Michigan Lawyer Blog
For decades, our nation’s veterans have fought with the Veteran’s Administration (VA) to secure service-connected disability benefits for conditions believed to be linked to Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam. Many suffered with chronic illnesses caused by the toxic herbicide, but were denied benefits by the VA. However, recent medical studies have established a definitive link between several diseases and exposure to Agent Orange. As a result, new laws were enacted to create a presumptive service-connection for veterans suffering from a listed disease who served in the Republic of Vietnam, Thailand, or the Korea Demilitarized Zone between January 1962 and May 1975.
Vietnam veterans with a listed disease are presumed to suffer from the condition as a result of exposure to Agent Orange. The news laws encourage veterans who were previously denied disability compensation to reapply for benefits. For those claims previously denied by the VA, a finding of service-connected disability for the same condition could result in a retroactive payment of benefits from the date of the original claim. Many of these positive determinations result in substantial back payments. Moreover, so long as the veteran files the claim during his or her lifetime, the claim survives the veteran. Any retroactive payments are then payable to the surviving spouse, heirs, or the estate.
If you or a loved one served in the Republic of Vietnam, Thailand, or the Korea Demilitarized Zone during the Vietnam conflict and suffer from any of the diseases listed below, you may be entitled to substantial compensation from the VA. Call Serafini, Michalowski, Derkacz & Associates, PC today, we can help.
Diseases Associated with Exposure to Agent Orange
• Chloracne or other Acneform diseases consistent with Chloracne • Type II Diabetes (Diabetes Mellitus or Adult-Onset Diabetes)
• Hodgkin’s Disease • Multiple Myeloma • Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma • Acute and Subacute Peripheral Neuropathy • Porphyria Cutanea Tarda • Prostate Cancer • Respritory Cancers (Cancer of the Lung, Bronchus, Larynx, or Trachea)
• Soft-Tissue Sarcoma (other than Osteosarcoma, Chondrosarcoma, Kaposi’s Sarcoma, or Mesothelioma)
• B-Cell (Hairy-Cell) Leukemia • Parkinson’s Disease • Ischemic Heart Disease
Related Posts: VA Benefits 2016 Cost of Living Adjustment, Michigan Elder Law and Long Term Care Planning, VA Rule Changes, Still Time to Help Veterans