01 February 2014

VA Insists VA Rule Does Not Apply To VA

"If a veteran did not serve in the Republic of Vietnam, but was exposed to an herbicide agent defined in 38 C.F.R. 3.307(a)(6) during active military service, has a disease on the list of diseases subject to presumptive service connection, VA will presume that the disease is due to the exposure to herbicides."
VA’s  Guide on Agent Orange Claims, Compensation and Pension Service,” carries this information, and VA repeats it on the Federal Register 8 May 2001 and Federal Register 31 August 2010.

VA, however, according to Post Deployment Health and as personally explained to me by the Director Compensation and Pension Services has decided to direct that Compensation and Pension never award service connection for Agent Orange exposures. This is because Post Deployment Health revised the standard definition of "exposure" to add "bioavailability" and, using their new definition, has continued their insistence that no C-123 veterans would receive service connection, actual fact-proven exposures or not.

This threatens all veterans concerned about every possible exposure...VA has redefined away exposures and their definition is now used to prevent exposure claims, even in the face of fact-proven exposure situations. With the new definition VA can pretend away every claim.

Thus, this VA rule does not apply to the VA, according to VA leadership.

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