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Agent orange info.

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Posted 12/6/2012 6:14 PM (GMT 0)
I just received an email from a retirement group I belong.  The message concerned a member who has contracted cancer as the result of Agent Orange.  I know there were some other posts regarding agent orange, but not sure if those posts related the various diseases associated with contact. So I thought I would post this FYI for anyone who may have missed it.


If you served in-country in Vietnam, you may be entitled to benefits from the VA. There are currently fifteen (15) presumptive diseases associated with exposure to the Agent Orange herbicide used in Vietnam:

AL Amyloidosis
Chronic B-Cell Leukemias
Chloracne
Diabetes Mellitus Type II
Hodgkin's Disease
Ischemic Heart Disease
Multiple Myeloma
Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Parkinson's Disease
Peripheral Neuropathy, Acute and Subacute
Porphyria Cutanea Tarda
Prostate Cancer
Respiratory Cancers (includes Lung Cancer)
Soft Tissue Sarcomas (other than osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma,Kaposi's Sarcoma, or mesothelioma)

If you served in-country in Vietnam and you now suffer from any of these diseases, the disease is presumed to have been caused by Agent Orange exposure. You do not need to prove the cause of the disease.

All VA offices and most service organizations (e.g.,VFW, American Legion, Disabled American Vets, etc) can assist you in filing your claims. More information about the claims process is available at www.va.gov.


Posted 12/6/2012 7:41 PM (GMT 0)
Greetings Mr. Bill:

Here is my question? I spent 2 1/2 years in country as a Ranger Recon Scout Sniper. Was in the bush constantly for weeks at a time and would watch the planes drop Orange all around me and sometimes on my actual position where I was hiding during the day. (Did the majority of my sniping during darkness, became invisible during the day to avoid detection).

I have already been operated on for my PC and when I called VA, they told me that since I am post-surgery and cancer removed, I'm kinda "after the fact" about trying to file a claim. Since I no longer have PC, no claim will be accepted. Have you heard this?? Just wondering since I have found dealing with VA can be a real nightmare sometimes.

Regards & Good Health,,,,,,,Hotrod

Post Edited (hotrod58) : 12/6/2012 12:44:56 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 12/6/2012 7:56 PM (GMT 0)
The VA benefit can not be retroactive to filing the claim. I.E. Any benefit begins the date the claim is received by the VA, if approved.

I think you could make a claim if you can show incontinence and or ED from the disease or treatment.
I am receiving money based on the fact that I get up to urinate 3 times a night after treatment. Others get money based on wearing urinary pads per day after treatment. I am going down to 30 per cent when finalized.

You would have to document diagnosis and or treatment and residuals symptoms. If approved, a monthly benefit starts the day the claim is filed.
Good luck if you file a claim.

Post Edited (robertC) : 12/6/2012 1:00:17 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 12/6/2012 8:28 PM (GMT 0)
All the above information is correct, and robertC has summarized what will have to be done by someone filing a claim post-treatment.

The VA rule is that you must apply for PCa related benefits due to Vietnam service BEFORE completion of your treatment, whatever your treatment is. After that, that is, after your treatment, the VA presumes that the treatment has worked and therefore you are no longer in what they call the "presumptive" category.

Post-treatment claim filing for "residuals" (lingering effects of the PCa or its treatment) will likely require medical corroboration.
Posted 12/6/2012 9:42 PM (GMT 0)
Mr Bill,
Thank you for your post and reminder! Robert, hotrod, and the lieutenant are absolutely correct..It must be a sign of the times or the culture that we live in that benefits are only paid based on the date of submission.
Although a service member may have been diagnosed at a VA facility for one of the diseases you listed, the personnel there are under no obligation to mention "agent orange" or your benefits..Payments are not retroactive either to the time of diagnosis..As an example, although diagnosed for db11 and treated at the VA, it wasn't until one of my customers, a veterans service officer, told me to put in a claim that I did so...
I lost about a year due to my ignorance..When my pca diagnosis was presented, I was ready!!
Service members utilizing civilian facilities are often not aware of the VA benefits as are navy personnel--depending on the ship that they served on they may be eligible for benefits..
Many organizations are available to help, but I would recommend that the county veterans service officer be contacted to submit a claim..Thanks again for your reminder..
Bill
Age 70--a "seasoned" vet
Dx'd Sept 2010--psa 4.89--5 g8's and 4 g7's out of 10 cores..1 core negative (whopee!)..ct & bone scans negative--79.2 g's IMRT completed Feb 2011--.06 psa after rads--npt <.03..Lupron for 3 years and 1 year to go--then??
Posted 12/6/2012 10:12 PM (GMT 0)
Gunfighter,

That's interesting that they would diagnose and not tell you it was AO presumptive. When I was diagnosed in March, 2010 I was given a packet of information about treatments, as well as AO information for those stationed in Vietnam or Korea. They made sure I knew.
Posted 12/6/2012 10:47 PM (GMT 0)
fertree,
You have an outstanding veterans medical facility! Again, no mention was made by my doctor or nurses--even at my annual diabetic review, no mention was made of my diabetes 11 being presumptive to agent orange exposure..I am not the "brightest bulb on the planet", but if any mention was ever made about agent orange I would have heard it...I haven't lost it entirely!!
Bill
Posted 12/7/2012 2:20 AM (GMT 0)
and I am still awaiting approval for my VA claim, now fully 3 years since I first applied. Lost on appeal in Washington DC for the past 1 1/2 years. As of July of this year, the VA told my county Vet rep, that they were only processing applications up to and including year 2005. Said it would be a long while before they made it to claims in 2009 like mine. The old saying, is, that VA secretly hopes a lot of us Viet Nam vets will long die off before they ever have to make good.

david
Posted 12/7/2012 6:03 AM (GMT 0)
Purgatory:

Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems like they, the VA, feel the longer it takes to ok a claim, you may be dead and they are off the hook. We are dead, no claim to be paid. so they drag their feet a bit. Just a thought.

Regards & Good Health,,,,Hotrod
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