Recorded presentation

Michelle C. Catlin, Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, FO 3034, 2101 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20418, 202-334-2000, mcatlin@nas.edu

Between 1962 and 1971, United States military forces sprayed herbicides over Vietnam. In 1991, because of ongoing uncertainty about the long-term health effects on Vietnam veterans of the herbicides sprayed, Congress passed the Agent Orange Act of 1991. That legislation directed the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to request the National Academy of Sciences, a non-profit organization that provides independent, objective advice on scientific issues, to perform a comprehensive review and evaluation of scientific and medical information regarding the health effects of exposure to Agent Orange, other herbicides used in Vietnam, and the various chemical components of those herbicides, including dioxin. In assessing the evidence of an association between exposure to the herbicides and their components and a health outcome, the committees responsible for the reports review the available literature and categorize the evidence as 1) sufficient of an association; 2) limited or suggestive of an association; 3) inadequate or insufficient to determine whether an association exists; or limited or suggestive of NO association. In addition, conclusions regarding the biological plausibility of the health effects and the risk to Vietnam veterans are also made. Biennial updates are produced; the latest of those reports is Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2002. The assessments in the reports are used by the Department of Veterans Affairs to make policy decisions regarding compensation to veterans for service-related illnesses. The methods used by the committee as well as the most recent conclusions made by the committee will be discussed.

Learning Objectives:

• The role of the Institute of Medicine in determining associations between exposure to herbicides in Vietnam and health outcomes.
• The latest conclusions from Institute of Medicine reports on Veterans and Agent Orange.

Keywords: Veterans' Health,

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation