Veterans who are diagnosed with Parkinsonism, unprovoked seizures, some forms of dementias, depression and hormone deficiency illness linked to the hypothalamus, pituitary or adrenal glands may now apply for VA benefits.

From 2000-2012 approximately 250,000 troops have been given a TBI diagnosis, with just 81,000 being rated as service connected. This accounts for much of the backlog that is now  front page news across the nation.

Another contributing factor to that backlog is the addition of Ischemic Heart Disease, about six years ago, to the Agent Orange related illness.

37% of the backlog are Vietnam Veterans, many of whom are just now getting care for exposure to Agent Orange.

Today, an informed, expert opinion was published from yet another eminent scientist with an international reputation in Agent Orange issues. Dr. Dwernychuk firmly endorsed the opinions of Drs. Sinks, Berman, Goeppner and Stellman. These experts together have weighed in against the VA’s dismissal of C-123 aircrew exposure concerns, insisting that the airplanes left us exposed to dioxin. Along with the American Legion and the Vietnam Veterans of America, these scientists are our A Team as we approach the VA.

Strategy: our approach has many facets. First, we are trying to get the first of our veteran’s claims approved, and then use it to help justify subsequent applications and appeals. Second, we seek the leadership from American Legion and Vietnam Veterans of America in arranging a sit-down with Secretary Shinseki to ask him to use his authority to do what’s right…designate C-123 veterans to be presumptively exposed to Agent Orange. Chipping in here will be the Third Estate…Tom Philpott and others. Finally, because and new legislation could only come about long after we’re pushing up daisies, we need our legislators, the public and other veterans to help us advance claims by precedent-establishing court rulings (that means a three-judge BVA decision rather than single judge.)

The VA opinion Dr. Wayne Dwernychuk discusses is my own (attached)! On September 25 my own application for Agent Orange exposure benefits was turned down by the VA’s director of Compensation Services, Mr. Tom Murphy himself. That gentleman has maintained since our struggle began that C-123 veterans will not receive Agent Orange benefits…and he’s showing how determined he and the VA are to prevent our access to medical care.

Our veterans’ effort will continue to present scientific experts who oppose the VA’s position, written by Dr. T. Irons who started working for the VA last year after receiving a PhD…putting a background in fish toxicology to good use helping the VA deny C-123 veterans our Agent Orange benefits.

Cheers!
Wes Carter, Chair, C-123 Veterans Association
Mission Statement:VA Recognition ofAgent Orange Exposure by C-123 Veterans
Email: rustysilverwings@gmail.com
Web:  C123KCANCER.BLOGSPOT.COM
wwww.c123cancer.org

Thanks to the Veterans Benefits Blog for dogging this intractable issue that is taking the lives of our veterans to this day. Forty years we have been fighting for full disclosure. I feel so sad for the families who lost love ones prior to the truth being told.  One wonders how long this information has been known.  I too experience the symptoms of Agent Orange, but praise be, it was discovered early enough to ameliorate some of the conditions. It is still difficult for me to allow into my consciousness that I was sprayed with chemicals by my own country. Desert Storm soldiers are just now being accepted for chemical exposure.  And then Iraq of course, with Depleted Uranium et al. Is is possible that the WMD is  in the dust?

Be sure to rent a real sleeper movie, starring the late John Ritter. It is titled, “Un-Natural Causes.” 1986.  It is the true story about the history of the VA’s struggle with accepting the effects of AO, and the saga of one Maude DeVictor who was a benefits counselor at Hines Hospital in Chicago.

Just think, we are still treating sailors who were exposed to asbestos during WWll!

VA Creates List of Ships for Vietnam Agent Orange Presumed Exposure

by Audrey Beebe on September 7, 2011

Read more: http://www.vabenefitblog.com/va-creates-list-of-ships-for-vietnam-agent-orange-presumed-exposure/#ixzz1XIgh3fAe

Contact:
Mokie Porter
301-585-4000, Ext. 146

North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, the leading Republican on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said yesterday, as reported by the Associated Press, that he has “concerns about a proposal to spend billions of dollars on disability compensation for Vietnam veterans who get heart disease and wants to make sure that science supports the expansion of benefits.”

