Posted 5/23/2016 6:22 PM (GMT 0)
It would be worth a call to the VA's agent orange help line, or to an attorney who specializes in VA cases, to look into it - for some years back VA was saying AO was not causing medical problems - Yea- BS
I found this post -
http://www.agent-orange-lawsuit.com/blog/posthumous-agent-orange-recognition-for-late-husband/
Posted on May 26, 2015
A Delaware woman recently received notice from the VA that her husband’s diagnosis of pancreatic cancer was a result of his exposure to Agent Orange—more than 18 years after his death.
DelawareOnline states that Katherine Chadwell met her husband, Art Chadwell, 18 months after he returned from Vietnam. Even then, in 1967, her husband had some troubling physical symptoms such as peeling skin, lumps in his skin, and excessive pain. She says, “He trembled all the time.”
Chadwell operated C-123 cargo planes during the Vietnam War. These planes were major players in the 11-year program of deforestation in which Agent Orange and other chemical defoliants were dropped over the jungle. As a loadmaster, Art Chadwell came into regular contact with Agent Orange and other chemicals.
“He was heavily exposed to the Agent Orange in the aircraft and on the ground,” Kathryn said in her soft Tennessee drawl. “But they told him it was safe. He told me that the men even took rags and used the Agent Orange to clean their tools, with their bare hands. That’s how heavily exposed he was to it.”
For decades after the war, Art suffered an array of painful and troubling physical symptoms. Finally, when he visited a VA doctor in 1996, he received the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. He died only 6 months later at the age of 51.
For nearly 20 years after her husband’s death, Kathryn worked to make the government acknowledge that his diagnosis, suffering, and death were a result of Agent Orange exposure. Finally, this April, she received a letter from the VA stating, “The Board finds that service connection for the cause of this Veteran’s death due to herbicide exposure in service is warranted.” Art Chadwell had been dead for more than 18 years.
According to a lawyer Mrs. Chadwell had hired to help her in this fight, benefits from the VA released after her husband’s death was tied to Agent Orange will ease substantial financial hardship she has experienced since his loss. In addition to benefiting Mrs. Chadwell, though, recognition from the government that Art’s pancreatic cancer was caused by Agent Orange could give hope to many other families and veterans. Currently, pancreatic cancer is not on the list of presumptive diseases acknowledged by the government to be caused by Agent Orange. Hopefully, other families can follow Kathryn’s steps to recover the benefits they, too, deserve.
Though pancreatic cancer is not on the presumptive list, Kathryn and her advocates argued their case to the VA and were successful in recovering benefits and formal recognition. If you believe you or someone you love deserves Agent Orange benefits, and experienced attorney can help you fight for justice. To learn more, contact us today for a free consultation.