Washington, D.C.The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has begun paying veterans disability benefits to people who fought in the Vietnam War and suffer from three diseases only recently linked to exposure to Agent Orange, according to a department press release.
The three new illnesses—B-cell (hairy-cell) leukemia, Parkinson's disease and ischemic heart disease—join a list of illnesses for which Vietnam veterans may claim disability benefits without having to prove an association between the disease and their military service.
Other diseases for which Vietnam veterans are eligible for benefits include transient peripheral neuropathy, chloracne, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, type 2 diabetes, Hodgkin's disease, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, porphyria cutanea tarda, prostate cancer, respiratory cancers, soft tissue sarcomas (other than osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi's sarcoma or mesothelioma) and AL amylodiosis.
The release states that 200,000 veterans are eligible for new or updated payments. The VA has begun using technological and better business initiatives to prepare for the expected influx of disability benefit claims and has urged all new eligible veterans to submit their forms promptly.
If you or a loved one have suffered losses in this case, please click the link below and your complaint will be sent to a workers compensation lawyer who may evaluate your VA Disability claim at no cost or obligation.