http://vva.org/Committees/AgentOrange/AO_Brochure.pdf
Agent Orange is a highly toxic herbicide used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War to defoliate hiding places used by the Viet Cong, rice paddies and fertile fields that provided them with food, and to clear the perimeters of military bases to give service members a clear line of fire. Although colorless, it is known as “Agent Orange” because of an orange band painted on the drums used to store and transport it. After years of advocating led by VVA, Congress enacted into law the Agent Orange Act of 1991. This legislation empowered the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to declare certain maladies “presumptive” to exposure to dioxin and enable Vietnam veterans, and some veterans who served along the demilitarized zone in Korea in the late 1960s – to receive treatment and compensation for these health conditions. Service-connected benefits, however, also may be granted for other maladies not recognized as presumptive health conditions.
http://vva.org/Committees/AgentOrange/index.html
Karl Hansen’s son, Adam, had been dead five years before questions about Agent Orange arose. Until then, Karl had not given the herbicide a thought in all the years that followed his Vietnam tour of duty. But after Adam’s death, he found himself reconsidering not only the tragedy that befell his son, but health problems faced by other of his children as well.
Burkitt’s lymphoma, a form of cancer so rare that only 300 cases a year are reported in the United States, led to Adam’s death. He was 25 years old. The exceptionally aggressive disease killed him so quickly that Karl had little time to investigate the rare cancer’s mystery. After Adam died, Karl needed answers and began researching Burkitt’s. It was in the course of that search that Agent Orange unexpectedly entered the discussion.
Karl served with the Army in Vietnam in 1968-69. He remembered the spraying, but thought little of it, even when he was in Vietnam.
“I didn’t have a clue,” he said. “I knew there was spraying going on, but I didn’t know if it was for mosquitoes or what it was for. I didn’t think about it at all when I was there. What caught my attention was the stuff I saw on the Internet and
after I joined VVA and saw some of the articles on Agent Orange being written.”
Karl and his wife had six children — four daughters, then Adam, then another daughter, a birth order that was something of a family joke, because it was exactly the opposite of Karl’s parents. His father, a Navy veteran, also had six children. But first came four boys, then a girl, then a boy.
Karl said Adam was a “wonderful kid.”
Neither a smoker or drinker, he steered clear of the trouble a boy might find growing up. He was a good student and built a reputation as a hard worker in every job he took on. At 25, he was a newlywed with a good job in Provo, Utah, managing the care of model homes for one of Utah’s largest home builders. He was in his last semester at Brigham Young University and due to graduate. Karl was so proud of his son, who would be the first in the family to graduate from college.
Significant numbers of veterans have children and grandchildren with birth defects related to exposure to Agent Orange. To alert legislators and the media to this ongoing legacy of the war, we are seeking real stories about real people. If you wish to share your family’s health struggles that you believe are due to Agent Orange/dioxin, send an email to mporter@vva.org or call 301-585-4000, Ext. 146.
I am also a victim of Agent Orange from Canada, I was stationed at CFB Gagetown New Brunswick in 1967, and at fifty seven years found out I had prostate Cancer. Their is a good chance that it was a result of service at CFB Gagetown.
I am looking for information on the actual spraying dates in 1967.
From the Canadian records it states that spraying took place on the 21-24 of June 1967.
However I have a document from Fort Detrick which states spraying was delayed for seven ( 7 ) days due to weather conditions.
Does any one have any info on the dates to confirm or dispute the dates.
My information is that a company by the name of Okanagan Copters Ltd out of Vancouver British Columbia did the spraying with a Bell G-2 Helicopter.
Paul LeCouffe
Regina Saskatchewan
Canada
plecouffe@myaccess.ca
January 25th, 2011 6:32 pm EThttp://www.examiner.com/veterans-policy-in-newark/new-va-rule-eases-path-for-korea-vets-to-get-health-care-for-herbicide-exposure
Today, the federal Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) adopted a new rule that makes it easier for veterans exposed to herbicide along the demilitarized zone in Korea (DMZ) to receive health care benefits. The rule becomes effective on February 24, 2011, and would apply to benefits claims received by the VA on or after February 24th and to those pending before the VA, the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on February 24th.
Under the old rule, only veterans of certain units could receive benefits and that was limited to those units along the DMZ, which separates North and South Korea, between April 1, 1968, and July 31, 1969, where herbicides, like Agent Orange, were used. The new rule extends the time period from April 1, 1968, through August 31, 1971, and would presume that veterans were exposed to herbicides during that time period unless affirmative evidence to the contrary can be presented to overcome this presumption, such as documentation that the veteran was on leave from his or her unit during this period of time.
