Agent Orange déjà vu

Agent Orange déjà vu

That is tragic and wrong.

Blast concussions, and the associated conditions, have become the “Agent Orange syndrome” of Iraq and Afghanistan and a serious public health problem.

For those of us who lived through the Vietnam era, the complaints of soldiers and the recalcitrance of the military are reminiscent of the failures to address the damage from Agent Orange. Just like their Agent Orange predecessors, soldiers exposed to thousands of blasts over 10 years of combat still have to wait “until the science shows” the evidence for the pathology.

Good treatment has been either delayed or denied because of professional neglect. Medical personnel have had available treatments for the effects of IED blasts, but failed to use them. These treatments may not always “cure” the conditions, but they have alleviated many of the worst symptoms.

Those of us who’ve seen this before recognize that because IED blasts cause “invisible wounds, that could “not be real,” like post-traumatic stress disorder or Agent Orange, a combination of stigma and paralysis means tens of thousands of those who suffer will never receive help.