|
Vietnam agent orange victims file suit Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/7876990.htmhttp://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/7876990.htm
Posted on Wed, Feb. 04, 2004
Vietnam's Agent Orange Victims File Suit
TINI TRAN
Associated Press
HANOI, Vietnam - Three Vietnamese claiming to be victims of Agent Orange have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. companies that produced the defoliant used by American forces during the Vietnam War.
The lawsuit, filed with the help of the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange, was submitted to the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Jan. 30, the group's vice president, Nguyen Trong Nhan, said Wednesday.
He said it was the first lawsuit of its kind filed by Vietnamese against U.S. companies, and that the Brooklyn court was chosen because it had handled similar cases filed by former U.S. soldiers.
Nhan said 10 companies are named in the suit, though he declined to specify them by name. Dow Chemical Co. and Monsanto were two of the primary producers of Agent Orange.
The lawsuit seeks compensation for health problems caused by the defoliant, but it does not specify a dollar figure, Nhan said.
Between 1962 and 1971, U.S. planes sprayed an estimated 21 million gallons of defoliant, mostly Agent Orange, over Vietnamese forests where they believed Communist troops might be hiding.
Many American veterans and Vietnamese have long blamed Agent Orange, which contains the deadly component dioxin, for a variety of illnesses, including cancer, diabetes and spina bifida. The U.S. government claims there is no direct evidence linking dioxin with the illnesses.
However, about 10,000 Vietnam War veterans in the United States receive disability benefits related to Agent Orange exposure.
The three Vietnamese plaintiffs were Nguyen Van Quy and two women, Nguyen Thi Phi Phi and Duong Quynh Hoa. All three had worked in areas sprayed with Agent Orange, Nhan said.
Phi suffered four miscarriages while Hoa has breast cancer and her blood tests show high levels of dioxin, Nhan said. Quy also has cancer, and has two children with birth defects.
Vietnam has said that the United States has a moral and spiritual responsibility to heal the wounds of war. However, Hanoi has never formally asked for compensation for the victims of Agent Orange.
In 2000, the Vietnamese government began paying monthly stipends to government workers, soldiers and civilians who helped fight for the Communist side in sprayed areas during the war.
Vietnam has said an estimated 1 million people were affected by the defoliant during the war.
In 2002, Vietnam and the United States held their first ever joint scientific conference on Agent Orange and its effects since the war ended in 1975.
A new study released last year found that very high levels of dioxin continue to be found in food samples in Vietnam, decades after the defoliant was sprayed over the country.
|
|
