After I retired from the VA as a rating specialist (RVSR) in October 2003, I began reading dozens of complaints on the Internet from veterans who had had their Agent Orange claims denied. I also made note of their criticisms about the VA’s foot dragging in getting new disabilities approved. I’m not here to defend the VA or to apologize for its shortcomings. What I want to do is help you understand the VA claims process by explaining it in plain English. So, let’s get started.
If you served in Vietnam between 1962 and 1971, as I did, there is a pretty good chance that you were exposed to Agent Orange. The VA acknowledges that some 20 million gallons of herbicides were sprayed across South Vietnam in an attempt to destroy foliage used to conceal enemy forces and supply lines. Spraying was also intended to deny access to agricultural crops used by the enemy.
If you served in Vietnam between 1962 and 1971, as I did, there is a pretty good chance that you were exposed to Agent Orange.
Recently, I tried to determine exactly where all this spraying occurred. I had always thought it was in the north along the DMZ or along the Laos-Cambodian borders. I was wrong. Dead wrong. The chart I found looked like one of those modern artworks where the painter takes his bucket and throws it at the canvas. It was a map of Vietnam with long streaks covering the entire country from top to bottom.
Agent-Orange related conditions
The VA has determined that a positive association exists between exposure to herbicides and the subsequent development of 11 conditions.
- Chloracne
- Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- Soft tissue sarcoma (other than osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma, or mesothelioma)
- Hodgkin’s disease
- Porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT)
- Multiple myeloma
- Acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy
- Prostate cancer
- Respiratory cancers (cancers of the lung, bronchus, larynx and trachea)
- Type 2 diabetes (also known as Type II diabetes mellitus or adult-onset diabetes)
- Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)
Non Agent-Orange related conditions
Of note, there are numerous conditions that are not associated with Agent Orange. Service connection for them must, by law, be denied.
- Hepatobiliary cancers
- Nasal and nasopharyngeal cancer
- Bone cancers
- Breast cancer
- Cancers of the female reproductive system
- Urinary bladder cancer
- Renal cancer
- Testicular cancer
- Leukemia (other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia)
- Reproductive effects (abnormal sperm parameters and infertility)
- Parkinson’s disease
- Chronic persistent peripheral neuropathy
- Lipid and lipoprotein disorders
- Gastrointestinal and digestive disease
- (other than diabetes mellitus)
- Immune-system disorders
- Circulatory disorders
- Respiratory disorders (other than certain respiratory cancers)
- Skin cancer
- Cognitive and neuropsychiatric effects
- Gastrointestinal tract tumors
- Brain tumors
- Amyloidosis
What to do if your condition is listed as not Agent-Orange related
If you have one of these orphaned conditions you can apply for service connection secondary to Agent Orange exposure; however, your claim will be denied. What should you do?
My advice would be to apply anyway, and let the VA deny the claim. Then appeal the decision. A timely appeal keeps your claim in the mill. Also, keep in mind that somewhere down the road some or all of these conditions might be approved.
Exposure to Agent Orange, in and of itself, is not a disability.
By having a denial on record, you stand a chance of having it approved retroactively. Additionally, the medical evidence you submitted will always be in your VA claims file. However, if you wait several years to file a claim, you should keep in mind that physicians don’t keep their records forever. So get your claim submitted before your records wind up in the trash bin or shredder.
One additional cautionary word: exposure to Agent Orange, in and of itself, is not a disability. That is, you can receive service connection only for the eleven disabilities listed here.
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