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.

Benefits For Navy Sailors Claiming Agent Orange Exposure – but the vets had to wait half a century!

BIGGEST AGENT ORANGE NEWS IN THREE YEARS (Since the C-123 decision. My biggest worry: VA will appeal to the Supreme Court to fight this decision)
January 30, 201912:23 PM ET

by Rick Merron/AP

Navy veterans long denied VA benefits are declaring victory after a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The court sided with the plaintiff, a Vietnam vet with cancer who sued the Department of Veterans Affairs, demanding it recognize that his health conditions were caused by Agent Orange.

It took the government decades to acknowledge that the defoliant Agent Orange - widely used during the Vietnam War - was causing cancer and other ailments in veterans.

In 1991 Congress passed a law that vets who had come down with any of a list of cancers could presumptively link their condition to exposure to the chemical while serving in "the Republic of Vietnam." That meant the VA would pay them a disability benefit as they got sicker and dropped out of the workforce.

But the VA later took the position the presumption only applied to vets who had served on land or inland waters. "Blue Water Navy" veterans - so-called because they served at sea - would have to prove that their illness was directly connected to the defoliant.

Alfred Procopio served on the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid off the coast of Vietnam, one of about 90,000 Blue Water Navy veterans of the war. VA denied his claim that his prostate cancer and diabetes mellitus - both on the law's list of presumptive conditions - were linked to his service, and he sued.

The Court of Appeals ruled in Procopio's favor, deciding that the 1991 law was clearly meant to include vets who served off the coast of Vietnam.

"Mr. Procopio, who served in the territorial sea of the 'Republic of Vietnam,' is entitled to [the law's] presumption. We find no merit in the government's arguments to the contrary," read the court's 9-2 decision.

"The government's foot-on-land requirement, first articulated in 1997, does not provide a basis to find ambiguity in the language Congress chose," wrote Judge Kimberly Moore for the majority.

"VA is reviewing this decision and will determine an appropriate response," the agency said in a statement to NPR.

Lawyer and Navy veteran John Wells had argued the case. The group he directs, Military Veterans Advocacy, had also been lobbying Congress for years to change the law to specifically include Blue Water Navy vets. Wells said he personally knows several Navy vets who have died of conditions linked to Agent Orange exposure, which the VA failed to recognize.

"Delay, deny – until you die," Wells told NPR the day before the decision came down, repeating a bitter joke many Vietnam veterans tell about their treatment by the VA.

Last year the House unanimously passed legislation to address the problem. But a Senate bill was held up by Republicans Mike Enzi of Wyoming and Mike Lee of Utah, and it died when Congress adjourned.

Former VA Secretary David Shulkin had supported the bill, but President Trump's appointment to replace him, Robert Wilkie, surprised veterans groups by coming out against the measure, citing inconclusive science and a potential cost of billions of dollars.

"While the VA and Senate stalled, innumerable veterans were denied palliative and potentially lifesaving benefits," said John Wells in a statement after the decision.

"We are thrilled by today's ruling from the Court of Appeals," Wells said. "The many people who fought this battle alongside us and the veterans whose lives have been forever changed by the VA's policy are all due thanks and credit."