- Agent Orange -

Updates and Our Mission to INFORM

Diseases Linked To Agent Orange Exposure
Diseases Associated with Exposure to Certain HERBICIDES
Birth Defects Linked to AGENT ORANGE Exposure
AGENT ORANGE - Links of Interest

Diseases Linked To Agent Orange Exposure:

Diseases currently recognized -- or soon to be-- by theVA as presumptively related to Agent Orange and other herbicides are:

Vietnam Veterans are not required to prove exposure to Agent Orange; VA presumes

that all military personnel who served within Vietnam were exposed to Agent Orange.

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DISEASES ASSOCIATED WITH EXPOSURE TO CERTAIN HERBICIDES!

If a veteran was exposed to an herbicide agent during active military, naval, or air service, the following diseases shall be service-connected if the requirements are met.

Chloracne or other acneform consistant with chloracne
Hodgkin's disease
Multiple myeloma
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
Porphyria cutanea tarda
Respiratory cancers (cancer of the lung, bronchus, larynx or trachea
Soft-tissue sarcoma (other than osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi's sarcoma or Mesothelioma)

NOTE: The term soft-tissue sarcoma includes the following:

Adult fibrosarcoma
Dermatofibrosarcoma
Malignant fibrous histiocytoma
Liposarcoma
Leiomyosarcoma
Epitheloid leiomyosarcoma (malignant leiomyoblastoma)
Rhabdomyosarcoma
Ectomesenchymoma
Angiosarcoma (hemangiosarcoma and lymphangiosarcoma
Proliferating (systemic) angioendotheliomatosis
Malignant glomus tumor
Malignant hemangiopericytoma
Synovial sarcoma (malignant synovioma)
Malignant giant cell tumor of tendon sheath
Malignant schwannoma, including malignant schwannoma with rhabdomyoblastic differentation (malignant Triton tumor), glandular and epithelioid malignant schwannomas.
Malignant mesenchymoma
Malignant granular cell tumor
Alveolar soft part sarcoma
Epithelioid sarcoma
Clear cell sarcoma of tendons and aponeuroses
Extraskeletal Ewing's sarcoma
Congental and infantile fibrosarcoma
Malignant ganglioneuroma

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VA EXPANDS LIST OF COMPENSABLE DISEASES --
BIRTH DEFECTS LINKED TO
AGENT ORANGE EXPOSURE
by Frank McCarthy


Children born to Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange may have a greater risk of being born
with spina bifida, a serious birth defect, according to the latest scientific review of health problems linked to the use of herbicides and dioxin.

The findings have prompted the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to seek legislation that would provide an appropriate remedy to help the estimated 3,000 children afflicted with the congenital abnormality.

According to a report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), there is evidence supporting the association between chemicals used for defoliation during the Vietnam War and various cancers and other health problems, including the above average rate of children of Vietnam veterans born with a deformity of the spine or spinal cord.

The report, mandated by Congress, also suggested evidence to show an association with prostate cancer and acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy, a neurological disorder that can cause temporary numbness orpain in arm and legs.

The findings prompted the VA to direct that a regulation be developed to allow the VA to begin compensating veterans currently disabled from acute or subacute peripheral neuropathy (if manifested within one year from exposure to Agent Orange) and those with prostate cancer.

In addition, the VA is considering an historic measure to seek legislation to provide an appropriate remedy to care for children of Vietnam veterans suffering from spina birida.

At present,the VA does not have authority to provide benefits to non-veterans for their illnesses.

In response to the report, the VA also will increase funding for research to learn more about the possible relationship between herbicide exposure and the development of birth defects.

The report confirmed earlier conclusions that there is sufficient evidence of a link to soft tissue sarcoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and chloracne.

The Institute of Medicine study evaluated the likelihood of the Agent Orange causing various disorders reported by Vietnam veterans, and established categories ranging from those with "sufficient evidence of association" to those with no valid evidence of association.

The findings revealed this Spring put spina bifida in the second-strongest linkage category, called "limited or suggestive evidence of an association."

Studies revealed that babies born of Vietnam veterans were 2.5 times more likely to have spina bifida than children born to non-veterans.

Earlier studies linked Agent orange exposure to three types of cancer: non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and soft tissue sarcoma. These conditions are recognized by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for presumptive service-connected compensation benefits.

The new report reconfirmed a limited association beween the dioxin and respiratory cancers lung, larynx and trachea), prostate cancer, and multiple myeloma, another type of cancer.

The VA currently accepts the respiratory cancers, multiple myeloma and porphyrria cutanea tarda (PCT) as presumptive conditions for service-connected benefits.

During the Vietnam War, starting in 1962, some 19 million gallons of Agent Orange and other chemicals were used as defoliants throughout Vietnam and Southeast Asia. Approximately 2.6 million veterans served in South Vietnam and adjacent waters during the war.

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 Agent Orange Links of Interest!

Agent Orange (link #1) study link.


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Veterans of the Vietnam War, Inc.

Last updated January 8, 1997