Daughter of Vet-I have Chloracne BAD-Is there help for me?

[Daughter with Chloracne]

My father served in Vietnam 1969-1975, he was exposed to Agent Orange when it was sprayed to knock the jungle down-he reported the outbreak of Chloracne to the doctors at the VA, he got it on his back-most of his back. He had my first older sister who got it on her face, back and arms. My second oldest sister only got it on her chin. My identical twin and I got it really BAD, we had it on our face, backs, necks, chests, behind our ears, sometimes in our groin too-we had to take a 9 month course of Accutane back in 1994-1995. It cleared until we had our kids, mine came back with a vengeance so bad I had to get back on Accutane (generic version) just a few years ago, on for 6 months-off for 2, back on for 6 months. I have been sickly most of my life. My bones have always hurt, but it is much worse now, began getting really bad when I was 30, I have lesions in my brain, degenerating disc disease, peripheral neuropathy, arthritis all over my body, and many other issues-my daughter was born with a premature fusion in her skull and had to have skull surgery to save her life-is there help for kids of vets or grandkids? My father was denied by the VA back in the 80s when he attempted to get help, it wasn't as bad for him as it's been for me and my twin-I'm terrified my kids are going to get this terrible skin condition, for years between the ages of 12-15 I prayed every night I would die in my sleep-the sores on our backs were EXCRUCIATING, I have pictures of then and pictures of now-no dermatologist has seen anything like it. The Accutane has given me it's own side effects, it has encouraged the extreme pain all over my body to hurt more, my joints to ache sharper, my eyes hurt so much...please please say there is help for us-if not, please tell me how to set it up so we can get help. Daddy is in his 70s now, he won't live forever, he deserves the benefits so many others deserve and have NOT gotten, I am trying to help him, and we are also paying for is exposure to this toxic chemical, I cannot believe how forgotten our veterans are about this, I have suffered over 25 years because of that extreme acne...any tips or advice would be much appreciated. I pray this isn't a repeat, but if it is, I do apologize. Thank you for letting me be part of your community, I think what you're doing to help each other is so very awesome. God Bless.

[Berta]

There are over 500 decisions on Chloracne in veterans at the BVA- since 1995-many were denied.

Chloracne granted due to AO ( exposure in Vietnam)

https://www.va.gov/vetapp02/files03/0210828.txt

and 

https://www.va.gov/vetapp16/files5/1638066.txt

I believe this is James Cripps case, but will check that:

https://www.va.gov/vetapp09/files5/0941553.txt     James is a member here.

James Cripps proved he was exposed to AO in Fort Gordon, USA and one of his disabilities was chloracne

However there were no claims at the BVA from any child or adult child of a Vietnam vet, who claimed chloracne due to their parent’ exposure to AO .

This link might have some more info:

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/vietnam-war-veterans-kids-agent-orange-impact-nightmare/story?id=59059570

I don’t know if the 2017 Bill is the same one that is pending now at Congress.

I am sorry for your situation, and was heartbroken to read this:

 "My father was denied by the VA back in the 80s when he attempted to get help, "

Do you mean he filed a claim and that was denied?

If so what was it for and when exactly was it denied?

Or do you mean the VA refused to treat him? I am sure the VA would have treated him- so please clarify-

And if he has any of the AO presumptives to include Chloracne, he should Definitely file a claim! or re-open the denied claim- hard to know yet.we need more info.

Can he join us here?

I appreciate that you have a serious personal situation , from your post, but if your dad is due VA compensation, due to AO, that is the focus I would have if I were you-= in addition to trying to contact anyone that is involved in any legislation that might consider a different scenario that what the regulations have now- as within the VA link that shrekthetank posted above, regarding children of AO Vietnam vets.

If he still has a copy of their denial -if he did file a claim in the 80's, can you scan and attach it here, with his permission,  and cover his name, C file #, address, prior to scanning it. The date of the decision  is also critical. due to the Nehmer Court order .

I have been involved in the AO issue since 1991 and am a AO veteran's widow and hope you will tell us more or be able to attach his denial....unless it was a denial of VA health care? That would be unusual.

We have been helping AO vets here since 1997.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                  

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                  

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                  

Edited November 1, 2019 by Berta
high winds -tripleposts

[Berta]

Jerry Wright was out this way ( NY) a few months back. I see the point of the bill, but I have 2 bills I am concerned about- and have not have time to see what the status of them is yet.One I wrote and sent to Cong. Roe and one is  in the Senate , S 221.( that arose from my OAWB complaint but I had to re write the whole thing and send it to the sponsors- none of them were veterans and none ever dealt with the VA.

Next to AO VA malpractice is my biggest issue and this is what those bills are about.

Can Wright join us here? If we get anywhere near the BVN AO claimants that VA thinks will be filling claims, we can use more help on that. I hve no idea yet if the 70,000 plus Sec WIlkie expects includes the surviving spouses or adult children ,if the spouse is dead, who would have a right to file claims.FINALLY- I have been waiting for this issue to be resolved for almost a decade or maybe much more .

Since the BWN AO was signed into law, I have recently put most of my time and help in regards to that issue.

Wright does have a google footprint but I did not see what he actually does, in getting the word out to vets to file their claims for any presumptive.This is the problem we are having ( BWNVVA) but the VA has actually started to work (and pay) those BWN claims- they even did out reach to over 70,000 vets---and this was not what we expected at all. I just found this out last week.

I thought we would have to wait for the  claims Stay to be lifted and that lawsuit is being heard this week- I think or next week , against Wilkie- but maybe that has been settled already?????

