Vietnam vets may be eligible for Agent Orange claims

January 13, 2001

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Environmental Briefs

Friday, January 12, 2001

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Vietnam vets may be eligible for Agent Orange claims

Vietnam War veterans may be eligible for compensation and health benefits

for diseases associated with exposure to Agent Orange, a defoliant sprayed

in the jungles during the war.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will provide physical examinations

and free health care for veterans who served in Vietnam if a VA physician

suspects that a disease may be related to Agent Orange.

Enviro News

News about environmental concerns, ranging from salmon protection and

federal logging legislature to urban growth and water quality control.

Veterans who participate in the program will be placed on the Agent Orange

registry and receive mailings from Veterans Affairs about continuing Agent

Orange studies and additional diseases being covered under agency policies.

The department lists Agent Orange as a possible cause of chloracne,

Hodgkin's disease, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, porphyria

cutanea tarda, respiratory cancers, soft-tissue sarcoma, acute and subacute

peripheral neuropathy and prostate cancer.

Benefits are also available to veterans' children with spina bifida and to

children of female Vietnam veterans with certain other birth defects.

For more information, veterans and their families can contact the Department

of Veterans Affairs. For the Agent Orange Registry physical examination,

call a local VA hospital or clinic listed in the government pages of the

telephone book.

To file a compensation claim for a current disability related to Agent

Orange, call 503-220-8262, extension 31440; in Vancouver, Wash.,

360-696-4061, extension 31440; or 1-800-827-1000. Visit the VA Web site.

-- Jenna

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