A federal court has ordered the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) to issue a final regulation authorizing the payment of claims for Vietnam veterans who have ischemic heart disease, Parkinson's disease, or B-cell leukemia. The court's decision, made in response to a lawsuit brought by a coalition of veterans' service organizations, requires the VA to publish a ruling by September 1, 2010, that will impact an estimated 200,000 Vietnam vets with these Agent Orange-related diseases or their survivors.
Congress and the President have approved additional funding to pay for these claims, but VA will have to wait 60 days after the final regulation is published before it begins paying claims. Additional information is available in Tom Philpot's syndicated Military Update column (8-05-10) at www.fra.org.