Continue reading: http://www.examiner.com/veterans-policy-in-newark/new-va-rule-eases-path-for-korea-vets-to-get-health-care-for-herbicide-exposure
http://www.responsibletechnology.org/blog/664
Jeffrey Smith The world’s leading consumer advocate promoting healthier, non-GMO choices Posted on 6:00 pm January 14, 2011
Monsanto’s Roundup Triggers Over 40 Plant Diseases and Endangers Human and Animal Health
The following article reveals the devastating and unprecedented impact that Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide is having on the health of our soil, plants, animals, and human population. On top of this perfect storm, the USDA now wants to approve Roundup Ready alfalfa, which will exacerbate this calamity. Please tell USDA Secretary Vilsack not to approve Monsanto’s alfalfa today.
While visiting a seed corn dealer’s demonstration plots in Iowa last fall, Dr. Don Huber walked passed a soybean field and noticed a distinct line separating severely diseased yellowing soybeans on the right from healthy green plants on the left (see photo). The yellow section was suffering from Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS), a serious plant disease that ravaged the Midwest in 2009 and ’10, driving down yields and profits. Something had caused that area of soybeans to be highly susceptible and Don had a good idea what it was.
Don Huber spent 35 years as a plant pathologist at Purdue University and knows a lot about what causes green plants to turn yellow and die prematurely. He asked the seed dealer why the SDS was so severe in the one area of the field and not the other. “Did you plant something there last year that wasn’t planted in the rest of the field?” he asked. Sure enough, precisely where the severe SDS was, the dealer had grown alfalfa, which he later killed off at the end of the season by spraying a glyphosate-based herbicide (such as Roundup). The healthy part of the field, on the other hand, had been planted to sweet corn and hadn’t received glyphosate.
MORE: http://www.responsibletechnology.org/blog/664
from our good friend Paul Sutton
In a groundbreaking step to learn more about Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has launched the National ALS Registry .
The registry is a national database that provides an opportunity to better understand one of the most common neuromuscular diseases worldwide, affecting people of all races and ethnic backgrounds - specially between the ages of 55 and 75.
The registry will gather and organize information about potential and known risk factors and symptoms of ALS. This information can help researchers evaluate shared risk factors common among patients, such as heredity or possible environmental exposures, and help estimate the number of ALS cases diagnosed each year.
ALS causes human nerve cells to stop functioning and eventually die. A diagnosis of the disease usually is followed by muscle weakness, paralysis, and eventually death. Scientists estimate 30,000 people in the United States have the disease.
Each entry in the registry includes a patient health history, work experiences, and family medical histories. Individual patient information in the registry will be confidential and will not be publicly released. Patients choosing to participate can visit www.cdc.gov/als to register.
For more information, visit . The ATSDR website is www.atsdr.cdc.gov .
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/14/MNN41GL1NQ.DTL&tsp=1
Victoria Colliver, Chronicle Staff Writer
San Francisco Chronicle January 14, 2011
Multiple chemicals, including some banned since the 1970s and others used in items such as nonstick cookware, furniture, processed foods and beauty products, were found in the blood and urine of pregnant U.S. women, according to a UCSF study being released today.
The study, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, marks the first time that the number of chemicals to which pregnant women are exposed has been counted, the authors said.
Of the 163 chemicals studied, 43 of them were found in virtually all 268 pregnant women in the study. They included polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs, a prohibited chemical linked to cancer and other health problems; organochlorine pesticides; polybrominated diphenyl ethers, banned compounds used as flame retardants; and phthalates, which are shown to cause hormone disruption.
Some of these chemicals were banned before many of the women were even born.
The presence of the chemicals in the women, who ranged in age from 15 to 44, shows the ability of these substances to endure in the environment and in human bodies as well, said lead author Tracey Woodruff, director of the UCSF Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/13/MNN41GL1NQ.DTL#ixzz1B1jTRRSf
from George Claxton
Industry and the US Government have denied that Agent Orange or dioxins cause any genetic damage in humans because genetic damage could lead to cancer and other disorders. Any mention of genetic damage by poisons sends fear in peoples minds. Although this TOTAL denial is still taking place, I would like to give you examples of the real truth.
