Text of Presentation to Institute of Medicine Agent Orange Committee

January 16, 2013  University of California - Irvine

The presentation of the C-123 Veterans Association to the Agent Orange Committee, Institute of Medicine of the National Academies has been finalized and generally agreed upon by a wide variety of skill sets within our ranks...flight nurses, pilots, maintenance, crew chiefs, and more. I even was blessed with a last-minute read by a gentleman at the church we're visiting who indeed read it as he promised, and found four essential corrections - including one where I typed "between 1072-1982" meaning, of course, 1972-1982. It lends a bit more credence to not have silly mistakes like this, and thanks to all who reviewed, especially Karlene, John and Paul.

 It will be delivered 16 January 2013 at the Academy's conference center at the University of California - Irvine. Our objective is merely to acquaint the committee with the C-123 contamination, the exposure of the veterans, and the means by which the Department of Veterans Affairs opposes claims regardless of merit.

While the time for our presentation is brief, handouts are invited and we've prepared an extensively detailed summary, including a two-page hyperlinked appendix to our reference documents, just so they know we're not making this stuff up! Also included is a 2.6GB DVD with every source document I could find from AF, GSA, VA, general aviation, wherever to hopefully tell our story.


We have been cautioned that the committee can only deal with peer-reviewed scientific materials, and we've shown them plenty. We'll show them unchallenged AF and commercial lab testing of C-123s between 1979 and 2009, both with hexane and with water wipes, and both positive for dioxin. I hope they can find enough science and already-accepted material in earlier IOM reports to bear on our newly added items, and be motivated enough to take on the VA...and I don't care if it is face-to-face or behind the scenes, just so long as the IOM takes the VA to task on their ridiculous anti-C-123 veteran posture.