Vietnamese children have had numerous birth defects from the herbicide/chemical weapon Agent Orange. Not only that, but over one million United States veterans were hurt by it as well. Scores of soldiers who enlisted or were chosen to serve their country came home with such conditions as acute peripheral neuropathy, soft tissue sarcoma and Hodgkin’s lymphoma, to name a couple of. There is a new ruling that says 270,000 Vietnam War veterans will be getting compensation for any diabetes, heart disease, Parkinson’s and types of leukemia. The Washington Post reports that that is around a quarter of the one million that are already getting disability checks right now. Within the next ten years, the American working class will have to pay a lot to support this. Around forty two billion dollars could be spent on it.
Loads of diseases from diabetes to erectile dysfunction come with Agent Orange
Diabetes is one of the most common medical problem Agent Orange caused for the Vietnam veterans, says the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Agent Orange also has erectile dysfunction tied to it now. Normally this would be attributed to age however veterans are getting extra compensation for it. Alan Simpson, chairman of President Obama’s deficit commission, explained that federal spending gets a smack in the face with all the additional cash being spent on veterans.
“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. The Post found an email stating Alkaka’s plans to be in a listening to on “what changes Congress and the VA may need for making to existing law and policy,” around September 23.
Too much VA spending
According to the Associated Press, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs may end up overpaying for Vietnam veterans with diabetes. The VA’s numbers for how much would be paid for diabetes per year are shown to be much higher than independent calculations based on VA records that show $850 million a year being enough. Considering that the VA spends $34 billion a year on disability benefits for United States veterans wars, the forty two billion dollars increase over the next 10 years is an earth-shattering leap.
‘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 is not hard to prove that. The Post reports this. Cassano asks, “Does it make you take a deep breath? Does it give you pause? Yes. However you nevertheless 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
