I. RECENT COURT DECISION REQUIRING THE VA TO PAY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS TO VIETNAM VETERANS AND THEIR SURVIVORS

In February 1999, a federal court issued an important decision about the amount of retroactive (past due) benefits the Department of Veterans Affairs (the "VA") is required to pay to many Vietnam veterans and surviving family members. You may be entitled to tens of thousands of dollars in additional VA benefits as a result of this decision.

Who is affected by the court’s decision? Some Vietnam veterans and their surviving family members who previously filed claims for death or disability related to a disease listed at Table 1, page 5 of our Self-Help Guide.

Until recently, the claims of many Vietnam veterans and their survivors were wrongfully denied by the VA. This was because the VA previously refused to accept any relationship between a Vietnam veteran’s illnesses (except for one skin disorder) and his or her exposure to Agent Orange. This refusal was found to be unlawful by a 1989 federal court case called Nehmer (for details, see pages 38-39 in the Self-Help Guide).

Now, the VA accepts that the diseases listed at Table 1 of our Self-Help Guide are related to exposure to Agent Orange. The claims of Vietnam veterans and survivors who had previously claimed that a death or disability had resulted from a disease listed at Table 1 can now be reopened. As a result, many of these veterans and survivors now receive monthly VA benefits.

Unfortunately, some are still not getting all of the benefits to which they are entitled. In February 1999, the federal court found that the VA unlawfully deprived approximately 1,000 Vietnam veterans and their survivors of millions of dollars in retroactive (past due) benefits. For the most part, the VA did this in cases in which a veteran or survivor previously filed a claim based on a disease listed at Table 1, but failed to mention the words "Agent Orange" in the claim.

It is crucial that you follow our advice below to determine whether or not you are entitled to receive more money from the VA.

What should you do if you are currently receiving VA benefits for a disease listed at Table 1 of our Self-Help Guide, but are not sure whether the VA paid you all the retroactive (past due) benefits you are owed? If you are a Vietnam veteran or survivor who is receiving monthly VA benefits based on a disease listed at Table 1, you may not have gotten all of the retroactive benefits you are owed. You should complete the questionnaire that came with our Self-Help Guide, and send it to our Agent Orange Resource Center ("AORC"). A member of our AORC staff will then analyze your answers, and contact you if we find that you may be entitled to additional benefits. If you are concerned that the VA may try to take away benefits you are already receiving if you reopen your claim, contact the AORC.

Even if you believe that you have received the full amount of retroactive benefits you are owed, we still recommend that you complete and return the questionnaire. In some cases, veterans or survivors may be entitled to VA benefits going back to a date that is even earlier than the date on which they originally filed.

What should you do if you are not yet receiving VA benefits, but you believe you are entitled to because of a disease listed at Table 1 of our Self-Help Guide?

You should file a claim immediately. If the claim is granted, the VA will pay you some money for retroactive benefits, in addition to your current monthly award. However, this amount may not be correct. We recommend that you complete our questionnaire and send it to our Agent Orange Resource Center after the VA decides your claim. We will then analyze your answers, and contact you if we find that you may be entitled to additional benefits.

Please note that you do not need to pay an attorney to help you get the correct amount of retroactive benefits as a result of the court decision. The federal court certified the lawyers from NVLSP as the official representatives of all Vietnam veterans and surviving family members who are eligible, as a result of these federal court decisions, to apply for past due VA benefits due to Agent Orange exposure. NVLSP will try to help you receive the correct amount of retroactive benefits as a result of the court decision--without charging you any money for our services.

This case only involves benefits from the VA. It has nothing to do with the Agent Orange lawsuit brought years ago by Vietnam veterans and their survivors against the chemical companies that manufactured Agent Orange, or with the Agent Orange Payment Program that resulted from that lawsuit.

II. OTHER UPDATES TO OUR SELF-HELP GUIDE

1. Page 6, under list of soft tissue sarcomas, add "malignant ganglioneuroma" and "malignant granular cell tumor".

2. Pages 5 and 9 (Tables 1 and 2) and last paragraph of page 41: On February 11, 1999 the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released its 1998 report. Its findings will not likely result in any additions to or subtractions from the presumptively service connected diseases listed at Table 1. Only one disease, urinary bladder cancer, should be added to Table 2, which lists the diseases with the best chance of being found, in the future, to be service connected due to Agent Orange. The executive summary of the NAS report can be found at href= "http://nap.edu/"target=new>nap.edu

3. Page 10, under the heading "1. Surviving Family Members Entitled to DIC":

This information is no longer entirely accurate. As a result of a change in law, the first bulleted paragraph should now read:

Note: This change in law means that if you remarried after the veteran died, but you are no longer remarried, you may now qualify for DIC. The change of law is effective October 1, 1998 and replaces a 1990 law that barred remarried widows from receiving DIC even after the remarriage ends.

4. The second and third full paragraphs in the right hand column of page 10 should read: