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Friday, August 20, 2021
The Spokesman-Review
VETERANS CHRONICLE
Health Registries for veterans, their children Veterans' Descendants Health Registries The National Birth Defect Registry is the only National birth defect registry in the United States. This registry is sponsored by Birth Defect Research for Children. It has two special sections that collect data on military exposures in Vietnam and during the Gulf War. National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) offers two rare disease patient registries as well. Find more information at lovme.org/home-page/ veteran-descendants-healthregisitries/
Veterans' Environmental Health Registries Agent Orange Registry, Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry, Gulf War Registry (includes Operations Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn), Ionizing Radiation Registry, Depleted Uranium Follow-Up Program Toxic Embedded Fragment Surveillance Center, Camp Lejeune Toxic Water Illness Registry, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Registry and Atsugi Registry. Find more information at lovme.org/home-page/ veterans-environmentalhealth-registries/
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A warning sign stands in a field contaminated with dioxin in 2012 near Danang airport at a ceremony marking the start of a project to clean up dioxin left over from the Vietnam War, at a former U.S. military base in Danang, Vietnam. The sign reads: “Dioxin contamination zone – livestock, poultry and fishery operations not permitted.”
VA to reconsider thousands of denied herbicide exposure claims
Veterans who were previously denied service connection for an herbicide-related presumptive condition due to lack of in-country Vietnam service will now have their claims automatically readjudicated by the VA. The department began readjudicating claims in April for veterans who served in the offshore waters of the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War, but were denied for one or more herbicide related conditions. The denial may have been made on the basis that military service was not performed on the landmass of the Republic of Vietnam or on its inland waterways. Now, this could change.
“Readjudication means VA will review the evidence of record and provide replacement decisions in the cases of veterans who were previously denied service connection benefits,” said Thomas Murphy, Acting VA Undersecretary for Benefits. “We have the proper resources in place to meet the needs of our veteran community and will ensure all eligible veterans’ and their survivors’ claims are examined thoroughly and fairly.” The review also applies to eligible survivors of deceased Vietnam-era veterans and is part of the Veterans Benefits Administration’s implementation of the Nov. 5, 2020, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California order in Nehmer vs. U.S. De-
partment of Veterans Affairs, requiring the VA to readjudicate previously denied claims. The VA will determine benefits for qualifying disabilities can now be paid retroactively to the date of previously denied claims. The court’s decision requires automatic readjudication in such cases without requiring a new claim, and potentially paying benefits to survivors or estates of deceased beneficiaries. Does this sound like someone you know? Show them this article and have them check on their claim with their Veteran Service Officer or see the “How Can I Get Help” section on Page 5.
