Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY-01) is backing legislation to connect bile duct cancer in Vietnam War veterans to their military service.
LaLota, a Navy veteran who sits on the House Appropriations Subcommittee for Veterans Affairs, said the disease is more common in Vietnam veterans who were exposed to parasitic liver flukes found in undercooked fish during the war. According to health experts, Vietnam veterans are 30% more likely to develop cancer.
But the Department of Veterans Affairs has not established a service connection for liver fluke diseases, which can make it more difficult for sick veterans to receive care.
“Our contention is the time for studying really should be in the rearview mirror,” LaLota said at a VFW hall in Rocky Point this week. “The time for action is now. A lot of these veterans are getting quite old.”
LaLota’s bill would officially recognize bile duct cancer as a service-connected condition and direct the VA to develop treatment protocols.
“The VA could have done it years ago,” he said. “Or now, with a stroke of a pen, say, ‘We will absolutely honor the connection between service in Vietnam and this liver fluke/bile duct cancer.’ They can do that on their own, without congressional action. We'll take whatever way we can get it.”
Similar legislation has passed the House in two previous sessions, but has not advanced in the Senate.
