VA Stands By Limited Agent Orange Benefits Policy
Compensation has been turned down again for Navy veterans who served off the coast of Vietnam, who advocates say were exposed because their ships sucked in potentially contaminated water.
ProPublica:
Once Again, The VA Turns Down Navy Vets For Agent Orange Benefits
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has once again turned down an effort by Navy veterans to get compensation for possible exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. In a document released Friday, the VA said it would continue to limit benefits related to Agent Orange exposure to only those veterans who set foot in Vietnam, where the herbicide was sprayed, and to those who were on boats in inland rivers. The VA compensates these veterans for a litany of associated illnesses, including diabetes, various cancers, Parkinson’s Disease, peripheral neuropathy and a type of heart disease. (Ornstein and Parris, 2/10)
