RALEIGH, N.C. - By his own reckoning, a Navy electrician spent just eight hours in Vietnam, during a layover on his flight back to the United States in 1966.
But he successfully argued his diabetes may have been caused by Agent Orange, even though research has failed to find establish a definitive link.
Because of worries about Agent Orange, about 270,000 Vietnam veterans - more than one-quarter of those receiving disability checks - are getting compensation for diabetes, according to Department of Veterans Affairs records.
More Vietnam veterans are being compensated for diabetes than for any other malady, including post-traumatic stress disorder, hearing loss or general wounds.
Tens of thousands of other claims for common ailments of age, such as erectile dysfunction, are getting paid as well because of a possible link to Agent Orange.
The VA said yesterday it will add heart disease, Parkinson’s disease and leukemia to the list of Agent Orange-related conditions. The new rules will go into effect this fall unless Congress intervenes and could cost $42 billion over the next 10 years.
via bostonherald.com
This is very troubling for Viertnam Vets.