1. "Frequency of SCEs in Japanese infants exposed to dioxins and PCBs through the breast milk". Published in the journal "Fukuoka Igaku Zasshi", vol 94 (5), p. 158-165, 2003. The authors stated the following conclusion: "THEREFORE, EXPOSURE TO DIOXINS THROUGH THE BREAST MILK SEEMED TO ELICIT SOME GENOTOXIC OR CLASTOGENIC EFFECTS ON JAPANESE GENERAL INFANTS POSTNATAL OF AROUND TEN MONTHS". The authors were J. Nagayama, et al from Kyushu University.
2. "Chromosomal aberrations, micronuclei and nuclear buds induced in human lymphocytes by 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid pesticide formulation". Published in the journal "Toxicology", vol 200 (1), p. 39-47, 2004. The authors stated the following conclusion:" BOTH CONCENTRATIONS OF PESTICIDE CAUSED AN INCREASE IN CHROMATID AND CHROMOSOME BREAKS, NUMBER OF MICRONUCLEI AND NUMBER OF NUCLEAR BUDS. PRESENCE OF THE S9 MIX ADDITIONALLY ELEVATED THE NUMBER OF CHROMATID BREAKS AND MICRINUCLEI IN TREATED LYMPHOCYTES" The authors were Davor Zeljezic, et al from the Institute of Medicine in Zagreb, Croatia.
I have hundreds of more studies on genetic damage and they tend to prove a missing link in cancer causation.
Incidentally, 2,4-D is still on the market across the world.
Faithfully submitted,
George Claxton
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
Veterans Benefits Administration
Washington, D.C. 20420
January 11, 2011
Director (00/21) In Reply Refer To: 211A
All VA Regional Offices and Centers Fast Letter 11-03
SUBJ: Consolidation and Processing of Disability Claims Based on Exposure to Contaminated Drinking Water at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
Purpose
The purpose of this letter is to inform all Regional Offices and Centers (ROs) that all disability claims and appeals based on exposure to contaminated water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, will be processed at the Louisville RO. This includes claims currently under appeal located at the Appeals Management Center (AMC), Pension Management Centers (PMCs), and Appeals Resource Centers (ARCs). All Camp Lejeune-related claims associated with paperless claims folders will remain at the Winston-Salem and Salt Lake ROs. This letter will describe procedures for transferring cases to the Louisville RO and guidance for processing these claims.
Background
From 1957 through 1987, persons residing or working at the U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, were potentially exposed to drinking water contaminated with volatile organic compounds, including benzene, vinyl chloride, tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE). Claims based on service at Camp Lejeune involve potentially complex issues of exposure and causation, and VA remains concerned about the potential for harmful effects associated with past exposure to the contaminated water supply. As the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which has been contracted by the Department of the Navy, continues to research the effects of exposure from this incident, VA must be prepared to evaluate claims based on such exposure in a consistent manner. By centralizing jurisdiction to the Louisville RO, VA enhances its ability to process these claims efficiently and consistently.
Training Letter 10-03 dated April 26, 2010, informed ROs of various environmental hazards, including the Camp Lejeune incident, and provided specific guidance on handling claims based on exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. The training letter guidance remains in effect and should be referenced along with this fast letter when adjudicating these types of claims.
Actions by Office of Original Jurisdiction (OOJ)
2
Effective immediately, all claims folders with pending claims or appeals based on water contamination at Camp Lejeune will be Permanently Transferred Out (PTOed) to the Louisville RO. This includes claims and/or appeals from the AMC, PMCs, and ARCs, if they include at least one Camp Lejeune-related issue. Pending claims are to be identified by the MAP-D special issue, “Environmental Hazard – Camp Lejeune.” Do not transfer claims where no disability is specifically alleged, e.g. a claim stating “Camp Lejeune” or “exposure at Camp Lejeune”. Follow the procedures in M21-1MR Part I, Chapter 1, Section B.3. If a disability is subsequently identified, then the claims folder is to be PTOed to Louisville. Additionally, do not transfer claims alleging disability of dependents, including birth defects, as VA has no statutory authority to compensate dependents of Veterans exposed to the water contamination. These claims are to be processed under the procedures at Part III, Subpart ii, Chapter 7.2.b.
Claims received prior to installation of the special issue identifier in MAP-D in October 2010 cannot be identified through VETSNET Operations Reports (VOR). For this reason, all employees should be on the alert for these cases including appeals from previous denials based on Camp Lejeune water contamination.
Take no further actions on existing claims or appeals prior to PTOing the file, unless non-Camp Lejeune issues associated with the file can be resolved immediately, (e.g., GAP an Award and release letter).
