Veterans Affairs leaders will not recommend appealing a
federal court ruling to award disability benefits to thousands of Vietnam veterans
who claim exposure to cancer-causing chemical defoliants during ship
deployments off that country’s coastline, officials confirmed Tuesday.
During an appearance before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs
Committee, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said he will not ask the Department of
Justice to continue to fight the legal issue. Federal officials have until late
April to appeal the decision, issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit in January.
Wilkie emphasized that other federal officials could still
offer arguments in favor of filing an appeal. But his recommendation is likely
to be an oversized factor in any decision, given the potential impact on his
department.
The decision could affect up to 90,000 veterans who have
been petitioning VA officials for disability payouts for years.
Letting the decision stand would give advocates for
so-called "blue water” Navy veterans the victory they have been pursuing
for more than a decade, arguing that thousands of ailing and aging Vietnam
veterans have been unfairly blocked from collecting disability benefits for
their on-duty injuries.
Under current department rules, the blue water veterans — an
estimated 90,000 individuals — can receive medical care for their illnesses
through VA. But to receive disability benefits worth up to several thousand
dollars a month, they must prove that their ailments are directly connected to
toxic exposure while on duty.
That’s not the case for other Vietnam veterans, who are
presumed to have been exposed to Agent Orange and other defoliants known to
cause serious and rare cancers.
So while a veteran who served on the shoreline can receive
disability payouts after contracting Parkinson’s disease or prostate cancer, a
veteran who served on a ship a few miles away would have to provide evidence of
direct contact with hazardous chemicals.
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