Report Sees Agent Orange Link to More Illnesses (NYT)

[eppur_se_muova]

By JANIE LORBER
Published: July 24, 2009
An expert panel reported on Friday that two more diseases may be linked to exposure to Agent Orange, a defoliant used by the American military during the Vietnam War.

People exposed to the chemical appear, at least tentatively, to be more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease and ischemic heart disease, according to the report. The report was written by a 14-member committee charged by the Institute of Medicine with determining whether certain medical conditions were caused by exposure to herbicides used to clear stretches of jungle.

The results, though not conclusive, are an important first step for veterans groups working to get the government to help pay for treatment of illnesses they believe have roots on the battlefield. Some other conditions linked to Agent Orange already qualify.
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Since 1994 the Institute of Medicine committee has found 17 conditions associated with exposure to the chemical, 13 of which qualify veterans for service-connected disability benefits provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

In its latest report, the committee found “limited or suggestive evidence” linking the herbicide to Parkinson’s and ischemic heart disease. In the past, that has been enough evidence of a link to prompt benefits for some conditions but not for others.

The group Vietnam Veterans of America plans to write a letter to the secretary of veterans affairs, Eric K. Shinseki, asking for extended benefits, said Bernard Edelman, the organization’s deputy director for policy and government affairs.
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more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/25/health/research/25orange.html




Agent Orange, the gift that keeps on giving. :eyes:

[ThomWV]

1. I worked at a University and we mixed it ourselves and sprayed it on public walkways

No kidding. It was made from two common pesticides that were mixed in equal parts. I worked for West Virginia University in 1979 on the Roads and Grounds crew downtown Morgantown, West Virginia. They had us mix those two chemicals and hand spray it on the walk ways around the Personal Rapid Transit station downtown. Thousand and thousands of students walked by the area sprayed every day and in fact they were moving between classes while it was being sprayed. As soon as I saw the labels on the cans I told my boss he could kiss my ass if I was going to spray that stuff or even let it touch me - I told him exactly what he was creating with his boss standing right there - but they went ahead and sprayed it anyway. Hand pumped spray cans that leaked everywhere.

On Edit: From memory the two chemicals are 2-4-D and 2-4-5-T or something similar to that - its been a long time. And when I say it was sprayed on public walkways I mean it was sprayed on the vines that were growing on the fence along the sidewalk that was the entryway of the most heavily used transportation system in the town. Those kids had to be breathing that shit even as it was being sprayed.

[Heidi]

2. Kick.

:kick: