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C-123 Applying Agent Orange in Vietnam,
Episode 2767 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about the proposed expanded Agent Orange care by the VA. The featured story appeared in the Military Officer Magazine and was titled: VA Aims to Expand Agent Orange Care. It was submitted by Cory Titus, MOAA director of Government Relations for servicemember compensation and veteran benefits.
The VA has issued a proposed new rule that would significantly broaden the locations and time periods for which veterans are presumed exposed to Agent Orange and other herbicides.
This year, the VA is looking at expanded health care access to a wider group of veterans not previously recognized as exposed to Agent Orange and other toxic hazards.
If the proposed rule is finalized the VA will add a presumption of herbicide exposure for veterans who served in certain areas of the U.S., Canada and India, in addition to existing presumptive locations in Vietnam and surrounding territories and other parts of Asia.
The VA Secretary Denis McDonough said this about the development: “This proposed change would make it easier for veterans exposed to herbicides who served outside Vietnam to access the benefits they so rightly deserve.”
Veterans who served at one of the newly covered herbicide locations should file a disability claim if diagnosed with any of the associated conditions.
The Agent Orange Exposure conditions include the following:
- AL Amyloidosis
- Bladder Cancer
- Chronic B-cell Leukemias
- Chloracne (or similar acneform disease)
- Diabetes Mellitus Type 2
- Hodgkin’s Disease
- Hypothyroidism
- Ischemic Heart Disease
- Multiple Myeloma
- Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Peripheral Neuropathy, Early-Onset
- Porphyria Cutanea Tarda
- Prostate Cancer
- Respiratory Cancers (includes lung cancer)
- Soft Tissue Sarcomas (other than osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma, or mesothelioma)
For more information about the proposed expanded Agent Orange coverage to this site: www.va.gov/pact
Listen to episode 2767 and discover more about the proposed expanded Agent Orange care by the VA.
