Not only is it the cause of severe birth disorders for generations of Vietnamese kids, the herbicide/chemical weapon Agent Orange has afflicted greater than 1 million United States veterans. There were numerous diseases the soldiers that may not have even been there by choice with the draft received including things such as acute peripheral neuropathy, soft tissue sarcoma and Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The Washington Post reports that a quarter of the one million troops receiving disability checks, or 270,000 Vietnam War veterans, will in two months get compensation for diabetes, heart disease, Parkinson’s and different types of leukemia. Within the next ten years, the United States working class will have to pay a lot to support this. Around $42 billion dollars will be spent on it. Source of article – Agent Orange will cost America $42 billion over 10 years by Personal Money Store.
Anything from diabetes to erectile dysfunction because of Agent Orange
The Department of veterans’ Affairs reports on which medical condition is most common from Agent Orange. It actually ended up being diabetes. Other conditions, for instance erectile dysfunction, that would otherwise be attributed to age are being tied to Agent Orange, so veterans are being compensated. Former Wyoming Republican senator and current chairman of President Obama’s deficit commission, Alan Simpson, has said such compensation flies in the face of commitments to control federal spending.
“The irony (is) that the veterans who saved this country are now, in a way, not helping us to save the country in this fiscal mess,” he said.
Sen. Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii), chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, is also critical of what he calls “presumptive conditions” that are being addressed with taxpayer funds. On Sept. 23 or soon thereafter, Akaka will participate in a hearing that will address “what changes Congress and also the VA may need for making to existing law and policy,” he said via an e-mail obtained by the Post.
VA spending isn’t right
The Associated Press reports on the how much the Department of Veterans’ Affairs is going to end up spending on Vietnam veterans with diabetes. Seems like like it could be way too much. Independent calculations based on VA records show that only $850 million a year is needed to help those with diabetes. Sadly, the VA’s numbers are much higher than that. A $42 billion increase within the next a decade is a huge leap from the $34 billion a year the VA already spends on disability benefits for American veterans.
Then there’s the ‘Credible evidence for association’
Victoria Anne Cassano is the Veterans’ Health Administration Director of Radiation and Physical Exposures. She explains that there was a federal law created on Agent Orange in 1991 saying that chemical agents and afflictions do have a correlation with Agent Orange “if the credible evidence for the association is equal to or outweighs the credible evidence against the association.”
It isn’t hard, says the Post, to fit that proof. Cassano says, “Does it make you take a deep breath? Does it give you pause? Yes. However you still do what you think is the right thing to do.”
U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs
publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/diseases.asp
Washington Post
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/31/AR2010083106819.html
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange
The children of Agent Orange, 2008 (WARNING: Disturbing content)
youtube.com/watch?v=9zay0zcC0K4
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