WASHINGTON – The VA said Friday no date has been set for a decision on
whether to award benefits for Agent Orange exposure to Air Force
reservists who flew C-123 aircraft contaminated with the herbicide.
The department is weighing the issue after a recent study confirmed the
possibility of health risks as well as lobbying from veteran groups and
former crew members. But it did not plan to make an announcement this
week, despite an earlier indication by VA officials, spokeswoman Meagan
Lutz said.
There is no definite timeline for a decision, she said.
Veterans say herbicide residue left inside the aircraft from service
during the Vietnam War sickened them and they deserve the VA health care
coverage for Agent Orange-related conditions extended to nearly all
servicemembers deployed to the war zone.
The C-123s were used to spray during Operation Ranch Hand and were
later brought back to the United States and repurposed as military cargo
aircraft. About 1,500 to 2,100 personnel flew and trained on the C-123
aircraft from the early 1970s to the 1980s.
An Institute of Medicine study stoked the debate in January when it
found that herbicide residue inside the planes could have exposed
reservists to the disease-causing dioxins found in Agent Orange.
“It is plausible that, at least in some cases … the reservists’
exposure exceeded health guidelines for workers in enclosed settings,”
the researchers wrote. “Thus, some reservists quite likely experienced
non-trivial increases in their risks of adverse health outcomes.”
VA Undersecretary for Benefits Allison Hickey told Stars and Stripes
last week that the department had planned to announce a decision on the
benefits but was delaying it until Tuesday or Wednesday, though that
never materialized.
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