Vietnam Vets or Their Survivors Are Urged to File Agent Orange Claims Immediately. Starting as early as October, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will begin compensating the first of thousands of Vietnam veterans for disability claims for Ischemic Heart disease, Parkinson’s disease and B-cell leukemia, illnesses newly associated with exposure to defoliants, including Agent Orange, used in the Vietnam War. The move comes thanks to a federal court victory by Paralyzed Veterans of America and its partners.

“We are delighted with the decision that will help many of our members receive benefits that they deserve,” said Bill Mailander, General Counsel for the Paralyzed Veterans. “We encourage those Vietnam veterans or their survivors who are affected by these diseases to contact VA or their local veteran’s service organization representative to file claims immediately. Paralyzed Veterans would also like to thank (the law offices of) Chadbourne & Parke for their fine legal work in this matter, which resulted in this positive outcome for our veterans.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has instructed the VA that they have 30 days to issue new rules for paying disability benefits to Vietnam veterans stricken with Ischemic Heart disease (the term for a lack of blood flow and oxygen to the heart muscle) Parkinson’s disease (a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system) and B-cell leukemia (several different types of lymphoid leukemia which affect B cells). Women and men, who served in Vietnam and have these diseases, or their survivors, should file their claims as soon as they can to ensure the earliest possible entitlement to benefits. It is estimated that this expansion of Agent Orange-related claims will benefit several hundred thousand Vietnam veterans. Since March, the VA has been urging veterans with these diseases, or their survivors, to file claims immediately because of delay while their case is going through the courts. Congress signaled a strong support for these veterans in July when the Senate and the House passed the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2010 (HR 4899) which included $13.4 billion for VA to pay the first wave of compensation claims for these diseases.

Paralyzed Veterans has a national network of representatives, National Service Officers, who stand ready to help veterans in need of VA claims assistance. Visit www.pva.org/nso for your local service office.

Belton Smith

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