Agent Orange fear
Re the April 3 story Agent Orange benefit screening process scrutinized in Congress: This is an old problem that has been around since the Agent Orange class-action lawsuit back in 1971. It hasn’t gone away. The Veterans Administration is waiting until all of these vets disappear one day and the problem will be solved.
The VA has acknowledged Agent Orange exposure in veterans, but has failed to give Vietnam vets benefits.
I have been examined numerous times and tested positive.
But a doctor based at the St. Petersburg VA Hospital has turned down thousands who tested positive. His reasoning: “You don’t have cancer.”
Most of these Vietnam vets who have tested positive live with an internal time bomb.
Cancer awaits them one day, but the VA deprives them of benefits and future care.
Joe A. Fernandes,
Pembroke Pines
This story was originally published April 6, 2016 at 7:43 PM with the headline "Agent Orange fear."