In article <c024hq$1i8m$1@pencil.math.missouri.edu>, Rich Winkel says...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=586&e=6&u=/nm/20040204/wl_nm/vietnam_agentorange_dc

Vietnam Agent Orange Victims File 1st U.S. Suit
	
Wed Feb 4, 7:03 AM ET
	
HANOI (Reuters) - Three Vietnamese who say they or their families
became ill from Agent Orange defoliant used by the United States
in the war nearly 30 years ago have filed the first lawsuit against
makers of the product, a victims group said.

The two women and a man filed the suit seeking unspecified damages
on January 30 in a New York court, an official at the Vietnam
Association of Agent Orange Victims told Reuters on Wednesday. The
group was formed last month.

Dow Chemical Co. and Monsanto Co., the two largest makers of the
chemical named after the color of its containers, were among the
more than 20 firms named in the suit, the official said.

One of the plaintiffs is Phan Thi Phi Phi, who is suing for illnesses

>from exposure to the chemical, which was sprayed from aircraft.

"I do not want to do this for myself as it has been a long time
already, but in Vietnam, the poorest, the most miserable and most
discriminated ones are the Agent Orange victims so anything I can
do for them, I will," she told Reuters.

American veterans of the Vietnam War exposed to the herbicide have
complained for years about a variety of health problems and have
also sued the makers.

In 1984, Dow and Monsanto agreed to pay $180 million to U.S. veterans.
The chemical was used by U.S. forces to deny the communists food
and jungle cover.

Under an agreement with Vietnam, America has pledged to conduct
joint scientific research on the defoliant but has consistently
declined to discuss any compensation.

The issue has been one of the thornier legacies of the Vietnam War,
and was raised during last year's historic visit to Washington by
Vietnam's Defense Minister Pham Van Tra.

The other woman is seeking compensation on behalf of herself and a
child who died from the chemical, the association official said.

The man, who is dying from lung cancer, is representing himself and
his two children who are also Agent Orange victims, the official
said.

Among the chemical components of Agent Orange was dioxin, a compound
that remains in the soil for a long time and shown to cause cancer,
birth defects and organ dysfunction.

Asked about compensation, the official said the applications did
not specify any amounts. "We understand that this lawsuit is a long
process and it cannot be settled overnight," he added.

Between 1962 and 1971, an estimated 20 million gallons of herbicides,
including Agent Orange, were used in Vietnam. Spraying of the
chemical was discontinued before the war ended in 1975.

Vietnam says about three million of its people suffer from diseases
linked to the chemical.