The “proposal” Burr is referring to is a decision by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, based on the recent National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine committee report, “Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2008.”

A little history is in order: From 1962 to 1971, the U.S. military used Agent Orange and other herbicides in Vietnam and elsewhere to defoliate the jungle canopy, to destroy crops, and to clear the perimeters of U.S. bases. These herbicides were sprayed from fixed-wing and rotary aircraft, trucks, and backpack sprayers. The drums that stored these chemicals were often recycled and put to various other uses, sometimes to collect rain water, to serve as barbecue grill, etc. Nearly three million veterans served in Southeast Asia.

Contained in these herbicides was dioxin, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-paradioxin—one of the most dangerous chemicals known to man.

On August 31, 2010, in the Federal Register, the Department of Veterans Affairs published the final rules amending the adjudication regulations concerning presumptive service connection, concluding that there was a positive association between exposure in Vietnam to certain herbicides and the subsequent development of three diseases: hairy cell leukemia & B-cell leukemias; Parkinson’s disease; and ischemic heart disease.

And for the first time in history, on September 23, Burr and his colleagues will call into question the authority of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, as outlined in the Agent Orange Act of 1991.

Recognizing that Burr was voted into the House of Representatives in 1994, it is obvious that he was not involved with the passage of the Agent Orange Act of 1991 (Public Law 102-4), which passed the House and the Senate without a single nay vote. In fact, today, 19 years later, there are only 36 members of Congress still serving who voted for passage of this act in 1991.

The Agent Orange Act of 1991 acknowledges the culpability of toxic exposures in health conditions that manifested years after a veteran’s service. Included in the law is the authority for the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences to, on a biannual basis, provide a review of all scientific studies and research on the association between dioxin and specific diseases; and include recommendations for future research.

The act further grants the Secretary of the VA the authority to determine if a presumption of service connection is warranted for any of the health conditions addressed in the report.

If Sen. Burr is uncomfortable with the Secretary’s determinations based on the National Academy of Sciences recommendations, perhaps he would be more comfortable with the finding of the U.S. Air Force Ranch Hand Study, conducted by the U.S. Air Force on those who participated in the aerial spraying program, as sited in the 1992 testimony of Dr. Barry L. Johnson, Assistant Surgeon General, before the House Subcommittee on Human Resources and Intergovernmental Relations:

A recent study on the health status of Vietnam veterans who participated in Operation Ranch Hand did not find any signs of liver disease, but did report increased levels of triglycerides and cholesterol in the blood (a second report does not support these increases). In addition, an increase in body fat, diabetes, and blood pressure were also noted. These effects were strongly associated with TCDD levels in the serum. Ranch Hand veterans also had changes in blood (increased white blood cells, platelet, IgA, and sedimentation rates) which suggest a chronic inflammatory response, although no immunologic system diseases were identified. These immune system changes were also strongly associated with serum TCDD levels. These results differ from those reported in previous analyses of the Ranch Hand group in 1982 and 1985. The earlier analyses did not include an assessment of serum TCDD levels. A physical examination of Ranch Hand veterans is currently under way.

There is no doubt, that Burr, though too young to have faced conscription during the Vietnam Conflict, views himself as a supporter of those who served.

In fact, seven months ago, it was Sen. Burr who introduced a resolution recognizing March 30 as “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day.” Proclaimed Burr, “There’s no question that our troops served our country bravely and faithfully during the Vietnam War, and these veterans deserve our recognition and gratitude.  Unfortunately, when these service members returned home, they were caught in the crossfire of public debate about our nation’s involvement in the war.”

Today, Vietnam veterans are again caught in the “crossfire of public debate,” as Burr and others balk at the price of providing for the continuing cost of care for those whom he and others recognize “served our country bravely and faithfully during the Vietnam War.”

Words of praise and gratitude do not cost anything. Veterans’ compensation for service-related health conditions do. Sen. Burr, which is it? Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) is the nation’s only congressionally chartered veterans service organization dedicated to the needs of Vietnam-era veterans and their families.  VVA’s founding principle is “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.” ]]> http://veteranveritas.com/?feed=rss2&p=366 11 http://veteranveritas.com/?p=341 http://veteranveritas.com/?p=341#comments Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:40:03 +0000 http://tucsoncitizen.com/veteranveritas/?p=341 Continue reading Alan Simpson Is One Lost Soul →]]> I  had to take a half day to collect enough balance of mind to even speak of this man Simpson.

