Va Regulations On Agent Orange Disabilites ?

[gwynwyatt]

I'm appealing a ruleing from my VA regional Office on Peripheral Neuropathy. I was denied because the VA rule says the disease must manifest within one year of exposure to Agent Orange but I've sent that board studies by the National Institutes of Health and the Mayo Clinic that say that disease can lay dormant for many years before it becomes noticable.

When I argue my claim in front of the appeals court I want to be able to show that the VA rule on Peripheral Neuropathy may have been good mediccal science when the rule was established but later studies show that their rule needs to be updated to accept the latest medical knowledge about the disease. I would like to know when the VA's rules on Agent Orange was established.

[Berta]

All AO regs are found in 38 CFR 3.307, to 3.10 with chnges in 38 CFR 3.313 as to NHL and also CLL regs are new.

You are correct- the VA PN due to SC from AO is very limited.

NVLSP in the 2006 edition has stated that these PN regs are very difficult to fulfill:

acute or subactute manifested within months of AO exposure and cured within 2 years after symptoms first appear.

I know of no single vet who gets SC for PN under these regs.

I know countless Vietnam vet who get PN as service connection secondary to Diabetes Mellitus from AO exposure.

The reg is very odd and limiting-(cured within 2 years)

However a vet with PN that shows up and or continues well after service usually has the PN from circulatory heart disease, brain infarctions, or from any one of many of the complications of DMII.

[Cavman]

Good luck! My stage 4 tonsil/lymphnode cancer was denied AO disability with one of the top Oncology ENT docs in the country stating it was most likely caused by AO exposure. Point is....if it isn`t on the presumed list , you will be denied.

Cavman

[Dean]

This might help you. I just read your post again and realized that this does not actually pertain to you. You might find something like this though if you look on the net and search for just what you are asking for. I found some information that might help you and others with this issue. I hope that some of this helps.

Found this:Acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy. (For purposes of this section, the term acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy means temporary peripheral neuropathy that appears within weeks or months of exposure to an herbicide agent and resolves within two years of the date of onset.)

Also check this out: http://www1.va.gov/agentorange/docs/VHIagentorange.pdf

http://www1.va.gov/agentorange/docs/AOHANDBOOK13022006.pdf

http://www1.va.gov/agentorange/

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navc...hy+agent+orange

1. Amendment to 38 U.S.C. § 1116(a)(F) (This amendment eliminates the requirement that respiratory cancer (cancers of the lung, bronchus, larynx, trachea) becomes manifest within 30 years of the veteran's departure from Vietnam to qualify for the presumption of service connection based on exposure to herbicides such as Agent Orange. This amendment also broadens the presumption of exposure to herbicides to include all Vietnam veterans, not just those who have a presumptively service-connected disease).

Practice Note

: This amendment covers two different aspects of a toxic exposure claim. First, a veteran must establish that his exposure to the toxin must have occurred in service. Second, he must prove that his current disease or disability is related to the in-service toxic exposure. With respect to some claims, such as those outlined in listed in § 1116(a)(F), the VA will presume in-service exposure and/or service connection.

Edited January 24, 2007 by Dean