Claim Raven explanation
What this means
This statute establishes herbicide-related disease presumptions and covered-service provisions. Its disease list and location rules are central to many Agent Orange claims, including coverage added by later legislation.
A diagnosis and qualifying service must be matched to the applicable provision. Some diseases or locations also involve separate statutes or regulations, and effective-date rules may differ from basic eligibility rules.
How this helps your claim
Compare the actual diagnosis and service history with the statute rather than relying only on a shortened list. If VA used an older regulation, check whether later statutory coverage addresses the condition or location.
What to check in your records
Use your decision, examination reports, and relevant records to check the following points.
- Locate the confirmed diagnosis and the date relevant symptoms began.
- Verify duty locations and service dates under the covered-service provisions.
- Check which source version and effective-date authority VA used for the award or denial.
Compare the diagnosis and covered service separately
A herbicide presumption involves both the disease and qualifying service or exposure framework. A medical record can establish one while personnel or location records establish the other. Keep the evidence for each part identifiable instead of relying on a broad Agent Orange label.
Read the statute's complete disease and service provisions, including any cross-references. The effective date of an award is a separate question that can depend on claim history and the authority creating the coverage. Eligibility under a presumption does not automatically establish a particular retroactive payment period.
Does any Vietnam-era service establish every herbicide requirement?
No. The relevant location, dates and statutory category matter. Era and location are different facts. Use the actual service evidence and applicable provision rather than assuming that a matching general period alone establishes presumed exposure and service connection for every diagnosis.
Official statutory text
38 USC § 1116
OLRC release through Public Law 119-102 (July 12, 2026). Layout and spacing are adapted for reading. The statutory text is shown here; publisher source credits and editorial notes remain in the linked official release.
§ 1116. Presumptions of service connection for diseases associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents; presumption of exposure for veterans who served in certain locations
(a)(1) For the purposes of section 1110 of this title, and subject to section 1113 of this title—
(A) a disease specified in paragraph (2) of this subsection becoming manifest as specified in that paragraph in a veteran who performed covered service; and
(B) each additional disease (if any) that (i) the Secretary determines in regulations prescribed under this section warrants a presumption of service-connection by reason of having positive association with exposure to an herbicide agent, and (ii) becomes manifest within the period (if any) prescribed in such regulations in a veteran who performed covered service, and while so serving was exposed to that herbicide agent,
shall be considered to have been incurred in or aggravated by such service, notwithstanding that there is no record of evidence of such disease during the period of such service.
(2) The diseases referred to in paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection are the following:
(A) Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma becoming manifest to a degree of disability of 10 percent or more.
(B) Each soft-tissue sarcoma becoming manifest to a degree of disability of 10 percent or more other than osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma, or mesothelioma.
(C) Chloracne or another acneform disease consistent with chloracne becoming manifest to a degree of disability of 10 percent or more within one year after the last date on which the veteran performed covered service.
(D) Hodgkin’s disease becoming manifest to a degree of disability of 10 percent or more.
(E) Porphyria cutanea tarda becoming manifest to a degree of disability of 10 percent or more within a year after the last date on which the veteran performed covered service.
(F) Respiratory cancers (cancer of the lung, bronchus, larynx, or trachea) becoming manifest to a degree of disability of 10 percent or more.
(G) Multiple myeloma becoming manifest to a degree of disability of 10 percent or more.
(H) Diabetes Mellitus (Type 2).
(I) Parkinsonism.
(J) Bladder cancer.
(K) Hypothyroidism.
(L) Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance.
(M) Hypertension.
(3) For purposes of this section, the term “herbicide agent” means a chemical in an herbicide used in support of the United States and allied military operations in the Republic of Vietnam during the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975.
(b) The Secretary shall ensure that any determination made on or after the date of the enactment of the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022 regarding a presumption of service connection based on exposure to an herbicide agent under this section is made pursuant to subchapter VII of this chapter, including with respect to assessing reports received by the Secretary from the National Academy of Sciences under section 3 of the Agent Orange Act of 1991 (Public Law 102–4).
(c) For purposes of establishing service connection for a disability or death resulting from exposure to a herbicide agent, including a presumption of service-connection under this section, a veteran who performed covered service,11 So in original. The comma probably should not appear. shall be presumed to have been exposed during such service to an herbicide agent containing dioxin or 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, and may be presumed to have been exposed during such service to any other chemical compound in an herbicide agent, unless there is affirmative evidence to establish that the veteran was not exposed to any such agent during that service.
(d) In this section, the term “covered service” means active military, naval, air, or space service—
(1) performed in the Republic of Vietnam during the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975;
(2) performed in Thailand at any United States or Royal Thai base during the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on June 30, 1976, without regard to where on the base the veteran was located or what military job specialty the veteran performed;
(3) performed in Laos during the period beginning on December 1, 1965, and ending on September 30, 1969;
(4) performed in Cambodia at Mimot or Krek, Kampong Cham Province during the period beginning on April 16, 1969, and ending on April 30, 1969; or
(5) performed on Guam or American Samoa, or in the territorial waters thereof, during the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on July 31, 1980, or served on Johnston Atoll or on a ship that called at Johnston Atoll during the period beginning on January 1, 1972, and ending on September 30, 1977.
Related references
- 38 USC § 1110: Wartime disability compensation eligibility
- 38 USC § 1113: When a VA Presumption Can Be Rebutted
- 38 USC § 5107: Benefit of the doubt in VA claims
- 38 CFR § 3.159: VA duty to assist: records and examinations
Ready to review your own document? Start your free claim review.