While this is not new information to the thousands of veterans of Vietnam and Korea and others who have suffered from the use of the toxin commonly referred to as Agent Orange, maybe someday a full understanding of these issues will finally be told and a sad chapter on our nation’s history will come to a close never to be repeated again.

Dr. Norman Latov, MD, PhD of Weill Medical College, Cornell University noted in his writings what a growing list of medical professionals now recognize, that chronic peripheral neuropathy is associated with the cancers and treatments for the cancers. (more…)

This is one of the most often asked questions I receive. The answer to which is very important if you are a veteran who was exposed to Agent Orange and is now dealing with the VA.

Simply stated the answer is yes.

For decades medicine and the VA claim that Agent Orange did not cause neuropathy or cancer or any serious illness whatsoever.

The research findings of the Environmental Protection Agency and others were ignored as these agencies stated that it did cause neuropathy and was a dangerous toxin. (1969 to 2000).

As it slowly became difficult to deny what was obvious, the reasoning continued that if dioxin in Agent Orange does cause neuropathy, it must only be the acute and subacute types.

When it was known that toxins including dioxin from Agent Orange are stored in the teeth, fat and bones of the body for decades the ‘experts’ claimed that the residual dosage was too low to cause an illness or chronic neuropathy decades later.

In the 1990’s it was claimed Agent Orange did not cause cancer (wrong again – thousands of veterans died without help – and the VA spent millions fighting their law suits in the 1990’s) until research in 2007 showed the VA wrong.

Meanwhile thousands of Vietnam Veterans, exposed to Agent Orange with cancer decades earlier, died. Now we find out that cancer causes Peripheral Neuropathy and may be one of the early symptoms, let alone the fact that neuropathy is caused by chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

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DISCLAIMER- The following suggestions and information is intended to be educational and informational in nature and NOT diagnostic or prescriptive. The veteran is encouraged to consult a service representative from the Disabled American Veterans (DVA) or The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) or an attorney specializing in such VA disability matters as well as their own treating physician in this process.

Note: You may find all this information somewhat overwhelming. Therefore do not hesitate to give a copy of this document to a Service Officer from one of the veterans’ organizations. You will help educate them and give them more tools to help you.

The Veterans Affairs Administration has implemented a new law recognizing early-onset chronic peripheral neuropathy on its list of diseases presumed to be related to Agent Orange (AO) exposure. (See Federal Register #19634 dated August 10, 2012).

This means that the veteran exposed to Agent Orange, who can prove that they were stationed on the ground in Vietnam or Korea, who had symptoms at least 10% disabling as defined by the VA, within one year after exposure, would be approved for service connected compensation and treatment without having to prove the connection between Agent Orange and Chronic Peripheral Neuropathy.

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The Veterans Affairs Administration has now updated their list of conditions presumptively related to Agent Orange exposure to include Chronic Peripheral Neuropathy. This is a change to the previous listing of only acute and subacute Peripheral Neuropathy.

However, the listing does not reflect the change from the Federal Register, but rather is a confusing statement about the VA proposal noting the proposed changes to the wording of the condition as noted in the Federal Register! A letter has been sent to the Disabled American Veterans to solicit their help in working with the VA to correct this list. Once we have received clarification, the NSN will proceed to publish the new guidelines.

The Neuropathy Support Network is developing guidelines to assist veterans in applying for disability and support under the Veterans Affairs Administration new law regarding presumption for Chronic Peripheral Neuropathy and Agent Orange exposure.

For a full list of conditions related to Agent Orange exposure recognized presumptively by the VA, visit: www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/diseases.asp