Vietnam Flashback.

• Author: Fumento, Michael
• Position: Diabetes-Agent Orange connection-

Does Agent Orange cause diabetes?

U.S. veterans groups have long considered Agent Orange, the controversial herbicide used to defoliate jungles during the Vietnam War, a bigger villain than Ho Chi Minh and Henry Kissinger combined. Agent Orange exposure has been blamed for virtually any disease Vietnam vets and their offspring have ever suffered since the soldiers finished their tours of duty. These include everything from recurring rashes, dizziness, nausea, migraine headaches, stomach aches, and clinical depression to a plethora of cancers and birth defects.

Congress and the Department of Veterans Affairs have responded with two official presumptions. First, that all Vietnam vets had Agent Orange exposure, even though blood testing has shown that only a handful had any exposure. Second, that certain cancers and one type of severe birth defect, spina bifida, are caused by the presumptive exposure.

Never mind that studies in both the United States (by the Centers for Disease Control) and Australia found that the children of Vietnam vets had as few or fewer birth defects than the general population. Another CDC study found that one type of cancer was abnormally prevalent among vets, but only among sailors who served on ships off the coast and hence couldn't have been exposed to the defoliant. Miscarriage studies also have found no significant increase among vets or their spouses. Agent Orange has been cleared by every serious scientific study.

Until, it seems, now. Air Force researchers think they've finally, unquestionably pinned a disease on Agent Orange. Or so major media coverage of the study would indicate. The headlines in late March were unequivocal:

* "Study Finds Strong Link Between Vietnam War Herbicide and Diabetes" (Associated Press)

* "Air Force Study Finds Strong Link Between Exposure to Agent Orange and Diabetes" (CBS Evening News)

* "Agent Orange Harmful" (ABC's World News Tonight)

* "Vets Say VA Must Act on Agent Orange-Diabetes Link" (Copley News Service)

As Dr. Joel Michalek, head of the Air Force research team, said at a press conference: "This report includes the strongest evidence...that exposure to Agent Orange is associated with adult-onset diabetes."

But the implications of the headlines, and Michalek's statement, are wrong. And the proof can be readily found in the introduction and conclusion of the 1,700-page report itself, which is available on the Web at www.brooks.af.mil/AFRL/HED/hedb/afhs/97report.shtml. While...