A presumption of service connection for certain medical conditions or diseases was established by The Agent Orange Act of 1991, Public Law 102-4.
Agent Orange Presumptive Diseases are presumptively service-connected by regulation for those Veterans serving ‘boots on the ground’ in Vietnam, brown water veterans, and other selective locations such as the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea, certain bases in Thailand, and select C-123 crews.
Here is the current list of herbicide and Agent Orange presumptives — medical conditions/diseases with the presumptive service connection effective date in parentheses:
- Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) (February 6, 1991; originally August 5, 1964 under 38 CFR 3.313)
- Chloracne or other acneiform disease consistent with chloracne (February 6, 1991; originally September 25, 1985 under 38 CFR 3.311 a)
- Soft-tissue sarcoma (other than osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma, or mesothelioma) (February 6, 1991; originally September 25, 1985 under 38 CFR 3.311 a)
- Hodgkin’s disease (February 3, 1994)
- Porphyria cutanea tarda (February 3, 1994)
- Multiple myeloma (June 9, 1994)
- Respiratory cancers, such as cancers of the lung, bronchus, larynx, or trachea (June 9, 1994)
- Acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy (November 7, 1996)
- Prostate cancer (November 7, 1996)
- Type 2 diabetes mellitus (May 8, 2001)
- Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (October 16, 2003)
- AL amyloidosis (May 7, 2009)
- Ischemic heart disease (August 31, 2010)
- Chronic B-cell leukemia (August 31, 2010)
- Parkinson’s disease (August 31, 2010)
- Early onset peripheral neuropathy (PN) (September 6, 2013)
There are three diseases that must have become manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more within one year of the last date of exposure to herbicide agents:
- chloracne or other acne-form disease consistent with chloracne
- porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT), and
- early onset peripheral neuropathy (PN).
The requirement that the early onset peripheral neuropathy (PN) resolve within two years has been removed.
Claims for a service connection for delayed onset of peripheral neuropathy (more than one year after exposure) will be evaluated by the VA under either a direct service connection or secondary service connection (not presumptive).
There is no time limit for the other listed presumptive diseases.
References: 38 CFR 3.309(e); 38 CFR 3.307(a)(6); 38 CFR 3.307(a)(6)(ii); VA Adjudication Manual (M21-1, Part IV, Subpart ii, Chapter 2, Section C, Topic 3, updated March 14, 2017).