Term Paper on "Affects of Agent Orange on American and Allied Soldiers"

Term Paper 8 pages (2649 words) Sources: 7

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Agent Orange was a red-orange 50-50 liquid mixture of 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. During the Vietnam War, the mixture was sprayed as 2,3,7,9-tetracholorodibenzo-p-dioxin and other formulations. Dioxin is one of the deadliest carcinogenic chemicals known to man. American and Allied Forces soldiers recalled Agent Orange as a red liquid dropping from jungle leaves, which soaked their uniforms as they went on patrol. Its purpose was to defoliate trees and remove the enemies' jungle cover in Vietnam. According to National Service Director Randy Reese, around 21 million gallons of Agent Orange and other herbicides were sprayed over South Vietnam and Cambodia between the January 1965 and April 1970. Today, this deadly liquid has been pointed as responsible for a wide range of ailments, causing disabilities and death, to an estimated 2.6 million Vietnam veterans and their offspring, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The ailments have not yet been fully understood. Some soldiers complained of different symptoms soon after their return from Vietnam. The others complained of their symptoms to the exposure only recently.

Federal authorities first became aware of the condition in 1979 when the Veterans Affairs offered health care and medical examination to the veterans. The medical surveillance program was meant to review the veterans' health concerns. The VA examined 334,000 of the 3.4 million veterans and registered the findings in a computer database. The VA has an Advisory Committee on Health-Related Effects of the Herbicides, established in 1979 to record and evaluate the health effects of the herbicides used in Vietnam by the soldiers. The VA also set up the Veterans' Advisory Committee on Environmental Hazards, composed of non-VA experts on dioxin and radiation exposure. Its duty was to advise on the outcomes of activities surrounding the use of Agent Orange. A 1991 federal law directed the VA to ask the National Academy of Sciences to or NAS to review the diseases linked to herbicide exposure. The NAS reviewed more than 6,000 abstracts and analyzed 230 long-term studies. Its July 1993 report linked the veterans' health symptoms to the exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides. Among these were a skin disease called chloacne; Hodgkin's disease; multiple mycloma or a cancer of the blood cells; non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; porphyria cutanea tarda, a skin disease caused by a defective liver enzyme; cancers of the lung, bronchus, larynx and trachea; soft tissue sarcoma or cancer of the muscles and tendons; acute and sub-acute peripheral neuropathy or weakening of the nervous system; prostate cancer; lymphocytic leukemia; Type 2 diabetes; and spins bifida, a congenital birth defect on the children of Vietnam veterans. Reese described Agent Orange as a Pandora's Box, reeking havoc on Vietnam veterans. Although the war had ended more than 30 years ago, casualties continued to mount. On account of the widespread of Agent Orange, all military personnel in Vietnam were considered to have been exposed to it. The VA assumed that 10,000 of these veterans were disabled by illnesses resulting from the exposure to the liquid and other herbicides. As a further result, an estimated 178,000 of the 2.6 million could qualify for disability compensation and health care. The VA also offers money and vocational rehabilitation to the children of these veterans who suffer from spins bifida. Reese described the progress of the research on Agent Orange as deplorably slow and incremental. A consequence was that there are veterans who are dying from the disease but are unable to collect claims because their condition may not be considered service-connected.

Sick veterans and civilians in Ottawa, Canada have raised similar complaints and made similar demands. Former soldiers and civilians recounted how they too were exposed to the poisonous defoliants, including Agent Orange. They urged their government to adopt a measure similar to the presumptive clause of the United States government. The Canadian government should likewise award compensation for military and civilian personnel who fell ill on account of the exposure to the herbicides. The Defense Department was accused of delaying the investigation.