Backfile the enclosed FLASH notice in the center section of the claims folder prior to shipment. See Enclosure A.
The OOJ will notify the claimant that his or her claims folder is being transferred to the Louisville RO. The enclosed letter is to be used for this purpose. See Enclosure B.
Continue the end product controlling the Camp Lejeune issue and any other claimed issues when the claims folder is PTOed.
For all future Camp Lejeune-related claims, the OOJ will establish the appropriate end product and immediately PTO the claims folder to the Louisville RO. Do not initiate development of these cases prior to transfer. Also, applications for benefits that do not meet the requirements of a substantially complete claim should not be PTOed, (i.e., those applications that do not identify an actual claimed condition as a result of exposure to the water contamination).
The Louisville RO has established a separate PO Box for all corresponding mail. Send all mail that needs to be associated with a Camp Lejeune claims folder to the following address (This PO Box address is also provided to claimants in the attached notification of transfer letter):
Department of Veterans Affairs
3
Louisville Regional Office
ATTN: CLCW Team
PO Box 2648
Louisville, KY 40201-2648
Actions by Louisville RO
Following receipt of claims folders, the Louisville RO will update COVERS and conduct a comprehensive review of the case to determine what actions are required. All actions should be taken expeditiously. When it is necessary to send the claimant a VCAA notice letter, include language requesting the dates of service for the Veteran at Camp Lejeune, (i.e., month and year of arrival and departure), and where the Veteran lived (on-base or off-base) and worked on base. Autotext the request for this information into the notice letter.
Compensation and Pension (C&P) Service recently developed an “Environmental Hazard – Camp Lejeune” special issue under the MAP-D contentions screen. It is imperative that all claimed issues based on the Camp Lejeune incident are correctly identified using this specific MAP-D special issue. To ensure conditions are identified on the coded rating conclusion, a special issue for RBA 2000 will be installed in the February 2011 coordinated install.
When processing Camp Lejeune claims, a Corporate “Camp Lejeune” Flash should be placed on every Veteran’s record with verified service at Camp Lejeune during any period between 1957 and 1987.
Establish EP 685 in addition to the standard EP for all Camp Lejeune contaminated water appeals.
The Louisville RO will assume responsibility for processing all pending issues and appeals (including both Camp Lejeune and non-Camp Lejeune claims and appeals) until all Camp Lejeune-related issues are finalized and the folder is PTOed back to the OOJ. For purposes of this fast letter, a finalized claim is one in which a decision has been completed and no appeal has been received within the one-year appeal period. The Louisville RO will assume jurisdiction for any appeals received on Camp Lejeune claims and all other non-Camp Lejeune claims and/or appeals received during the one-year appeal period.
Because a special issue identifier for Camp Lejeune conditions cannot be immediately added to RBA 2000, the Louisville RO is to establish a database containing the following information on all completed Camp Lejeune cases:
Claim number
OOJ (RO Station Number)
Decision date
Specific claimed conditions due to exposure to contaminated drinking water
4
Diagnostic code
Whether the condition(s) was granted or denied
Percentage assigned
If denied, state reason (e.g., no exposure, no current disability, no nexus)
Claims Processing Policies and Procedures
Training Letter 10-03 provides guidance on handling claims for disabilities potentially resulting from exposure to drinking water contamination at Camp Lejeune. C&P Service is currently drafting a new training letter specific to the Camp Lejeune exposure that will provide updated guidance.
It is imperative that VA examination and medical opinion requests include a discussion of the facts and circumstances surrounding the claim. The Camp Lejeune fact sheet must accompany the claims folder to the VHA facility. Any details such as date, location, and length of time on Camp Lejeune, medical, occupational, and environmental exposure history, and any other pertinent facts, should be made available to the examiner. Any noteworthy evidence should be brought to the examiner’s attention by including it in the remarks section of the examination request and flagging the appropriate item in the claims folder.
C&P Service provided training to the Louisville RO Staff on December 21, 2010, to ensure consistency of application of Training Letter 10-03 and to address other concerns as needed.
The Veterans Health Administration leadership will ensure clinicians receive training and guidance on conducting C&P examinations and rendering medical opinions for disabilities based on exposure to water contamination at Camp Lejeune.
Questions
If you have questions concerning this fast letter, please submit to: VAVBAWAS/CO/211/ENVIRO.
