A new article on the Medscape Oncology web site provides a summary update of information related to risk for prostate cancer and other urologic cancers specific to U.S. veterans who served in Vietnam.
Specifically, the article by Hoenemeyer (reprinted from Urology Nursing) includes:
- General background on Agent Orange and prostate cancer
- Basic information about disability benefits available to such veterans through the VA
- A link to information about Agent Orange and veterans on the Institute of Medicine web site
The article is also supposed to include links to specific materials available on the web site of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Unfortunately these links to not appear to be available on the Medscape article, but we have informed Medscape Oncology that these links are missing and hopefully they will be able to add them. In the interim, here is a link to the main page on the VA web site that deals with disability, Agent Orange exposure, and prostate cancer
Filed under: Diagnosis, Living with Prostate Cancer, Risk | Tagged: Agent Orange, exposure, veteran |
THE "NEW" PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK 
Qualifying and applying is one thing — receiving is another.
A good buddy, initially diagnosed with Mx disease, served on a naval vessel on the qualified list; note you do not need to have been on the ground if you were on a vessel that was deemed to be in a contaminated zone.
24 months post-application, he is still waiting for confirmation and benefits, albeit benefits are backdated to the date of application. So if men think they may qualify, it is smart to get an application registered as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately my friend is being processed through one of the most notoriously backlogged VA locations (in Oakland, CA); some of the paper work was actually transferred to Oklahoma for quicker processing!