These American Vietnam War veterans view Agent Orange as a bigger and deadlier villain than Ho Chi Minh and Henry Kissinger combined. It has been blamed for every disease they contracted since the War. The diseases and conditions included recurring rashes, dizziness, nausea, migraine, stomach aches and clinical depression, cancers and birth defects. The U.S. Congress and the VA made two assumptions. The first was that all Vietnam veterans were exposed to Agent Orange, although only a handful had blood tests, which proved the exposure. The second was that certain cancers and spina bifida are caused by the presumptive exposure. This has been the stand despite the findings of related studies on the issue. These studies in the U.S. And allied Australia found that the children of Vietnam veterans had as few or fewer birth defects than the general population. Another study by the Center for Disease Control revealed that a type of cancer linked to Agent Orange was abnormally prevalent only among sailors who were not exposed to the deadly mixture. Neither was there a significant increase in miscarriages among the vets and their spouses. Dr. Joel Michalek, head of an Air Force research team, announced that their report included the strongest evidence that exposure to Agent Orange was associated with adult-onset diabetes. The report's 1,700 pages, however, did not provide supportive evidence that Agent Orange causes diabetes. Critics, instead, viewed that it merely sowed fear and anxiety and dramatized media hype on the Gulf War Syndrome and the Korea Early Death Syndrome. The Air Force study consisted of exhaustive health evaluations conducted every four years since 1982 on the veterans of Operation Ranch Hand. In its operations, the Air Force spayed 90% of Agent Orange among its herbicides used in Vietnam. Today, many of these veterans still have increased levels of dioxin as a result of their exposure. Dioxin is always present in Agent Orange. Findings of examinations in 1997-1988 found that these vets at Ranch Hands had comparable adult-onset diabetes with pilots in other places, like Southeast Asia, but did not use the herbicide. The closest evidence the report presented on Agent Orange's connection with adult-onset diabetes was the case of 238 Ranch Hands. This group had the highest dioxin blood levels and 47% more likely to develop diabetes than those with lower dioxin levels. Critics viewed the said 47% increase as not statistically significant, compared with the standard 1,000% increase of some risk. The study also considered the dietary habits of the veterans. Dioxin, which is the chief element of Agent Orange, is stored in the body fat and moves out of the body through the blood stream so slowly that it can be detected and measured years later. Higher dioxin levels are associated with obesity because overweight people do not release fat-soluble compounds as quickly as people of lesser weight, according to Michael Gough, the biologist-chairman of a federal advisory panel the Ranch Hand study from 1990 to 1995. He believed that Agent Orange was far less likely the cause of diabetes and obesity, the likelier one. He mentioned to several large studies on chemical plant workers in the U.S. And Europe, who were exposed to large levels of dioxin and other components of Agent Orange. Yet there were no findings of excesses of diabetes. The VA now pays compensations to vets who develop illnesses attributable to the effect of Agent Orange and politicians and vet groups find it most tempting to add diabetes to the list of presumed service-connected conditions. The VA should, then, make a sound decision on whether to include it or not. Executive Director John Sommer of the Washington Office of the American Legion was warned to think twice about using the Air Force study. As regards the increased incidence of nine different cancers, the Ranch Hand study also found that the ground crew with the highest dioxin levels and herbicide exposure showed a decreased prevalence at 21% less than a comparison group of Vietnam vets who did not use herbicides at all. This figure would likewise be as statistically insignificant as the 47% increase in diabetes. Gough furthermore believed that while some would receive undeserved compensation for developing diabetes, other brave ones who served in the same War would now live in fear of developing the diabetes or cancer.

The VA would provide benefits to Vietnam vets afflicted with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or CLL. This decision drew from the findings of a study conducted by an Institute of Medicine, which found sufficient evidence linking the exposure to Agent Orange to the CLL. CLL produces excessive infection-fighting white blood cells in the body. Claimants do not have to prove that the condition was related to the exposure in order to qualify for health care and disability compensation. VA will presume that the presence of CLL was triggered by the exposure to Agent Orange. CLL is the only type of leukemia associated with the exposure. Around 18 million gallons of Agent Orange were sprayed in Vietnam from 1962.… READ MORE

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