The Gift That Keeps On Giving: Agent Orange

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2015/01/17/3591655/dogged-reservist-behind-big-win.html?sp=/99/261/

Dogged reservist behind big win for ailing crewmen
By Tom Philpott
Contributing writerJanuary 17, 2015

Retired Air Force Reserve Maj. Wes Carter almost didn’t travel to Washington D.C. last week where, to his surprise, he heard an independent panel of scientists verify what he had dogged the Air Force and Department of Veterans Affairs about for almost four years.

The Institute of Medicine said Carter and up to 2,100 other former reserve air crewmen and maintainers of C-123 aircraft, flown for a decade after the Vietnam War, were indeed exposed to toxic residue from Agent Orange herbicide sprayed from some of the same aircraft during the war.

The IOM also found it plausible that exposure “exceeded health guidelines for workers in enclosed settings. Thus, some reservists quite likely experienced non-trivial increases in their risks of adverse health outcomes.”

The findings likely mean that the Veterans Administration will find more of these reservists eligible for VA medical care and disability compensation if they suffer from one of 14 ailments presumed to be caused by Agent Orange.