VA to start processing Vietnam vets’ claims for conditions newly linked to Agent Orange poisoning...

Veterans Affairs officials on Thursday announced they will immediately begin processing disability claims for three new illnesses linked to Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam, even though final rules on the cases are still a few weeks away.

“Many of our nation’s veterans have waited a long time for these benefits,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough in a statement. “VA will not make them wait any longer. This is absolutely the right thing to do for veterans and their families.”

Presumptive benefits for the three conditions — bladder cancer, hypothyroidism, and Parkinsonism — were mandated by Congress in the annual defense authorization bill passed in December.

For the last five months, VA officials have been working on how to implement that order, to ensure the extra workload doesn’t overload the claims processing system. The previous presidential administration had said the work could take up to 24 months, but McDonough in February publicly vowed to speed up that process.