BLUE WATER NAVY VETS WIN AGENT ORANGE BENEFITS!

By NIKKI WENTLING | STARS AND STRIPES
Published: March 26, 2019

WASHINGTON — Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie recommended the Justice Department not contest a federal court ruling that could extend benefits to Vietnam veterans who served on ships offshore during the war, he announced Tuesday.
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled 9-2 in January that “blue water” Navy veterans are eligible for benefits related to the chemical herbicide Agent Orange. The decision could pave the way for disability compensation for tens of thousands of veterans who served aboard aircraft carriers, destroyers and other ships but had been deemed ineligible for the same disability benefits as those who served on the ground and inland waterways.
The Justice Department and the VA, which disputed the veterans’ eligibility for the benefits, could challenge the decision before April 29 by seeking a review of the case from the U.S. Supreme Court.
Wilkie said publicly for the first time Tuesday that he opposed a Supreme Court review. The announcement came during his testimony to the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
 “Is it true, Secretary Wilkie, that the blue water Navy court decision isn’t being challenged?” asked Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., the chairman of the committee.
Wilkie replied, “That would be my recommendation from VA.”
His stance differs from last year, when Wilkie fought efforts in Congress to extend benefits to blue water Navy veterans. At the time, he cited high costs and insufficient scientific evidence linking the veterans to Agent Orange exposure.
Since the court ruling in January, some lawmakers and veterans organizations have urged Wilkie and President Donald Trump to end the court battle.
Wilkie announced during his testimony before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee on Tuesday that he recommended the Justice Department not pursue the case.
Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, asked him to “use your persuasive powers to make sure that happens.”
“I think your recommendation will be key,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “I would express … that the recommendation be adopted and endorsed heartily by this committee to bring fairness and justice to our blue water Navy veterans. It would culminate a bipartisan crusade.”
Some veterans have fought for years to secure the benefits.
The subject of the Court of Appeals case was Alfred Procopio Jr., 73, who served on the USS Intrepid during the Vietnam War. Ten years ago, the VA denied his disability claims for diabetes and prostate cancer.
At issue in his case was interpretation of the current law, which allows easier access to disability benefits for veterans who “served in the Republic of Vietnam” and suffer from any illness on a list of those linked to Agent Orange. The herbicide has been found to cause respiratory cancers, Parkinson’s disease and heart disease, as well as other conditions.
The court determined that territorial seas should be included in the definition of “Republic of Vietnam” — a point the government disputed.

US Court of Appeals Denies Korean DMZ Veterans Retroactive Benefits. What About C-123 Vets??

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs can expand the group of veterans who are eligible for benefits due to Agent Orange exposure without making the change retroactive, a federal appeals court held Tuesday in McKinney v. McDonald. 

The decision by a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal affects veterans who were stationed in the Korean demilitarized zone between July 1969 and July 1971 and cannot prove actual exposure to Agent Orange. As a result of the ruling, they became eligible for disability benefits on Feb. 24, 2011, even if they were disabled years earlier. That's the date VA published their rule, and VA fought making any benefits retroactive.

The effect on our C-123 quest for retroactive benefits is unclear, but the Court did make an important point: veterans with proven actual exposure are entitled to those benefits from the date a claim is filed. We have that proof...the IOM made its final report citing the Air Force tests over the decades proving the contamination, and scientists Drs. Lurker, Stellman, Berman and Clapp proved the exposure via ingestion and inhalation routes. This mass of evidence should satisfy the Court, and the VA, that C-123 veterans retroactive compensation claims are not blocked by McKenny v. McDonald.

Rather, retroactivity is explicitly provided!