Va To Add Parkinson's, Ischemic Heart Disease, And B Cell Leukemias To List

[allan]

http://www.nvlsp.org/Information/ArticleLibrary/AgentOrange/AO-VAaddsdiseasestoAOlist.htm

VA TO ADD PARKINSON'S, ISCHEMIC HEART DISEASE, AND B CELL LEUKEMIAS TO LIST

OF AGENT ORANGE-RELATED DISEASES

Relying on a recent report from an independent organization (the Institute

of Medicine), Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced on

October 13, 2009, that the VA will add three new diseases to its list of 12

illnesses associated with exposure to Agent Orange. The three newly

recognized diseases are:

. Ischemic heart disease (including coronary artery disease);

. Parkinson's disease; and

. B cell leukemias (such as hairy cell leukemia).

This announcement means that veterans who suffer from one of these diseases

will become entitled to service-connected disability compensation from the

VA as long as they stepped foot on land in Vietnam during active duty at any

time between January 9, 1962 and May 7, 1975. Other veterans who suffer from

one of these diseases will become entitled to these benefits if they can

show that they were exposed to Agent Orange during active duty.

To qualify, it will not matter when the disease first appeared. Thus, a

Vietnam veteran who is first diagnosed with ischemic heart disease 50 years

after discharge from service will become entitled to VA disability

compensation benefits.

The announcement also opens the door to death benefits. Qualifying surviving

family members of Vietnam veterans who have died, or who die in the future,

from one of the three diseases will become entitled to service-connected

death benefits known as Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC).

NVLSP's Advice on What to Do Now

The VA will not begin to pay benefits for any of these diseases until it

amends its Agent Orange regulations. This process usually takes months. But

if you are a Vietnam veteran who suffers from one of these diseases, or a

qualifying surviving family member of a Vietnam veteran who died from one of

these diseases, we advise you to take the action described below.

If you are a Vietnam veteran who suffers (or a survivor of a veteran who

died) from one of the three diseases and you never previously filed a VA

disability or death compensation claim for the disease: We advise you to

immediately file with the VA a claim for service-connected disability

compensation (or DIC) for the disease. As a result of the court order NVLSP

obtained in its Agent Orange class action, the VA will be required to pay

you, if your claim is successful, benefits retroactive to the date the VA

first receives your claim. In general, this means that for every month you

delay in filing your claim, you will not be entitled to VA compensation for

that month.

If you are a Vietnam veteran who suffers (or a survivor of a veteran who

died) from one of the three diseases and you did previously file a VA

disability or death compensation claim for the disease: We advise you to

take two steps:

(1) Immediately file with the VA another claim for service-connected

disability compensation (or DIC) for the disease. This will help protect you

from the possibility that the VA will interpret your previous claim as a

pension claim instead of a compensation claim, or as being for a disease

other than one of the three new diseases;

(2) Send email us at agentorange@nvlsp.org and provide the the following

information:

.your full name;

.your current address;

.your current phone number;

.if you are a surviving family member, the full name of the deceased

veteran;

.your VA claims file number;

.the approximate year in which you first filed a disability or DIC claim for

Ischemic heart disease, Parkinson's disease, or a B cell leukemia;

.identify which of the three diseases was the subject of the claim.

Why NVLSP Requests An Email If You Previously Filed A Disability

Compensation or DIC Claim For One Of The Three Diseases:

NVLSP requests this email to help us protect your right to the proper amount

of retroactive benefits if the VA grants your claim. As a result of the

court order NVLSP obtained in its Agent Orange class action, the VA will be

required in the future to go through its records and identify all Vietnam

veterans and survivors of Vietnam veterans who filed a compensation claim in

the past for one of the three diseases. Then, the VA will redecide each of

these prior claims under its new rules. If the claim is granted, the VA will

generally be required to pay you benefits retroactive to the date the VA

received your first disability compensation or DIC claim for the disease.

NVLSP wants to make sure that the VA identifies your case as one it needs to

review under the court order NVLSP obtained in its Agent Orange class

action. NVLSP will compare the list that we ultimately get from the VA with

the emails we receive to ensure that the VA reviews the case of every

Vietnam veteran or survivor it is required by law to review.

-----Original Message-----

From: Robert P. Walsh [mailto:rpwalsh@sbcglobal.net]

Sent: Friday, October 30, 2009 3:43 PM

To: Colonel Dan; Oates, Alan; Ted Papesh

Subject: Retroactive benefits for A/O related Parkinson's

-----Original Message-----

From: bart_stichman@nvlsp.org [mailto:bart_stichman@nvlsp.org]

Sent: Friday, October 30, 2009 1:13 PM

To: rpwalsh@sbcglobal.net; t.papesh@sbcglobal.net

Cc: ron_abrams@nvlsp.org

Subject: RE: Question?

Ted and Bob -- There is no way I know of to now obtain money from the

chemical companies for anythihg related to Agent Orange given the results of

the law suit discussed in our Veterans Benefits Manual and reproduced below.

As a result of our Nehmer lawsuit, once VA promulgates regs on the 3 new

diseases, it will have to reopen all past claims invovling the 3 diseases

and pay retroactive benefits to date of iniital claim. For advice, go to

our website www.nvlsp.org and click on the lead article on the front page

Excerpt from VBM:

3.8.6.3 The Unsuccessful Lawsuits Against the Chemical Companies

Turning to the more recent lawsuits against the chemical companies, after

the Supreme Court allowed some Vietnam veterans whose injuries first

appeared after January 17, 1995 to try to prove their case against the

chemical company manufacturers, the case was returned to the District Court.

In February 2004, the District Court granted the motion of the chemical

companies to dismiss the case based on what is known as "the government

contractor defense."934 When the U.S. Government contracts with a private

company to produce a product (like the U.S. Government did when it

contracted with the chemical companies to produce "Agent Orange"), the

private company can avoid liability under the government contractor defense

for injuries caused by the product if the company can show that (a) the U.S.

Government approved the specifications for the product; (b) the product

delivered by the company to the U.S. Government conformed to these

specifications, and © the company warned the U.S. Government about any

dangers in the use of the product that were known to the company, but not

known to the U.S. Government.935

The District Court held that "as a matter of fairness and law among the

government, these plaintiffs and these defendants, the contractor defense

has been established."936 In 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second

Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court that dismissed the

lawsuit.937 That decision became final in 2009 when the U.S. Supreme Court

declined to hear the case.938 A similar complaint brought on behalf of

Vietnamese nationals was also dismissed.939

Bart Stichman

__._,_.___ "Keep on, Keepin' on"

Dan Cedusky, Champaign IL "Colonel Dan"

See my web site at:

http://www.angelfire.com/il2/VeteranIssues/

Edited November 1, 2009 by allan

[john999]

Allan

What do you think a AO vet should do if he is already SC'ed for CAD as secondary to DMII? Would a stand along claim for CAD due directly to AO exposure be something worth doing, or is it not necessary? What I have found is that many of my so-called NSC conditions have become SC'ed over the years as a result of AO and DMII.