Points of Contact at the Louisville RO are:
Primary POC: Laura Kuerzi-Rogers, VSCM
Technical POC: Ellen Bauer, DRO
The Office of Field Operations POC is: Adam Kinder
/S/
Thomas J. Murphy
Director
Compensation and Pension Service
Enclosures
Abnormal Cancer Rates at Fort Detrick Tied to Monsanto's Agent Orange
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/january062011/fort-detrick-tk.php
Tim King Salem-News.com
Fort Detrick
(BALTIMORE, Md.) - Deadly poisons at Fort Detrick in Frederick tied to Agent Orange and the Vietnam War period, have prompted public health officials in Maryland to warn that certain cancers are appearing to occur among younger people who live near the Army Base than in people statewide.
Clifford Mitchell of Maryland's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, told The AP Monday that investigators will probe deeper into the discrepancies involving liver, bone and endocrine cancers.
Marked differences in liver cancer have been noted, and health experts in Maryland as well as the EPA, say the matter needs substantial further investigation.
Monsanto and Agent Orange
Agent Orange is a chemical defoliant that was sprayed over the jungles of Vietnam during the US war there to thin the vegetation and reveal enemy positions. The chemical is manufactured by Monsanto, possibly the most despised company in America; one that never had to atone for the millions of death related to their lack of testing and honesty. Today both American and Vietnamese families continue to suffer the effects of Agent Orange contamination. As that occurs, Monsanto has become the main group in the world responsible for the development of genetically modified (GMO) food, that modifies nature, makes plant seeds both sterile and 'roundup ready' meaning they can be doused with poison so they grow faster and bigger and make Monsanto and farmers willing to or in some cases forced to work with Monsanto, lots of cash. Where it will lead the population however, is yet to be seen.
The investigation reflects concerns about Agent Orange testing and industrial chemical dumping at Fort Detrick decades ago.
A joint statement was released 19 August 2010 by the Maryland Department of the Environment's Secretary Shari T. Wilson and Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Deputy Secretary Frances B. Phillips.
They clearly state that Fort Detrick's environmental contamination must be cleaned up, and that the officials charged with public health are taking related concerns about possible health impacts seriously.
MORE: http://www.salem-news.com/articles/january062011/fort-detrick-tk.php
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/local-breaking-news/maryland/cancer-cluster-probed-at-fort.html
By Associated Press
Public health officials are preparing to offer new details on research into a possible cancer cluster near Fort Detrick in Frederick.
The Frederick County Health Department says it will give an update during a public meeting Monday night of its preliminary finding that there doesn’t appear to be a higher rate of cancer near the Army installation than in the rest of Frederick County.
Since then, health officials have been looking for any suspicious geographic patterns or abnormalities in the ages at which cancer patients were diagnosed.
The research stems from concerns about Agent Orange testing and industrial chemical dumping at Fort Detrick decades ago.
Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain,
La de da de de, la de da de da
"If there is anything we've learned from history, it's that we haven't learned anything from history." Anonymous
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/13/falluja-cancer-children-birth-defects
Doctors in Iraq's war-ravaged enclave of Falluja are dealing with up to 15 times as many chronic deformities in infants, compared to a year ago, and a spike in early life cancers that may be linked to toxic materials left over from the fighting.
The extraordinary rise in birth defects has crystallised over recent months as specialists working in Falluja's over-stretched health system have started compiling detailed clinical records of all babies born.
Neurologists and obstetricians in the city interviewed by the Guardian say the rise in birth defects ? which include a baby born with two heads, babies with multiple tumours, and others with nervous system problems - are unprecedented and at present unexplainable.
A group of Iraqi and British officials, including the former Iraqi minister for women's affairs, Dr Nawal Majeed a-Sammarai, and the British doctors David Halpin and Chris Burns-Cox, have petitioned the UN general assembly to ask that an independent committee fully investigate the defects and help clean up toxic materials left over decades of war ? including the six years since Saddam Hussein was ousted.
"We are seeing a very significant increase in central nervous system anomalies," said Falluja general hospital's director and senior specialist, Dr Ayman Qais. "Before 2003 [the start of the war] I was seeing sporadic numbers of deformities in babies. Now the frequency of deformities has increased dramatically."
The rise in frequency is stark ? from two admissions a fortnight a year ago to two a day now. "Most are in the head and spinal cord, but there are also many deficiencies in lower limbs," he said. "There is also a very marked increase in the number of cases of less than two years [old] with brain tumours. This is now a focus area of multiple tumors."
READ MORE: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/13/falluja-cancer-children-birth-defects
http://vva.org/Committees/AgentOrange/AO_Brochure.pdf