Posted on Jul 24, 2016
Vietnam Vets With Agent Orange-Linked Cancer Are Still Waiting For Justice
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Vietnam veterans describe the feeling of abandonment by the VA for not acknowledging their bladder cancer is linked to Agent Orange.
For decades, veterans of the Vietnam War have been pushing to get the Department of Veterans Affairs to acknowledge the link between exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange and certain long-term medical conditions, including cancer.
Alan Eller is one such Army veteran who has filed three VA claims, over more than a decade, to make the connection between Agent Orange and his diagnosis with bladder cancer.
Even though doctors outside the VA certified the link between his cancer and his service, the VA has rejected all of Eller’s claims.
“My doctors have been telling me Agent Orange probably caused the cancer dating back almost 20 years now,” Eller told ProPublica. “It’s been a fight at every turn with the VA.”
An ongoing research project by ProPublica and The Virginian-Pilot has been documenting the stories of Vietnam veterans and family members who are coping with the lifelong health effects of Agent Orange. Of the 5,000 veterans they spoke to, they found more than 125 cases of bladder cancer.
In March 2016, the National Academies of Sciences released a report sponsored by the VA, called “Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2014,” which moved bladder cancer and hyperthyroidism from “inadequate or insufficient” evidence to “limited or suggestive” evidence of connection to Agent Orange exposure. The report further recommended that the VA include bladder cancer on the list of conditions presumed to be linked to Agent Orange. At this time, no action has be taken.
“I feel like the government’s kinda letting me down with this thing,” said Charles Marshen, a Vietnam vet with bladder cancer, in a video by ProPublica. “But I don’t hold anything against my country. I can’t do that.”
Agent Orange was one of the herbicides and defoliants used by the military during the Vietnam War to kill plant life so American forces could see the enemy through the jungle. From 1961 to 1971, the United States sprayed 20,000,000 gallons over enemy-held territories.
Below Chuck Logan, 73, talks about his exposure to Agent Orange and his experience with bladder cancer and the VA.
For decades, veterans of the Vietnam War have been pushing to get the Department of Veterans Affairs to acknowledge the link between exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange and certain long-term medical conditions, including cancer.
Alan Eller is one such Army veteran who has filed three VA claims, over more than a decade, to make the connection between Agent Orange and his diagnosis with bladder cancer.
Even though doctors outside the VA certified the link between his cancer and his service, the VA has rejected all of Eller’s claims.
“My doctors have been telling me Agent Orange probably caused the cancer dating back almost 20 years now,” Eller told ProPublica. “It’s been a fight at every turn with the VA.”
An ongoing research project by ProPublica and The Virginian-Pilot has been documenting the stories of Vietnam veterans and family members who are coping with the lifelong health effects of Agent Orange. Of the 5,000 veterans they spoke to, they found more than 125 cases of bladder cancer.
In March 2016, the National Academies of Sciences released a report sponsored by the VA, called “Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2014,” which moved bladder cancer and hyperthyroidism from “inadequate or insufficient” evidence to “limited or suggestive” evidence of connection to Agent Orange exposure. The report further recommended that the VA include bladder cancer on the list of conditions presumed to be linked to Agent Orange. At this time, no action has be taken.
“I feel like the government’s kinda letting me down with this thing,” said Charles Marshen, a Vietnam vet with bladder cancer, in a video by ProPublica. “But I don’t hold anything against my country. I can’t do that.”
Agent Orange was one of the herbicides and defoliants used by the military during the Vietnam War to kill plant life so American forces could see the enemy through the jungle. From 1961 to 1971, the United States sprayed 20,000,000 gallons over enemy-held territories.
Below Chuck Logan, 73, talks about his exposure to Agent Orange and his experience with bladder cancer and the VA.
Vietnam Vets With Agent Orange-Linked Cancer Are Still Waiting For Justice
Posted from taskandpurpose.comPosted in these groups: 
Vietnam War
Agent Orange
Vietnam War Agent Orange
Posted >1 y ago
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To be honest I expect many Vietnam Veterans have been treated for Agent-Orange-linked cancers SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL.
The hardest part of exposure to Agent Orange. gulf war syndrome and the more recent burn pit and contaminates in bases and posts in this nation is that like asbestos, the depth and breadth of very bad after-effects from exposure to these toxins is a moving target.
The US government does not turn on a dime and causal relationships between exposure to toxins and cancers requires a legal level of proof which must stand up in court.
Hopefully one day soon their will be a much better understanding about the causal relationships between toxins and cancers. I hope that the Affordable Care Act will soon be replaced and that the Federal government can focus the FDA on establishing causal relationships and Congress can broaden the definition of negative effects from Agent Orange, gulf war syndrome and the more recent burn pit and contaminates in bases and posts in this nation and whatever the next unexpected syndrome is.
COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Thomas Tennant MAJ Ken LandgrenCapt Seid Waddell CW5 (Join to see) SMSgt Minister Gerald A. Thomas SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT1stSgt Eugene Harless SFC William FarrellSSG Leo Bell SSgt (Join to see) Sgt Joe LaBranche SGT (Join to see) SGT Forrest Stewart SrA Christopher Wright PO3 Steven Sherrill PO1 John Miller Kim Bolen RN CCM ACM
The hardest part of exposure to Agent Orange. gulf war syndrome and the more recent burn pit and contaminates in bases and posts in this nation is that like asbestos, the depth and breadth of very bad after-effects from exposure to these toxins is a moving target.
The US government does not turn on a dime and causal relationships between exposure to toxins and cancers requires a legal level of proof which must stand up in court.
Hopefully one day soon their will be a much better understanding about the causal relationships between toxins and cancers. I hope that the Affordable Care Act will soon be replaced and that the Federal government can focus the FDA on establishing causal relationships and Congress can broaden the definition of negative effects from Agent Orange, gulf war syndrome and the more recent burn pit and contaminates in bases and posts in this nation and whatever the next unexpected syndrome is.
COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Thomas Tennant MAJ Ken LandgrenCapt Seid Waddell CW5 (Join to see) SMSgt Minister Gerald A. Thomas SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT1stSgt Eugene Harless SFC William FarrellSSG Leo Bell SSgt (Join to see) Sgt Joe LaBranche SGT (Join to see) SGT Forrest Stewart SrA Christopher Wright PO3 Steven Sherrill PO1 John Miller Kim Bolen RN CCM ACM
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SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL
LTC Stephen F. thank you for your insight depth analysis of a serious situation at hand, great valid points of interest too.
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I have had cancerous polyps removed from my bladder, and also am part of the million veteran study of Agent Orange ( only a study program not for claims) we will see how that turns out,not expecting much considering the current VA mess,don't mean nothin as we used to say,great article SFC Davis thanks.
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I have been seeing this issue in conversation from Vietnam Vets that come through the hospital I work at. When I go to perform an exam on them, I find out they are Vietnam Vets and they tell me about this crap and how it effects them.
M. Morris RVT
M. Morris RVT
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