Vietnam Veterans Continue Fight for Agent Orange Benefits in Court


Stephen Kinnaird, a veterans attorney, recently argued in court that the U.S. Veterans Administration should automatically pay retroactive Agent Orange benefits without requiring veterans to file new claims.

According to an article published by Courthouse News Service, “Kinnaird’s clients sued the government in 1986 for denying claims for benefits based on diseases that it subsequently found were tied to exposure to the toxic contaminant dioxin in Agent Orange, an herbicide used to clear forested areas in Vietnam. In 1991, Congress passed the Agent Orange Act, which requires the VA to assume all veterans who “served in the Republic of Vietnam” from 1962 to 1975 were exposed to Agent Orange. A few months later, the VA agreed in a 1991 consent decree to reexamine claim denials for diseases that it subsequently found were tied to Agent Orange and to grant retroactive benefits where appropriate.”

Relevant pages: Veterans Disability