Some Blue Water AO vets have already gotten mega back pay----!!!!!!!!

I asked many to join here, and they are my prime focus these days.Some of these vet reps are not fully versed in Nehmer and could bugger their claims in a heartbeat. A lot of that work ,however, does not involve this site-but will when I have more info on it.

Also I have been dealing with some widows who might have chance for  AO BWN  DIC and even accrued,,,,but it is difficult to deal with widows, as often they don't know where the deceased paperwork is or what their BWN  spouse was service connected for, and even forget what they died from. I ask all of them to come here because I don't handle one to one stuff by phone or email-or they can get a vet rep and hope the rep has a clue on Nehmer (which many but not all. will fall under). Recently we even got an AO IHD claim- the incountry Vietnam veteran had just learned that he had an AO presumptive via the 2010 regulations....that he just found out about-

This is my concern with this new member's  father.

Just think- if he had filed a claim, and continued to pursue it- it is highly likely that he has at least one AO presumptive-and if he had attained 100% SC P & T for anything long ago, his daughter as a minor child then ,would have been eligible for medical care under CHAMPVA and his spouse. as well.

It is a hypothetical statement,but I fear is true for many,many veterans who just gave up if they got denied. We must NEVER give up.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 1, 2019 by Berta

[Daughter with Chloracne]

On 11/1/2019 at 3:29 AM, Berta said:

The txt of the bill GBArmy mentioned is here:

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/332/text?format=txt&r=42&s=1

It is geared solely to Vietnam veterans.But, by all means, contact the man GBArmy will refer you to.

By using the internet and the Propublica link above, you might be able to contact others who are willing to provide some current information to you=but the VA link above shows what birth defects they will compensate and the VA does not consider Chloracne a birth defect.

The VA link also contains the criteria for service connection of the birth defects and it is a rigid criteria to fall into.

I only know of three veterans with Chloracne from AO- and it has always been very difficult  (due to the time restraint the bill hopes to correct) for those veterans to attain compensation.Only one of them has.

I strongly suggest that your father file a claim, if he has any AO presumptive disability- and he might have more than one.

The current list of these disabilities is here:

https://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/conditions/

What disability was he denied for?

 

 

My father filed his condition he got from Agent Orange and it was denied, he tried again and it was denied, so he gave up, my twin sister and I have it far worse than he it's been rough, although it's not a birth defect it seems to have become a genetic problem for offspring,  some suffering far worse than their parents. 

[Daughter with Chloracne]

On 11/1/2019 at 5:13 AM, Berta said:

There are over 500 decisions on Chloracne in veterans at the BVA- since 1995-many were denied.

Chloracne granted due to AO ( exposure in Vietnam)

https://www.va.gov/vetapp02/files03/0210828.txt

and 

https://www.va.gov/vetapp16/files5/1638066.txt

I believe this is James Cripps case, but will check that:

https://www.va.gov/vetapp09/files5/0941553.txt     James is a member here.

James Cripps proved he was exposed to AO in Fort Gordon, USA and one of his disabilities was chloracne

However there were no claims at the BVA from any child or adult child of a Vietnam vet, who claimed chloracne due to their parent’ exposure to AO .

This link might have some more info:

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/vietnam-war-veterans-kids-agent-orange-impact-nightmare/story?id=59059570

I don’t know if the 2017 Bill is the same one that is pending now at Congress.

I am sorry for your situation, and was heartbroken to read this:

 "My father was denied by the VA back in the 80s when he attempted to get help, "

Do you mean he filed a claim and that was denied?

If so what was it for and when exactly was it denied?

Or do you mean the VA refused to treat him? I am sure the VA would have treated him- so please clarify-

And if he has any of the AO presumptives to include Chloracne, he should Definitely file a claim! or re-open the denied claim- hard to know yet.we need more info.

Can he join us here?

I appreciate that you have a serious personal situation , from your post, but if your dad is due VA compensation, due to AO, that is the focus I would have if I were you-= in addition to trying to contact anyone that is involved in any legislation that might consider a different scenario that what the regulations have now- as within the VA link that shrekthetank posted above, regarding children of AO Vietnam vets.

If he still has a copy of their denial -if he did file a claim in the 80's, can you scan and attach it here, with his permission,  and cover his name, C file #, address, prior to scanning it. The date of the decision  is also critical. due to the Nehmer Court order .

I have been involved in the AO issue since 1991 and am a AO veteran's widow and hope you will tell us more or be able to attach his denial....unless it was a denial of VA health care? That would be unusual.

We have been helping AO vets here since 1997.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                  

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                  

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                  

I will get all the info to you, he was treated for the acne but told it wasn't AO related, he didn't have any of it when he went into the service,  to this day he still gets it on his back or a leg, I'd love for him to get something for his suffering,  I'll find that info, should I send it via message? Thank you for your feedback, I actually took pictures of all his paperwork. 

[Daughter with Chloracne]

34 minutes ago, Berta said:

Does he have any other disabilities?

Can you scan and attach here his last denial, to include the evidence list?

(Cover his C file #, name, address prior to scanning it.But we need to see the date)

Aside from arthritis, he may have some others, he has a lot of pride so I will see if I can get him to tell me more. The acne was all over his back at one point. He still to this day has one or two nodules he has to deal with. I have the form but I don't know hoe to upload it, all it offers is to insert a web address,  is there an email I can send the information to and then perhaps you can post it here? 

[Berta]

Can you scan and attach his last denial here?

We need to see the date of denial, the VA rationale for it and the evidence list.

Cover his C file # , name, address.

what other disabilities does he have?