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Government Recognizes More Illnesses Tied To Agent Orange Exposure
Courant.com ^ | 11-11-2009 | AMANDA FALCONE

Posted on 11/11/2009 2:54:09 PM PST by raybbr

Mike Forgach doesn't remember exactly when he was exposed to Agent Orange, but he knows the experience changed him forever.

The 65-year-old Newington resident blames Agent Orange, a defoliant with a dioxin byproduct used during the Vietnam War, for the prostate cancer that he was diagnosed with in 2003.

Acknowledging the association, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has granted Forgach, who served in the Army in Vietnam in the 1960s, health benefits and disability compensation.

Forgach is one of millions of Vietnam War veterans who are getting benefits because of diseases that have been traced to Agent Orange exposure.

Prostate cancer is one of 12 illnesses that the department has formally linked to the chemical. Last month, three more illnesses were added to the list: Parkinson's disease, B cell leukemias and ischemic heart disease.

The change was made after an Institute of Medicine study showed some evidence that Agent Orange increased the chances of developing those illnesses.

Establishing the formal connection makes it easier for veterans to get benefits because a link between the illness and military service is presumed, the veterans affairs department says.

"Those are all things we've been fighting for," said Linda S. Schwartz, commissioner of Connecticut's Department of Veterans' Affairs. "It's a long time coming."

(Excerpt) Read more at courant.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: vetscor

1 posted on 11/11/2009 2:54:09 PM PST by raybbr
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To: raybbr

Bring on the ambulance chasing trial lawyers folks!


2 posted on 11/11/2009 2:55:11 PM PST by St. Louis Conservative
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To: raybbr

Maybe someone should ask what was the last time our Allies in South Korea used Agent Orange along the DMZ.. not just US Forces.

Also try adding Triclorethene to the list. No telling how many thousands of children born and raised at Camp Lejune will and have had birth defects and or debilitating illness from the contamination of the drinking water on base.

Lots of other chemical exposures are not being acknowledged nor are the potential illnesses as a result of exposure being acknowledged. No doubt more GIs and Marines need die first before those in authority even look beyond the superficial..

W


3 posted on 11/11/2009 3:21:02 PM PST by WLR (Remember 911 Remember 91 Iran delinda est.)
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To: St. Louis Conservative

GI’s are not trying to sue anyone but it would be nice after they had guys using triclorethene (for example) without gloves or masks to find them and determine if they are suffering from higher incidents of cancers and or neurological disorders..

If some illegal alien piece of crap can get thousands in medical benifits.. just by walking into an emergency room and declaring they have chest pain.. Why is it wrong to want to see GIs compensated for serious illness and disabilities related to their service?

No one is tracking the whereabouts and status of millions of Veterans. No consolodated medical database to look for trends.. No effort to quantify and record the men by assignment and duty station..

No accident, none of that is happeneing in any meaningful manner..

Tricare and Tricare Prime.. pays less than medicare..
has three programs for payment.. Slow Pay, Low Pay and No Pay insuring doctors will more often than not refuse to provide care to disabled retired GIs.

W


4 posted on 11/11/2009 3:30:54 PM PST by WLR (Remember 911 Remember 91 Iran delinda est.)
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To: St. Louis Conservative

The trial lawyers already got their windfall; this lawsuit came in the 1980’s I believe. The vets, as per US protocol, received nothing. If they did receive a “settlement” it was minuscule in the overall scheme of things. My father is a Viet Nam veteran who spent 18 months in one of the most heavily sprayed areas-the iron triangle. Though he has never smoked a day in his life, he has a diagnosis of COPD; he needs supplemental o2 to breath. He was other “cluster” symptoms that no Dr. can make sense of. We’ve spent years researching this, and are convinced that he is dying because of Agent Orange exposure. I really just wished that our government would do better than give lip service to vets.


5 posted on 11/11/2009 3:43:37 PM PST by dixiedarlindownsouth (Coming soon to a bookstore near you, Barack Obama's "How to win friends as you screw your country")
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To: dixiedarlindownsouth

I retired in 1971 with 23 years service. I did not serve in Vietnam nor was I near any Agent Orange. At age 65, I too contracted prostate cancer. So what does being near agent orange have to do with prostate cancer. Alot of fmen who have never been to Vietnam get this malady


6 posted on 11/11/2009 4:30:17 PM PST by supermop (Somebody has to clean up the mess he will leave)
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To: supermop

Agent Orange isn’t the only cause of prostrate cancer; it is just one of numerous others. Veteran’s who were exposed to Agent Orange have an elevated risk for a diagnosis of prostate cancer. They also comprise a group that has increased numbers of actual diagnosis for this particular cancer. That’s the only point this article is making. Also, that it has taken this long to even get the government to acknowledge that this is actually happening.
Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, and praying for your health FRiend. And THANK YOU for your service!


7 posted on 11/11/2009 4:44:55 PM PST by dixiedarlindownsouth (Coming soon to a bookstore near you, Barack Obama's "How to win friends as you screw your country")
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To: dixiedarlindownsouth

The agent orange connection to various afflictions exposed veterans are experiencing is overwhelming, and if the government were to deny it on a case-by-case basis they would lose every time and spend hundreds of thousands on each case. In addition, many of the Agent Orange prostate cancer victims have already experienced some or all of the other identified Agent Orange related problems, and probably will experience others as they are identified, such as Parkinson’s Disease and Ischemic Heart Disease. The government is either doing the right thing with respect to Agent Orange, or covering its 180 in taking care of the afflicted whose exposure clearly can be connected to their exposure while on active duty.
On the other hand, these same chemicals were around more generally in the sixties and others may have been exposed to them routinely or inadvertently, minimally or substantially. There might be a case to be made against manufacturers and users, but it would not likely have the overwhelming statistical evidence that the agent-orange-exposed-veterans cases present. Believe me when I say that there is no possibility that the government could defend itself in an Agent Orange exposure case where the plaintiff presented symptoms consistent with Agent Orange Exposure and any evidence that the exposure occurred during military service.


8 posted on 11/11/2009 5:31:11 PM PST by mathurine
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To: mathurine

“Believe me when I say that there is no possibility that the government could defend itself in an Agent Orange exposure case where the plaintiff presented symptoms consistent with Agent Orange Exposure and any evidence that the exposure occurred during military service.”

I agree with you wholeheartedly.


9 posted on 11/12/2009 12:43:34 PM PST by dixiedarlindownsouth (Coming soon to a bookstore near you, Barack Obama's "How to win friends as you screw your country")
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To: dixiedarlindownsouth

http://ericshinseki.org/2009/03/open-letter-to-veterans-from-sec-shinseki/

You know if anyone can )&*)&* the VA it is this guy.. He got the Axe for being “Old School” and there is no telling how many lives would have been saved had Bush the Younger listened to him instead of that arrogant idiot Rumsfield.

He must have been reading our comments...lol because I just read where he wants to start a VA File on GIs when they enter Boot Camp.. and track their assignments and duties from the beginning.

Some of you know how stupid the system is now..In some cases to document injuries seriously injured GIs will have to remember the name of the guys there when it happened..

Pray they are still alive.. somehow find them then pray they remember the incident in order to document injuries..

Keeping track of GIs from the outset will allow the VA and the Military to actually see trends where illnesses are clearly Service Connected. Especially helpful when GIs are poisoned by chemical exposures which often takes such a long time to manifest itself.

Maybe some good news for a change.. at least some reason to hope for the guys caught up in the VA system.

W


10 posted on 11/13/2009 12:08:24 PM PST by WLR (Remember 911 Remember 91 Iran delinda est.)
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