’s disease; and ischemic heart disease.
Used in Vietnam to defoliate trees and remove concealment for the enemy, Agent Orange left a legacy of suffering and disability that continues to the present. Between January 1965 and April 1970, an estimated 2.6 million military personnel who served in Vietnam were potentially exposed to sprayed Agent Orange.
In practical terms, Veterans who served in Vietnam during the war and who have a “presumed” illness don’t have to prove an association between their illnesses and their military service. This “presumption” simplifies and speeds up the application process for benefits.
The Secretary’s decision brings to 15 the number of presumed illnesses recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
“We must do better reviews of illnesses that may be connected to service, and we will,” Shinseki added. “Veterans who endure health problems deserve timely decisions based on solid evidence.”
Other illnesses previously recognized under VA’s “presumption” rule as being caused by exposure to herbicides during the Vietnam War are:
· Acute and Subacute Transient Peripheral Neuropathy
· Chloracne
· Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
· Diabetes Mellitus (Type 2)
· Hodgkin’s Disease
· Multiple Myeloma
· Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
· Porphyria Cutanea Tarda
· Prostate Cancer
· Respiratory Cancers, and
· Soft Tissue Sarcoma (other than Osteosarcoma, Chondrosarcoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma, or Mesothelioma)
The AO "Presumptive List" is the grouping of conditions that VA has ceded are somehow connected to exposure to Agent Orange during Vietnam service. If you had 'boots on the ground' service in Vietnam, you don't have to prove either exposure to dioxin or the origin of any of these conditions should you be diagnosed with one of them.
For all other conditions, you must be able to provide proof of exposure as well as a nexus to the cause. This is known as a 'direct connection' as opposed to a 'presumptive' connection.
* Chloracne (Must occur within one year of exposure to Agent Orange)
* Porphyria Cutanea Tarda (Must occur within one year of exposure)
* Acute or Subacute Peripheral Neuropathy (The term acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy means temporary peripheral neuropathy that appears within weeks or months of exposure to an herbicide agent and resolves within two years of the date of onset.)
* Type 2 Diabetes
* Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
* Soft Tissue Sarcoma
* Hodgkin’s Disease
* Multiple Myeloma
* Prostate Cancer
* Respiratory Cancers (Including cancers of the lung, larynx, trachea, and bronchus)