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Agent Orange/Dioxin and Other Toxic Exposures Committee
VA Press Release WASHINGTON – Veterans who served aboard U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships operating on the waters of Vietnam between January 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975, may be eligible to receive Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability compensation for 14 medical conditions associated with presumptive exposure to Agent Orange. An updated list of U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships confirmed to have operated on Vietnam's inland waterways, docked on shore, or had crewmembers sent ashore, has been posted at http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/ to assist Vietnam Veterans in determining potential eligibility for compensation benefits. "Posting of the ships list is an important recognition of the sacrifices U.S. Navy and Coast Guard Veterans made for this Nation," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. "It provides an easier path for Veterans who served in Vietnam to get the benefits and services they are entitled to under the law." VA presumes herbicide exposure for any Veteran with duty or visitation within the country of Vietnam or on its inland waterways during the Vietnam era. Comprehensive information about the 14 recognized illnesses under VA's "presumption" rule for Agent Orange is also located on the webpage. [ read complete press release ] Buy a print to increase the VVA Agent Orange budget! The Agent Orange/Dioxin and Other Toxic Substances Committee has presented an ambitious budget request for this year. The request includes increase funding for printing of the "Agent Orange" Guide, funding for research into the use of "Agent Orange" type herbicides outside Vietnam, and research of "Blue Water" ship logs to discover more vessels that were in the inland water ways or that docked in Vietnam. Of course as with most organization in these tough times, funds for VVA efforts are limited. The AODOTS Committee will be selling limited edition prints to help funding some of our expanded efforts. "Bob" Valentine and his wife Lorrie have donated 500 limited edition hand signed and numbered prints to the Agent Orange/Dioxin and Other Toxic Substance Committee. The prints were reproduced from an original acrylic painting on watercolor paper of the Eternal Flame at Arlington National Cemetery by James (Skip) D. Werline. Bob and his wife and Skip and his wife Dee, travel from Kentucky in the cold of December to present the prints to VVA. A big thank you goes out to these guys for their donation. The prints are available in two sizes an 8" by 11" print for $50 and a larger 11 X 15 print for $95. We also have a few 29 X 21 artist proof for sale. The cost for shipping a print is $7.50. There are only 500 prints total (250 of the smaller size and 250 of the larger size). Please support our Agent Orange efforts and purchase these prints. Thank you in advance for your support of our important work. Final Rules on Agent Orange August 31, 2010 brought publication of the final rules to add three new diseases to the list of diseases presumptively service connected for exposure to “Agent Orange”. Parkinson’s disease, B-cell leukemias, and ischemic heart disease (IHD) are in the final rules was published in the August 31, 2010 edition of the Federal Register http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-21556.pdf. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS Diseases Associated With Exposure to Certain Herbicide Agents (Hairy Cell Leukemia and Other Chronic B Cell Leukemias, Parkinson’s Disease and Ischemic Heart Disease) AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: This document amends the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) adjudication regulations concerning presumptive service connection for certain diseases based upon the most recent National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Institute of Medicine committee report, Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2008 (Update 2008). [ Read complete document from the Federal Register ] Database of Studies Related to Agent Orange / Dioxin Exposures Over the years one of VVA members and a former Chairman of the Agent Orange Committee put together a database of studies related to “Agent Orange/Dioxin” exposures and their impact. George Claxton wants to share this information with his fellow veterans. We are grateful for George’s hard work and dedication in working on these important issues. In order to make this information available to veterans, the Agent Orange/Dioxin and Other Toxic Substances Committee has converted the information into a PDF file as well as an excel spreadsheet, and as a Microsoft works spread sheet. The last column in all three of these documents lists the original database number and refers to the disease cover or the type of study as listed below.
The PDF file GCdatabasePdf82010 makes this information available to everyone who can get on the internet. If you don’t have the program to read the pdf file you can download a free reader at the below address: The Excel file GCdatabaseExcel82010 is in a spreadsheet. To use this information you will need a program that can run Excel spreadsheets. Microsoft office or Open Office will work for this file. Open Office is a free software program that you can use to read the excel file. A link is provided below http://www.downloadtop.info/openoffice/ So more people can use the data in spreadsheet format, we converted the data to Microsoft Works spreadsheet format. VVA and the AO/DOTS Committee hope this information will help veterans who are working on their claim or researching as advocates for other veterans. As we will be updating this information the number at the end of the file name is for the month and year of the file. Let me know at aoates@vva.org if you have questions or comments about the information. Alan Oates, Chairman, Agent Orange/Dioxin and Other Toxic Substances Committee Click on the links below to read the stories of Faces of Agent Orange Birth Defects Position Paper 1/14/2010 Children are our future. We have all heard that common saying. What is the future of the children of Vietnam veterans and other veterans with toxic, service-related exposures? There is a growing realization that both maternal and paternal toxic exposures play a role in the birth defects of the children and future generations of the exposed individuals. Research in the field of epigenetics also points toward toxic exposures turning on or off genes that, when passed on to the child, could lead to the onset of diseases later in life. [ read the paper ] Operation Flyswatter
BY ALAN OATES, CHAIR Malathion is the name of an organophosphate insecticide used in Vietnam to combat mosquitoes. Organophosphates were first developed in the late 1930s by Nazi Germany as chemical warfare agents (nerve gas). VX nerve gas and Sarin gas are well-known examples. Organophosphates operate on humans and insects in a similar fashion by attacking the nervous systems.
During the Vietnam War, large numbers of troops came down with malaria. To kill the mosquitoes that carried the disease, the Department of Defense converted aircraft that were spraying Agent Orange to the spraying of Malathion. This was the start of Operation Flyswatter. The VVA Self-Help Guide to Service-Connected Disability Compensation for Exposure to Agent Orange AL Amyloidosis: a rare group of diseases that results from the abnormal deposition of a particular protein called amyloid in various tissues of the body has been added as a presumptive service connected illnesses recognized by the VA as connected to Agent Orange Herbicide Exposure.
The Agent Orange Review
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FROM THE VVA "The Agent Orange/Dioxin Committee shall accumulate and disseminate information regarding Agent Orange and Dioxin and actively pursue the recognition of presumptive disabilities from exposure to Agent Orange and Dioxin by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Agent Orange/Dioxin Committee shall provide assistance to State Councils, Chapters, and service programs in the handling of Agent Orange related problems. The Committee shall encourage and foster the sponsorship of legislation to help the victims of Agent Orange and Dioxin, and encourage scientific and medical research in the field of dioxin-related ailments." DO YOU NEED ASSISTANCE FILING A CLAIM? |
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