Study Shows Agent Orange Still Taints Aging C-123s 166
__roo writes "Herbicides used in Vietnam in the 1970s still pose a threat to servicemen, according to a study published Friday. The U.S. Air Force and Department of Veteran Affairs denied benefits to sick veterans, taking the position that any dioxin or other components of Agent Orange contaminating its fleet of C-123 cargo planes would have been 'dried residues' and unlikely to pose meaningful exposure risks. According to the lead researcher, 'The VA, whether out of ignorance or malice, has denied the entire existence of this entire branch of science. They have this preposterous idea that somehow there is this other kind of state of matter — a dried residue that is completely inert.' To show that such exposures happened, her research team had to be 'very clever.'"
criminals!!! (Score:4, Insightful)
Enough witht the hyperbole (Score:4, Insightful)
Not saying that dried residues aren't dangerous, but the researcher's quote in the summary comes off as extremely disingenuous.
Of course being exposed to dried residues will result in much lower levels of exposure than being REPEATEDLY DOUSED with liquid herbicide as were field infantry in the Vietnam war.
Toxicology is all about maximum safe dosages - scary sounding toxins like arsenic, radon, dioxin, mercury, and even radionucleotides are pervasive in our environment. The question is whether the level of exposure is biologically significant or not. While the VA's contention that the levels of exposure to Agent Orange residues is safe is a valid matter for debate, they nowhere claim that it has magically transformed into some heretofore unknown state of matter.
Serving in the Military (Score:2, Insightful)
Yet *another* reason not to serve in the military.
Re:Malice? I think not. (Score:2, Insightful)
Psychologists everywhere are the worst. It's not the VA that's the problem, it's the profession. It needs to be purged with fire and sword.
But perhaps they could never even understand that's figurative language, because none of them took a class in literature.
Re:Serving in the Military (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Malice? I think not. (Score:1, Insightful)
My father was a service connected disabled (both physical and mental) WW2 Vet and I would strongly disagree with this assessment. I took care of him for many years and struggled with the VA - although they did increase his pension towards the end.
The VA psych doctors were compassionless, unprofessional and bottom of the class grade doctors and I would often have to research the drugs they were prescribing and inform them of the side-effects and suitability to his condition. They eventually killed my father by over prescribing drugs like Haldol and other harsh psychotropics.
And yet, Slashdot in general lauds the takeover of medicine by government.
Re:Serving in the Military (Score:3, Insightful)
There's always the idea the U.S. Founding Fathers had: citizens should join a defensive militia, but not a standing army.
Re:Malice? I think not. (Score:4, Insightful)
Despite the flames I'll get for saying it and the vehement disagreement proponents will spew, that's because psychology is not a science. Not even a little bit. The human mind is far too complex a thing for the current state of our understanding to treat scientifically. Psychologists aren't much better than snake oil salesmen.
Re:Malice? I think not. (Score:4, Insightful)
Guess I made the mistake of saying something true :)
No, you made the mistake of thinking a doctor paid by the government is the same thing as a doctor employed by the government. Those of us who live in civilized societies know this to be false, under most (if not all) UHC schemes the government takes the role of medical insurer, not the role of care giver. The doctors and nurses are the same people under both regimes.
Re:Malice? I think not. (Score:4, Insightful)
Psychologists everywhere are the worst. It's not the VA that's the problem, it's the profession.
Except he wasn't talking about psychologists. He was talking about psychiatrists. Not at all the same thing.
Re:Malice? I think not. (Score:2, Insightful)
(She simply couldn't understand that I could be unemployed, broke and depressed without being violent and/or suicidal.)
As part of the general descent into fascism, there is a movement within the US to prevent veterans from privately owning guns by declaring them mentally unfit. She couldn't understand that because she was directed not to. Lots of people she reports to have told her that you're potentially very dangerous, and a few high-profile shootings were likely blown out of proportion in order to reinforce this point. The lack of hard science in the field makes psychiatry particularly easy to influence.
The truth is, the more tyrannical a government becomes, the more afraid they are of highly trained men who have a deep sense of honor. It really has nothing to do with public safety, preventing shootings, or giving you the best psychiatric care.