Le procès à travers la presse et la radio 15-09-2007 Agent Orange, Indemnisation des Victimes (... au Canada) Radio Canada 19-06-2007 L'agent orange en procès à New York France 24 15-06-2007 L'agent orange poursuit ses ravages au Vietnam Réseau Canoë 27-03-2007 Ministry offers support to dioxin sufferers Stuff.co.nz (New Zealand) 21-03-2007 Agent Orange : Des soldats seront indemnisés Radio Canada 12-03-2007 The Last Battle of Vietnam Time 05-03-2007 Philips taken to court over Agent Orange claims worth 1 bln eur CNN Money 12-02-2007 Monsanto dumped toxic waste in UK The Guardian - UK 12-02-2007 Dioxine : aide américaine à décontaminer l’aéroport de Dà Nang Courrier du Vietnam 09-02-2007 US cash for Agent Orange study BBC 30-01-2007 Late US veteran gives $50,000 aid to Agent Orange victims 14-12-2006 Recherches sur cancer et produits chimiques financées par l'industrie chimique ? Actualités News Environnement 09-12-2006 Un chercheur rémunéré par l'industrie chimique NouvelObs.com 05-06-2006 Vietnam: pas d'indemnisation des victimes de l'Agent orange Romandie.com 01-06-2006 Agent orange, Ottawa publie ses rapports d'enquête Radio Canada 24-05-2006 VIETNAM • "L'agent orange est une arme de destruction massive" www.courrierinternational.com 01-05-2005 The things they still carry Daily Southtown 30-04-2005 For victims of Agent Orange, final battle still being waged Fairfax Digital (Australia) 29-04-2005 US appeals court to consider Agent Orange appeal in June Vietnam new agency 27-04-2005 Vietnam les oubliés de la dioxine Le Monde .fr 25-04-2005 Trente ans après la guerre, un million de Vietnamiens souffrent encore des effets du terrible Agent Orange. Ouest-France 24-04-2005 Rediscovering Vietnam: Agent Orange's effects St Louis Today (St Louis Web site 24-04-2005 A long-ago war's grimmest legacy lives on NorthJersey.com 22-04-2005 GAO Report on Agent Orange: Limited Information Is Available on the Number of Civilians Exposed in Vietnam and Their Workers' Compensation Claims All American Patriot 17-04-2005 Agent Orange Dioxin Raises Cancer Risk in Vietnam Veterans Food Consumer 12-04-2005 Spokane native to be honored posthumously The SpokesMan-Review.com 09-04-2005 Vietnamese appeal U.S. court's ruling on Agent Orange case Newsday.com 08-04-2005 Vietnamese Agent Orange victims file appeal request Thanh Nien News 07-04-2005 US abandons health study on Agent Orange Nature 434, 687 01-04-2005 Peter Yarrow apologizes to Vietnam Associated Press |
From: All American Patriot La page peut être déjà retirée. GAO Report on Agent Orange: Limited Information Is Available on the Number of Civilians Exposed in Vietnam and Their Workers' Compensation Claims[22-04-2005] Concerns about difficulties civilian employees of the U.S. government may have in obtaining workers' compensation benefits for medical conditions they developed as a result of their exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam led to GAO being asked to determine (1) what is known about the number of civilians who served in Vietnam, both those employed directly by the U.S. government and those employed by companies that contracted with the government; (2) what is known about the number, processing, and disposition of claims filed by these civilians; and (3) what options are available if Congress chooses to improve access to benefits for civilians exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam who developed illnesses as a result of their exposure, and what are their cost implications? While many federal agencies that were likely employers of civilian federal and contract workers during the Vietnam War had little information on these employees, a few provided us with limited information on federal employees and the amounts of contracts for companies that provided services to the military in Vietnam. We were unable to determine the reliability of the data provided. However, we used these data for the limited purpose of estimating that between 72,000 and 171,000 civilians may have worked for the U.S. government in Vietnam between 1964 and 1974. Our ability to provide more accurate information on the size of this workforce was limited because most agency records maintained during this period were not computerized, and because so much time has elapsed that many paper records have been destroyed and many agency personnel knowledgeable of the period are no longer working at these agencies. For the 32 Agent Orange-related claims identified (12 from federal civilians and 20 from contract employees), we found that these claimants faced many difficulties and delays because of a lack of readily available information on how to file a claim, their Vietnam era employers, and their exposure to Agent Orange, as well as processing delays caused by employers, insurance carriers, and Labor. Both Labor and private insurance carriers had difficulty identifying the number of claims they had received, largely because they do not assign a unique code to Agent Orange claims that would enable easy identification. Most of the claims we identified were filed in the past 10 years, and most have been denied. Denials of the claims stemmed, in part, from the fact that under the laws governing these claims, claimants must demonstrate a causal link between their exposure to Agent Orange and their medical conditions, which is difficult to prove so many years later. If Congress chooses to address this issue, several legislative options could be considered to attempt to improve access to compensation for civilians who were exposed to Agent Orange and developed medical conditions as a result, although they could have significant cost and policy implications. Congress could amend current law authorizing benefits for veterans to cover certain civilians or set up a separate program to cover them. Another option is for Congress to amend the GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977, which allows DOD to retroactively grant military status and authorize full VA benefits to certain civilian groups that support the military during armed conflicts. However, it is difficult to assess the potential costs of these options because of the limited data available on the number of civilians and their claims for compensation. Despite the difficulty of assessing the potential costs, before any of these options are pursued, their fiscal impact and the precedent-setting implications for individuals involved in other wars and conflicts since the Vietnam era should be carefully considered. |
|