This dude who has been slamming Vietnam Veterans for forty years! Simpson now suggests that upon the announcement of true and compassionate care for men who were sprayed with chemicals; Agent Orange/Dioxin, that they may not being doing enough for their country by accepting disability benefits.  Holy crap, that is bold.  The emotion and enmity that wells up in response to this troll can only be released on a mountain top, not in polite company.

To join the siren cry of veterans across the nation who are asking for his ouster is way to cliche. I would like to see this cowardly man who  served only one year in the Army, a mystery to this day, be marched out in front of every victim of Agent Orange, who is living. That would be me. He could then sit in his local church auditorium while we host the families of all our warriors who died of  Agent Orange exposure. Chemicals folks, chemicals made and sprayed on us by our own Dow Chemical!

I would not ask him to resign, too light for this big wide Wyoming Worm.  I would mandate that his penance, which is never meted out for this smart aleck, be to wear an Orange Letter on his outer clothing for the next year.  His very own Scarlett letter of  shame.

Years ago, this Senator who is some odd form of GI Joe wanna-be, used to refer to the Vietnam Veteran as a “professional veterans.” He was peeved that we fought so hard for our health care rights and attention to disabling illnesses, including the diagnosis of PTSD being officially included in the DSM, (Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Psychiatry), in 1980.  He must be mad that they did not include his own psychiatric illness—interminable sick sarcasm, like last weeks comment about social security being a cow with 310  million tits.  Who is this man? How can he speak like this with impunity?

I wonder what he sacrificed in his generational Rosie the Riveter heart, for this last seven years of war in Iraq and ten in Afghanistan?  Is his lifetime free health care helping America balance the budget?  Maybe he should pay back his GI Bill benefits he used to get his JD.  Possibly the only reason for serving in the Army for one year?

This man has been about Corporate conquest and tax cuts for the top 2% his entire life. Are they sacrificing to pay for this war?

Maybe we could forgo paying for the disabilities and financial malfeasance of Halliburton, KBR and Blackwater, so as to have some chump change left over for a wheel chair for a veteran dying of Agent Orange.

Maybe the private contractors  making a quarter million each in tax free dollars could tithe, so as to pay for some medication for the veteran dying of lymphoma and leukemia.

Maybe Boeing and Dow Chemical could set up a fund to pay for the hospital visits at the VA. Just like the way you want to privatize Social Security.

With the exception of his most bizzare and shocking support for gays in the Military in 2007, he has been no friend of veterans. Makes you wonder why he lent his support for the gays? May have something to do with his dislike for tits.

Patriots support soldiers, Simpson supports the Military Industrial Complex, not the warrior. Shameful.

Since the man never saw a day of combat, I am suggesting that his service on the Armed Services Committee was some form of  compensatory guilt that  leaks out periodically with his very macabre brand of  “Freudian slips.” One thing is for sure, when he leaks, he lets us know his true self— a lost sad soul.

See you at Christmas Senator Simpson, we will hand deliver your Orange Sweater.

Agent Orange Linked to New Diseases

In its recent review of medical research into the long-term effects of exposure to herbicides in Vietnam, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) concluded that there is a suggestive link between exposure to Agent Orange and Is chemic Heart Disease, Parkinson’s Disease and certain rare cancers.

In the same review, the IOM affirmed its earlier conclusion that there is a significantly increased risk of developing hypertension in those who served in Vietnam.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars is calling on the VA to fully recognize these findings and award presumptive service connection for veterans suffering from these diseases who were exposed to Agent Orange.

In 2000, a similar study found a link between Agent Orange and Type II Diabetes. Those findings led the VA to recognize presumptive service connection for Vietnam veterans suffering from the disease.

“Based on this data, the VA should take swift action,” says Gerald Manar, Deputy Director, National Veterans Service. “The VFW is pushing for full recognition of conditions linked to Agent Orange exposure, along with proper medical care and timely compensation.”

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