Agent Orange Redux

By Christine Gorman

When a study by the Centers for Disease Control concluded in the late 1980s that the link between Agent Orange and various cancers was too tenuous to prove, it looked as if the many years of highly charged debate over the notorious defoliant used in Vietnam were over. Only 1,000 of the 39,000 claims made would be paid out; the rest of the veterans would be left with nothing but bitter memories.

The controversy did not die down, however. Veterans groups continued to blame the dioxin-tainted herbicide for everything from birth defects to degenerative nerve diseases. After a federal judge ruled that the lack of scientific evidence meant the government was not liable for any part of a $180 million award from a class-action suit, advocates pressed their case with Congress and the media.

Last week, with the release of the most comprehensive review of Agent Orange research ever conducted, vets got some real encouragement. According to a 16- member panel of experts assembled by the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine, exposure to Agent Orange can be linked conclusively to three cancers, including Hodgkin's disease, and two other disorders. The committee also found enough evidence among the 230 studies they examined to suggest a connection with lung and prostate cancer.

Jesse Brown, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, immediately added Hodgkin's disease to the short list of maladies for which Vietnam veterans are automatically compensated. And he has promised to decide, within 60 days, whether to include lung and prostate cancers and other diseases. Because these afflictions are so common, such a move could ring up tens of millions of dollars in additional claims. "We did not pay attention to the price tag but just to the scientific evidence," says panel member Dr. Graham Colditz, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School. "If anyone raised the issue and said, 'Now we're dealing with the cancer that's going to be the most common,' the committee would say that's not our issue."

It is a huge issue, though, for a budget-strapped government. The experts predict that within the next seven years there will be a total of more than 3,000 cases of lung cancer and nearly 1,000 cases of prostate cancer among Vietnam veterans. Even so, Secretary Brown claims the potential cost will not affect his decision. Says he: "I am committed to taking a fresh look at the issue and to doing the right thing."

Most important for veterans and their families, the panel concluded that it is feasible, using a wide range of military records, to determine more precisely who came in contact with the defoliant and how great their increased risk of disease is. That has been a sore point since the release of the CDC study that rejected as incomplete the military records indicating which troops were most exposed to the chemical. Relying on that study, government officials have delayed paying most claims. A lawsuit by the American Legion aimed at forcing the government to undertake the epidemiological study was summarily dismissed two weeks ago.

With the new panel report, the American Legion seems likely to appeal the court's decision. "All of us who've fought this issue feel we've been vindicated," says Richard Christian, deputy director for research of the American Legion. What remains to be seen is just what the studies will show and who will be compensated.

With reporting by Jay Peterzell/Washington