2022 Agent Orange Presumptive Conditions List

Agent Orange has historically caused or aggravated numerous harmful medical conditions in Vietnam Veterans who served in Vietnam and related theaters. If you believe your illnesses or injuries were caused or aggravated by Agent Orange exposure, you could receive disability benefits from the VA if your injuries are on the presumptive conditions list.

What Is Agent Orange?

Agent Orange was a U.S. militaryherbicide sprayed by the Air Force over forests in Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, Laos, and Cambodia. Agent Orange contained a harmful chemical called dioxin, which was later discovered to have caused severe physical and mental injuries and illnesses in Veterans who had significant herbicide exposure.

What Is a Presumptive Condition?

A presumptive condition is a medical condition that is presumed to be connected to your military service if you developed that condition while you were serving as active-duty military personnel. 

For instance, if you served in Vietnam as a Blue Water Navy member and developed bladder cancer, your bladder cancer will be a presumptive condition. When you file a VA claim, VA healthcare providers will assume you developed it because of Agent Orange exposure.

A presumptive condition can make acquiring disability benefits easier or faster. You need three things to prove a presumptive service connection:

• A current and medically diagnosed disability
• An in-service event that could have caused or aggravated the disability
• A nexus letter that presumes a connection of the event to your current disability

Presumptive Diseases for Agent Orange Exposure

At the time of this writing, the Department of Veterans Affairs has a long list of presumptive conditions that apply if you served during the Vietnam War and are seeking disability benefits from the effects of Agent Orange. 

These presumptive conditions for Agent Orange exposure are:

• Bladder cancer
• Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)
• Hodgkin’s disease, a type of cancer that affects the liver, lymph nodes, and spleen
• Ischemic heart disease, which causes chest pain due to lack of blood supply to the heart
• Multiple myeloma, a kind of cancer that affects plasma cells
• Parkinson’s disease, a nervous system disorder that affects the movement of one’s muscles
• Early-onset Parkinsonism, a condition with symptoms like Parkinson’s disease, such as impaired speech, muscle stiffness, tremors, etc.
• Prostate cancer
• Respiratory cancer, including lung cancer
• Hyperthyroidism, a condition that causes the thyroid gland to not produce the right hormones
• AL Amyloidosis, a condition caused by an abnormal protein entering organs or tissues
• Hypothyroidism, a condition that causes the thyroid gland to not produce enough hormones
• Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer that affects the lymphatic system
• Soft-tissue sarcomas, which is a collection of different cancers that affect various bodily tissues: Osteosarcoma and Kaposi’s Sarcoma are included
• Peripheral neuropathy, a nervous system disorder
• Chloracne, a skin condition that results in the creation of cysts and blackheads
• Porphyria cutanea tarda, a condition that causes skin lesions on the skin if exposed to the sun
• Diabetes mellitus type 2
• Chronic b-cell leukemia, a bone cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow

Contact Veterans Law Attorneys Today

Knowledgeable Veterans law attorneys can help you determine whether your illness or injuries are likely related to Agent Orange exposure or whether they are on the Agent Orange presumptive list. Contact Berry Law today for a free consultation and more information to help you file a disability claim and get the disability rating you deserve.

Sources:

Agent Orange Exposure And VA Disability Compensation | Veterans Affairs

U.S. Department of Veterans Affiars – Presumptive VA Disability Benefits

Veterans’ Diseases Associated with Agent Orange | Public Health