List of diseases linked to Agent Orange exposure grows

More than 40 years after the U.S. military used Agent Orange to defoliate the jungles of Vietnam, the health care bill is escalating for taxpayers.

Over the past two years, federal officials say, an estimated 10,000 more veterans have sought medical compensation for diseases related to Agent Orange, an herbicide that contains a toxic chemical called dioxin.

In a recent report, the Institute of Medicine said there is sufficient evidence of an association between exposure to Agent Orange and illnesses including soft-tissue sarcoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, Hodgkin lymphoma and chloracne.

The report recommended further research to determine whether there could be a link between Agent Orange exposure and other illnesses such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, tonsil cancer, melanoma and Alzheimer’s disease.

The findings come at a time when lawmakers are grappling with the long-term health care costs for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which could approach $1 trillion, according to Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies.