> SOUTHERN INDIANA —
The list of illnesses that can qualify a Vietnam veteran for disability pay and health care related to Agent Orange exposure has expanded.
The U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs announced last October that Parkinson’s disease, ischemic heart disease and chronic B cell leukemias will be added to the list of diseases associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents.
Vietnam-era veterans will no longer have to prove a connection between those illnesses and their military service to receive health benefits.
“This historic regulation will help ailing veterans overcome the burdensome paperwork that complicates their benefit claims,” said Indiana Rep. Baron Hill in a press release.
“By classifying these conditions as assumedly service related, the Veteran’s Administration confirms what Vietnam veterans have known for years.”
Hill said, it’s estimated that more than 7,000 Hoosier veterans have suffered the effects of Agent Orange exposure.
The herbicide was used by American forces during the war to clear dense vegetation which characterized the forest land in Vietnam and Cambodia that guerrilla fighters used as a means for cover and food.
For more information, visit the website www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange.
Details on filing claims can be found through the website www.vba.va.gov.
— Staff Writer Daniel Suddeath
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Care for diseases associated with Agent Orange expanded
Vietnam-era veterans will no longer have to prove a connection between illnesses and military service
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