Fw: Sick Agent Orange vets owed benefits, rules U.S. court

April 5, 2002

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From: " ilena rose " <ilena@...>

Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2002 11:11 PM

Subject: Sick Agent Orange vets owed benefits, rules U.S. court

> http://www.enn.com/news/wire-stories/2002/04/04022002/reu_46825.asp

>

> Sick Agent Orange vets owed benefits, rules U.S. court

>

> Tuesday, April 02, 2002

> By Reuters

>

> SAN FRANCISCO - A U.S. appeals court ruled Monday that Vietnam veterans

who

> contracted prostate cancer and diabetes after exposure to Agent Orange

> should get retroactive disability payments, setting legal precedent that

> could cover a wide range of illnesses associated with the toxic defoliant.

> The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling that held

the

> Veterans Administration incorrectly interpreted rules to deny retroactive

> payments to veterans who filed claims after early 1994.

>

> The court's three-judge panel held that the VA was bound under the terms

of

> a 1991 consent decree to pay the benefits, in many cases back to the date

> the veteran first claimed them. The ruling marked a victory for activists

> who have been seeking compensation and care for tens of thousands of

Vietnam

> veterans who have fallen sick after battlefield exposure to Agent Orange,

an

> herbicide that contains the known carcinogen dioxin.

>

> The National Veterans Legal Services Program, which filed the initial

Agent

> Orange suit in 1986, said the court's decision would guarantee payments to

> an estimated 1,200 veterans with Agent Orange-related prostate cancer as

> well as thousands more who suffer from adult-onset diabetes.

>

> In both cases, the Veterans Administration had sought to deny retroactive

> payments on the grounds that the diseases' connection with Agent Orange

was

> not scientifically established when payment regulations were promulgated

in

> 1994.

>

> Barton Stichman, the group's executive director, said the appeals court's

> ruling could have a wide impact by forcing the Veterans Administration to

> pay retroactive benefits for illnesses that future scientific research may

> tie to Agent Orange. " As time goes on, as a result of additional

scientific

> studies, it becomes clearer that other diseases are associated with Agent

> Orange, " Stichman said. " The Veterans Administration is going to have to

> accept that the same legal theory will cover these cases. "

>

> A Veterans Administration spokeswoman said VA lawyers were reviewing the

> ruling and would have no immediate comment.

>

> At least 9 million gallons of Agent Orange were sprayed on Vietnam between

> 1962 and 1970. The chemical got its nickname from the orange stripe on the

> barrels in which it came.

>

> It has been linked with 10 diseases, including lung cancer, prostate

cancer,

> and diabetes. Scientists are also probing possible links between Agent

> Orange and childhood leukemia among children of veterans, while Vietnam's

> government has blamed Agent Orange for causing tens of thousands of birth

> defects in Vietnam and demanded compensation.

>

> After Agent Orange was found to cause cancer in laboratory rats, the U.S.

> military suspended its use in 1970 and halted all herbicide spraying in

> Vietnam the following year.

>

April 5, 2002