THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 29, 1996 TAG: 9605290440
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: 81 lines
President Clinton, broadening protections for victims of Agent Orange, ordered Tuesday that disability benefits be given to Vietnam veterans who suffer from prostate cancer or a rare nerve disease.
Clinton also announced that he will ask Congress to grant disability benefits to Vietnam veterans' children who suffer from spina bifada, a congenital birth defect. If approved, that would be the first time veterans' children are entitled to benefits for combat-related health problems.
Agent Orange was a deadly herbicide made with dioxin that U.S. forces sprayed between January 1965 and April 1970 to destroy dense jungle foliage, so soldiers could better see the enemy.
Many U.S. veterans later blamed exposure to Agent Orange for many diseases. But scientific studies were long unable to prove definitely that it caused their ailments.
After years of growing political clamor, in 1991 Congress passed a law ordering the Veterans Affairs Department to give Vietnam veterans the benefit of the doubt when science was inconclusive.
``For years the government did not listen,'' President Clinton said Tuesday. ``Today, we are showing that America can listen and act.''
The National Academy of Sciences released a study in March showing that prostate cancer and the nerve disease - peripheral neuropathy - ``may'' be linked to Agent Orange, triggering a VA review that led to Tuesday's announcement.
VA Secretary Jesse Brown conceded that evidence proving Agent Orange caused the two diseases ``is evenly divided. But we in the VA have resolved all reasonable doubt in favor of the veterans and their families.''
Veterans need not prove they were exposed directly to Agent Orange - service anywhere in Vietnam is presumed sufficient and will qualify veterans for benefits, Brown said.
Prostate cancer and the nerve disease will be added to seven other diseases previously declared eligible for disability benefits.
The VA estimates the five-year cost to taxpayers at around $350 million. And Brown acknowledged that the cost estimate is soft because ``we built in some assumptions that we have no idea whether or not they're true.''
VA officials estimate that perhaps 3,000 children with spina bifada may qualify. They guess that only about 1,500 veterans with prostate cancer will make claims in the next several years because 72 is the average age for diagnosis, and few Vietnam vets are that old yet. They expect very few to cite the nerve disease, because it shows up within one year of exposure.
Any time Clinton mentions Vietnam, it carries political overtones because he avoided service there. Politically, it serves Clinton's interests to side with veterans on benefits issues because that takes the focus away from his lack of military service.
At Tuesday's announcement, retired Adm. Elmo Zumwalt Jr. hailed Clinton for more than 10 years of ``constancy'' in helping to press the Agent Orange issue forward. Zumwalt, the former chief of naval operations, is a longtime advocate of Agent Orange relief claims. His son, Elmo III, died of cancer, which the family believes stemmed from his wartime exposure to the herbicide. ILLUSTRATION: RELATED AILMENTS
President Clinton has ordered the Department of Veterans Affairs
to provide coverage for veterans suffering from prostate cancer and
peripheral neuropathy, a nerve disease, as a result of exposure to
the defoliant Agent Orange. Already covered were:
Chloracne, a skin disease.
Hodgkin's disease, a lymphoma cancer.
Multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow.
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, cancer affecting the lymph nodes, bone
marrow, spleen and liver.
Porphyria cutanea tarda, a metabolic liver disorder.
Respiratory cancers affecting the lungs, bronchi, larynx and
trachea.
Soft-tissue sarcoma, a rare cancer affecting muscle or internal
connective tissue.
To qualify for compensation, veterans are not required to prove
exposure to Agent Orange. The VA presumes that all military
personnel who served in Vietnam were exposed.
Veterans with health problems they believe may be related to
Agent Orange can contact the VA Medical Center in Hampton, 722-9961,
or call the VA's nationwide toll-free number, 1-800-827-1000.
KEYWORDS: AGENT ORANGE VETERANS BENEFITS by CNB