Suffering from Agent Orange Exposure?

The VA came under pressure to acknowledge the government’s responsibility for these Veterans’ health problems and to provide compensation for them.

Today, Veterans usually have to prove (1) a current disability, (2) an in-service injury or illness, and (3) a link between the in-service injury or illness and the current disability to get VA benefits. However, Veterans do not have to prove an in-service injury if they have certain qualifying service in Southeast Asia. Instead, the VA makes a presumptive service connection among veterans who:

• Served in Vietnam between January 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975, including brief visits ashore or service aboard ships that operated on Vietnam’s inland waterways or offshore.
• Served in or near the Korean DMZ between April 1, 1968, and August 31, 1971.
• Served as members of the Air Force or Air Force Reserve from 1969 through 1986 and regularly and repeatedly operated, maintained, or served on board C-123 aircraft, which sprayed Agent Orange over Vietnam.

In addition, current VA policy (which is subject to change at any time) presumes herbicide-agent exposure for veterans who:

• Served on or near the perimeters of military bases in Thailand during the Vietnam Era.

If a Veteran doesn’t have the qualifying service above, he or she might still be able to receive VA disability compensation for disabilities due to herbicide-agent exposure, but the Veteran’s claim and evidence collected by the VA must show that the Veteran was actually exposed. Common examples include Veterans who:

• Served where the military tested and stored herbicides.
• Were associated with Department of Defense projects to test, dispose of, or store herbicides in the United States.

Veterans who have any of the following diseases presumed to be caused by Agent Orange may be eligible for benefits:

• AL amyloidosis
• Chronic B-cell leukemia
• Chloracne (if it became at least 10 percent disabling within one year of exposure to herbicides)
• Type 2 diabetes mellitus
• Hodgkin’s disease
• Ischemic heart disease
• Multiple myeloma
• Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
• Parkinson’s disease
• Early-onset peripheral neuropathy (if it became at least 10 percent disabling within one year of herbicide-agent exposure)
• Porphyria cutanea tarda (if it became at least 10 percent disabling within one year of herbicide-agent exposure)
• Prostate cancer
• Lung Cancer
• Respiratory cancers (including cancer of the larynx, trachea, and bronchus)
• Soft tissue sarcoma (other than osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma, or mesothelioma).

And in January 2021, the VA also added the following disabilities to the presumptive list:

• Bladder Cancer
• Hypothyroidism
• Parkinson’s-like symptoms

If a Veteran has a current disability that is not on this list, he or she may still receive VA disability compensation for it, but the Veteran’s claim and evidence collected by the VA must show that the disability is at least as likely as not to be related to the Veteran’s military service or exposure to herbicide agents like Agent Orange.

For example, many Veterans who served during the Vietnam Era and were exposed to Agent Orange have hypertension. If those Veterans can provide, or if the VA obtains, medical evidence showing it is at least as likely as not that their hypertension was made worse or caused by Agent Orange exposure, then they might be entitled to VA disability compensation.

For example, type 2 diabetes disabilities are assigned disability ratings based on whether a Veteran must treat his or her diabetes with injections of insulin, restricted diet, and regulation of activities, and whether the disability causes hospitalizations or symptoms like weight loss.

Generally, asymptomatic conditions are assigned a 0 percent disability rating, meaning the Veteran gets no monthly disability compensation for that condition.

Click here to learn more about how the VA assigns disability ratings and determines the amount of monthly disability compensation.

If you believe that the VA is not fairly compensating your disability from Agent Orange exposure, contact us today to review your claim or appeal.

The “Nehmer effective dates” for Agent Orange benefits are related to a class-action lawsuit.

Under the Nehmer rule, Veterans who served on the landmass of Vietnam or its inland waterways may be entitled to additional backpay if they previously filed claims for VA disability benefits based on exposure to herbicide agents, but were denied before the presumptive rules were put in place. The effective date for an Agent Orange claim is whichever is the later:

For a claim filed and decided between September 25, 1985, and May 3, 1989:

• The date the VA received the claim on which the prior denial was based, or
• The date the disability arose.

For a claim pending before the VA on May 3, 1989, or received by the VA between that date and the effective date of the presumption of service connection for the covered disease:

• The date the VA received the claim, or
• The date the disability arose.

If the VA received an eligible Veteran’s claim within one year from the date of separation from service, the effective date of the award should be the day following separation from service.

Additional rules apply if a Veteran did not file a claim with the VA by May 3, 1989. A claim gets even more complex if the Veteran applied for benefits due to more than one Agent Orange presumptive disease at different times.

Due to the complexity of the Nehmer rule, as well as other facets of the VA bureaucracy, the VA often gets Agent Orange effective dates wrong. At the same time, a Veteran may struggle to explain to the VA why the effective date of their Agent Orange claim is wrong. The difference in effective dates could result in a significant amount of money.

Berry Law works with many veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange. We understand the technicalities of the Nehmer rule. We can review your file and seek the proper amount of compensation for you.