America To Pay $42 Billion Over 10 Years To Agent Orange

Vietnamese children have had many birth flaws from the herbicide/chemical weapon Agent Orange. Not only that, however over a million American veterans were hurt by it as well. Acute peripheral neuropathy, soft tissue sarcoma and Hodgkin’s lymphoma are just a few of the conditions soldiers who were either enlisted or chosen to serve came home with. There is a new ruling that says 270,000 Vietnam War veterans will be getting compensation for any diabetes, heart disease, Parkinson’s and types of leukemia. The Washington Post reports that that is around a quarter of the a million that are already getting disability checks right now. Within the next ten years, the United States working class may have to pay a lot to support this. Around $42 billion dollars can be spent on it. Article resource – Agent Orange will cost America $42 billion over 10 years by Personal Money Store

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Loads of diseases from diabetes to erectile dysfunction come with Agent Orange

The Department of veterans’ Affairs reports on which medical condition is most common from Agent Orange. It really ended up being diabetes. Agent Orange also has erectile dysfunction tied to it now. Normally this would be attributed to age however veterans are getting additional compensation for it. Alan Simpson, chairman of President Obama’s deficit commission, explained that federal spending gets a smack within the face with all of the extra money being spent on veterans.

“The irony (is) that the veterans who saved this country are now, in a way, not helping us to save the country in this fiscal mess,” he said.

Sen. Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii), chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, is also critical of what he calls “presumptive conditions” that are being addressed with taxpayer funds. The Post found an email stating Alkaka’s plans to be in a hearing on “what changes Congress and the VA may need for making to existing law and policy,” around September 23.

VA spending needs to be addressed

The Associated Press reports on the how much the Department of Veterans’ Affairs is going to end up spending on Vietnam veterans with diabetes. It appears like it can be way too much. Independent calculations depending on VA records show that only $850 million a year is needed to help those with diabetes. Sadly, the VA’s numbers are much higher than that. Considering that the VA spends $34 billion a year on disability benefits for United States veterans wars, the $42 billion increase over the next 10 years is an earth-shattering leap.

‘Credible evidence for association’ is available

Victoria Anne Cassano is the Veterans’ health Administration Director of Radiation and Physical Exposures. She explains that there was a federal law created on Agent Orange in 1991 saying that chemical agents and afflictions do have a correlation with Agent Orange “if the credible evidence for the association is equal to or outweighs the credible evidence against the association.” It isn’t hard to prove that. The Post reports this. As Cassano puts it, “Does it make you take a deep breath? Does it give you pause? Yes. However you still do what you think is the right thing to do.”

Additional reading

U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs

publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/diseases.asp

Washington Post

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/31/AR2010083106819.html

Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange

The children of Agent Orange, 2008 (WARNING: Disturbing content)

youtube.com/watch?v=9zay0zcC0K4

michael c. hall talking about his hodgkin’s lymphoma

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