Originally Posted by Taichiliberal View Post
Yes, but then how do you account for the information in my links? My point is that we need to get rid of the red tape and delays ... especially regarding lawsuits where vets were injured via US military actions (i.e., Agent Orange, Guld War syndrome, DU poisoning).
The "red tape" is the product of an ever increasing bureaucracy. As for the issues you mention, I see all three as grossly overwrought, and over blown, and a product of our overly litigious society, as well as from our 'zero tolerance' mentality on safety.
For example, the VA conducted a 30 year study--and it's ongoing today-- of
every member of the military that served in Ranch Hand. That is the operation / program that was using, spraying, and delivering, Agent Orange in Vietnam. All of the remaining Ranch Hand C-123's are stored on Davis Monthan AFB in Tucson for research purposes if necessary.
In all of that, the VA found no evidence of increased rates of cancer or other diseases among the unit members...
NONE. They were easily the most exposed to Agent Orange and should have had the highest rates of cancer and such from it if that were the case.
https://www.vacsp.research.va.gov/CSPEC/Studies/INVESTD-R/Air-Force-Ranch-Hand-Study.asp
CANCER
· no statistical differences between the Ranch Hand group and
the comparison group for malignant or benign systemic tumors;
· no cases of soft-tissue sarcoma among the Ranch Handers
and one in the comparison group;
· no cases of digestive cancers in the Ranch Hand group;
· significantly more nonmelanotic skin cancer in the Ranch
Hand group; however, no adjustments have been made for sunlight
exposure which is the major cause of these cancers;
· no uncommon cancers or cancers in unusual sites or at an
unusual age among Ranch Handers.
https://www.publichealth.va.gov/docs/agentorange/reviews/ao_newsletter_apr84.pdf
DU poisoning is another bullshit thing. The ONLY way you can be harmed by depleted uranium is to either breath it in as particulates (fine dust) or eat it. That's it. Radium watch painters took years of daily exposure and ingestion to show symptoms from it.
Gulf War syndrome was so poorly defined, that just about anyone with a medical condition could apply for consideration.
The latest fad in this long line of scams is exposure to trichloroethane cleaning solvents. SSDD.
Another largely bullshit one is troops exposed to atomic testing. Again, the amount of exposure they got on average was nothing worth mentioning.
I'm not making light of any of this, but I'm also not buying the automatic '
It's the military's / government's fault for fill in the blank.
