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Agent Orange/Dioxin and Other Toxic Exposures Committee New At The Helm AGENT ORANGE COMMITTEE REPORT Thank you for the honor of asking me to chair the VVA Agent Orange/Dioxin and Other Toxic Substances Committee (AO/DOTS). I am Alan Oates. I am a Vietnam veteran and a retired Army First Sergeant.
First, the AO/DOTS Committee is not about me or what I have accomplished. It is about serving our veterans. So I won’t take up time talking about myself. I am replacing Buzz Sawyer as chair of the committee. Thank you, Buzz, for your service as chair over the last three years. Buzz will continue as an advisor to the Committee. We wish Buzz the best as he spends more time fly fishing. Taking care of troops doesn’t stop once we leave the military. We would not leave a troop behind on the battlefield, and we must not leave any more veterans and their families behind on the battlefields of diseases that result from toxic exposures. Our committee has an important role to ensure that we don’t. As the AO/DOTS Committee carries out its duties, we will focus on our work with renewed vigor. We know what we are doing has an impact on the quality of life for many veterans and their families. The three vice chairs of the committee—Bill Dumsick, George Newell, and John Weiss—are proven leaders who will provide the leadership, organizational skills, and dedication to make this committee successful. The near future presents us with many challenges. Changes in the leadership of the Department of Veterans Affairs present the opportunity to address toxic exposure and health issues that concern all veterans. Early this summer, the Institute of Medicine will release the 2008 biennial update to the Veteran and Agent Orange (VAO) report. The review may present opportunities to get some diseases added to the presumptive list. The Agent Orange Committee will review this report, looking for those immediate opportunities as well as issues we will need to focus on to prepare our input for the next review in 2010. Hypertension, heart disease, birth defects, intergenerational diseases, and Parkinson’s disease are some of the issues that need our immediate attention. The committee is challenged to look at environmental exposures outside the well-known Agent Orange and other herbicides. Look for us to post more information on these non-herbicide exposures on our web page. As chair, I ask that each VVA member and every veteran help the committee in its work. We especially need people who have medical and scientific backgrounds to help review the research on diseases and environmental exposures. Also, I would ask those who have collected studies and research in these areas to please share that information with the committee. We are particularly interested in scientific studies that connect a particular disease to any chemical exposures. The best way to share that information is in an electronic format such as a PDF file. Email the committee at AODOTS@vva.org to find out how to share your collection of research and information or contact me directly at aoates@vva.org In the news Research Paper Congress Must Act to Restore Earned Benefits to All Vietnam Veterans – Including “Blue Water” Vets! Washington, D.C. – House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA) announced the introduction of H.R. 2254, a bill to restore equity to all Vietnam veterans that were exposed to Agent Orange. “We owe it to our veterans to fulfill the promises made to them as a result of their service,” said Chairman Filner (D-CA). “If, as a result of service, a veteran was exposed to Agent Orange and it has resulted in failing health, this country has a moral obligation to care for each veteran the way we promised we would. And as a country at war, we must prove that we will be there for all of our veterans, no matter when they serve. The courts have turned their backs on our veterans, but I believe this Congress will not allow our veterans to be cheated of their earned benefits.” [ Read complete article ]Annual Committee Report What follows was reported by ABC News. It should be of interest to all Vietnam veterans who have illnesses that they feel resulted from exposure to dioxin—Agent Orange—during their service during the Vietnam War:
The VVA Self-Help Guide to Service-Connected Disability Compensation for Exposure to Agent Orange AL Amyloidosis: a rare group of diseases that results from the abnormal deposition of a particular protein called amyloid in various tissues of the body has been added as a presumptive service connected illnesses recognized by the VA as connected to Agent Orange Herbicide Exposure.
The Agent Orange Review
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Why fill out the form? VVA's Veterans Agent Orange Initiative is a humanitarian, veteran-to-veteran effort to document Agent Orange exposure (particularly from hand and truck spraying of bases) and to define likely hot spots of dangerously high dioxin levels on former U.S. and ARVN bases in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. FROM THE VVA "The Agent Orange/Dioxin Committee shall accumulate and disseminate information regarding Agent Orange and Dioxin and actively pursue the recognition of presumptive disabilities from exposure to Agent Orange and Dioxin by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Agent Orange/Dioxin Committee shall provide assistance to State Councils, Chapters, and service programs in the handling of Agent Orange related problems. The Committee shall encourage and foster the sponsorship of legislation to help the victims of Agent Orange and Dioxin, and encourage scientific and medical research in the field of dioxin-related ailments." DO YOU NEED ASSISTANCE FILING A CLAIM? Contact a VVA Benefits Service Officer
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