VA Proposes Change to Aid Veterans Exposed to Agent Orange

Proposed Regulation Change Adds Illnesses to List of Diseases Subject to Presumptive Service Connection for Herbicide Exposure

The Department of Veterans Affairs has added three new illnesses to its list of health problems related to Agent Orange, a move that is expected to make it easier for more than 100,000 veterans exposed to herbicides while serving in Vietnam and other areas to qualify for disability pay.

“This is an important step forward for Vietnam Veterans suffering from these three illnesses,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “These warriors deserve medical care and compensation for health problems they have incurred.”

The regulation follows Shinseki’s October 2009 decision to add the three illnesses to the current list of diseases for which service connection for Vietnam Veterans is presumed. The illnesses are B cell leukemias, such as hairy cell leukemia; Parkinson’s disease; and ischemic heart disease.

The Secretary’s decision is based on the latest evidence of an association with widely used herbicides such as Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, as determined in an independent study by the Institute of Medicine (IOM). Even though this is a proposed rule, VA encourages Vietnam Veterans with these three diseases to submit their applications for compensation now so the Agency can begin development of their claims and so they can receive benefits from the date of their applications once the rule becomes final.

Over 80,000 of the Veterans will have their past claims reviewed and may be eligible for retroactive payment, and all who are not currently eligible for enrollment into the VA healthcare system will become eligible.

Other illnesses previously recognized under VA’s “presumption” rule as being caused by exposure to herbicides during the Vietnam War are:

· AL Amyloidosis,
· Acute and Subacute Transient Peripheral Neuropathy,
· Chloracne or other Acneform Disease consistent with Chloracne,
· Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, (now being expanded)
· Diabetes Mellitus (Type 2),
· Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma,
· Porphyria Cutanea Tarda,
· Prostate Cancer,
· Respiratory Cancers (Cancer of the lung, bronchus, larynx, or trachea), and
· Soft Tissue Sarcoma (other than Osteosarcoma, Chondrosarcoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma, or Mesothelioma).

For more, visit www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange.