New Ao Diseases?

[john999]

Is the VA still doing research to determine if any new presumptive AO conditions exist among the less than one million surviving Vietnam Vets? When the VA admitted that AO was a cause of Parkinson's and CAD that may have broken the bank.

[Berta]

Jiohn, these are the only two recent links that hinge on AO and the future that I know of.

NVLSP will certainly (if not the VA itself) send out PRs if they ever add any more presumptives,

https://www.iom.edu/Reports/2015/Post-Vietnam-Dioxin-Exposure-in-Agent-Orange-Contaminated-C-123-Aircraft.aspx

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/cancer/articles/2011/05/14/agent-orange-linked-to-kidney-cancer-study

Charles Kelley also would be one of the first to know and many of us here get Chas Kelly's emails

[john999]

Why doesn't the VA just admit that RVN vets who get cancer are at least as likely as not presumptive for AO. The Vietnam vet population average age now is probably 65-70. We are not getting younger. By the time the IOM and VA get together on a new presumptive most RVN vets will be dead. Less than a million out of 2.9 million survive today. I think the VA is just trying to wait us out. We should get the benefit of doubt on all cancers, and body systems related to metabolic, respiration, and other major body functions. So many body systems are presumptive for AO such as heart, lungs, blood cancer, metabolic systems, and nervous system that it is a crime to wait until all the statistics are known because we will all be dead. Every Nam vet is presumed to have been exposed to AO and we know that dioxin is a deadly chemical and causes such a long list of deadly diseases for the VA to wait for perfect statistical proof is just murder so the government can save a buck. If you don't die from heart problems you will probably die from cancer when you get over 70. Also, making spouses wait ten years after their vet is made 100% before they can collect DIC is just a way of cheating spouses. With the VA it is all about money and always has been with a big assist from our corrupt congress.

John

[FormerMember]

The IOM is slated to shut down further research in 2016 om the Rainbow defoliants unless Congress extends their mandate.