As of May 2021, to qualify for Agent Orange-related benefits, a veteran must have one or more of the 17 conditions VA presumes to have been caused by exposure to the herbicide, which are:
The below are links to the VA's information on these diseses.
- Chronic B-cell Leukemia
- Hodgkin's Disease
- Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
- Multiple Myeloma
- Prostate Cancer
- Respiratory Cancers
- Soft Tissue Sarcomas
- Chioracne
- Diabetes Melllitus Type 2
- Al Amyloidosis
- Ischemic Heart Disease
- Parkinson's Disease
- Early onset Peripherl Neuropathy
- Porphyria Cutanea Tarda
- Bladder Cancer (added by NDAA of 2021)
- Hypothyrolidism (added by NDAA of 2021)
- Parkinsonism (added by NDAA of 2021}
Veterans who served in or off the coast of Vietnam or Thailand are urged to contact a VA-accredited service officer to discuss whether they are eligible for disability benefits related to agent Orange Exposure.
The following information is from our chapter Secretary, Jon L
There are several ways to get compensation for exposure to agent orange or other toxins. One way is to serve in Vietnam or a few other places and get one of the 14 diseases that are presumed to be caused by toxic exposure – but only if you were in one of the places the military admits to having used toxins.
If you weren’t in one of the areas, but you got one of the 14 presumptive diseases, then you have to prove you were exposed to toxins to get benefits.
If you get some other kind of disease then you have to prove you were exposed to toxins and you have prove that it is at least as likely as not that the toxic exposure is the cause of whatever illness you have. If you do that, you get compensation.