Herbicide Agent (Agent Orange) Presumptive Conditions — Complete List

Veterans exposed to tactical herbicide agents, most commonly Agent Orange, during qualifying service are eligible for presumptive service connection for a specific list of conditions. This means the VA automatically accepts that the condition is related to military service without requiring a separate nexus opinion. The list of presumptive conditions has expanded significantly over the years, most recently through the PACT Act in 2022.

The complete current list of herbicide agent presumptive conditions includes AL amyloidosis, bladder cancer (added in 2021 by Public Law 116-283), chronic B-cell leukemias including hairy-cell leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, chloracne or similar acneform disease consistent with chloracne, type 2 diabetes mellitus, Hodgkin disease, hypertension (added by the PACT Act), hypothyroidism (added in 2021 by Public Law 116-283), ischemic heart disease, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance also known as MGUS (added by the PACT Act), multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Parkinson disease, parkinsonism (added in 2021 by Public Law 116-283 as a distinct condition from Parkinson disease), early-onset peripheral neuropathy, prostate cancer, respiratory cancers including cancers of the lung, bronchus, larynx, and trachea, and some soft tissue sarcomas.

Two of the PACT Act additions carry a phase-in written into the statute. MGUS has applied to every claimant since October 1, 2022. Hypertension has applied since August 10, 2022 to survivors claiming dependency and indemnity compensation and to veterans VA determines are terminally ill, homeless, under extreme financial hardship, over 85, or able to show other sufficient cause, and it applies to every other claimant from October 1, 2026; the statute also limits retroactive hypertension awards to that first group. VA lists hypertension as an Agent Orange presumptive condition on its own claim pages. The herbicide list in the regulation itself, 38 CFR 3.309(e), did not yet name hypertension or MGUS when this guide was last reviewed, so the citation to point to is 38 U.S.C. 1116(a)(2).

The distinction between Parkinson disease and parkinsonism is important. Parkinson disease is a specific diagnosis. Parkinsonism is a broader category that includes conditions with Parkinson-like symptoms such as tremors, stiffness, and slowness of movement but that may have a different underlying cause. Parkinsonism was added to the presumptive list as a separate condition in 2021, so veterans diagnosed with parkinsonism who do not meet the criteria for Parkinson disease itself are covered.

Qualifying service locations for herbicide agent presumptive conditions include Vietnam including in-country, offshore, and brown water Navy service between January 9, 1962 and May 7, 1975. Veterans who served on Thai military bases during the Vietnam era may also qualify. Under 38 U.S.C. 1116(d)(2), the presumption covers service at any United States or Royal Thai base in Thailand between January 9, 1962 and June 30, 1976, without regard to where on the base the veteran was located or what military job specialty the veteran performed. Bases veterans most often name are U-Tapao, Korat, Ubon, Nakhon Phanom, Udorn, Takhli, and Don Muang, but that list is not the boundary and neither is the base perimeter: an office, a barracks, a motor pool or a flight line anywhere on a covered base is covered service, and VA states the same standard on its own Agent Orange location pages.

Additional qualifying locations are Guam and American Samoa, including their territorial waters, between January 9, 1962 and July 31, 1980, and Johnston Atoll, or a ship that called at Johnston Atoll, between January 1, 1972 and September 30, 1977. Those three are presumptions written into the statute itself. They are separate from the herbicide test and storage sites VA lists in the United States and other countries, which VA labels possible exposure rather than presumed exposure: a claim resting on one of those sites is decided on the evidence of record, not presumed. The PACT Act added the Thailand, Laos, Cambodia (Mimot or Krek), Guam, American Samoa and Johnston Atoll presumptions to the herbicide statute at 38 U.S.C. 1116(d) in 2022. That amendment has applied since August 10, 2022 to survivors claiming dependency and indemnity compensation and to veterans VA determines are terminally ill, homeless, under extreme financial hardship, over 85, or able to show other sufficient cause, and to every other claimant since October 1, 2022. Veterans who served in these locations during the applicable periods do not need to prove they were personally sprayed with herbicide agents. Service in the qualifying location during the qualifying timeframe is sufficient.

For herbicide presumptive claims, no nexus letter is required. You need to establish that you served in a qualifying location during a qualifying period and that you have a current diagnosis of one of the listed conditions. The VA will then presume the connection to service. If you have a condition on this list and qualifying service, filing a claim is straightforward.

Some conditions on the list have specific onset requirements. Chloracne must manifest within one year of the last date of exposure. Early-onset peripheral neuropathy must manifest within one year as well. For all other conditions on the list, there is no time limit on when the condition must appear after service.

Veterans who were previously denied a claim for a condition that has since been added to the presumptive list, such as hypertension, bladder cancer, hypothyroidism, MGUS, or parkinsonism, should file a supplemental claim citing the change in the law as new and relevant evidence. The change to cite is the statute — 38 U.S.C. 1116(a)(2), which Public Law 116-283 amended in 2021 to add parkinsonism, bladder cancer and hypothyroidism, and which the PACT Act amended in 2022 to add MGUS and hypertension — because the regulation itself had not yet been updated to name them when this guide was last reviewed.

Note: This article references sections of the VA's M21-1 Adjudication Procedures Manual. The VA periodically reorganizes the M21-1 and section numbers may have changed since this article was written. For the most current section references, visit the VA's public M21-1 Web Automated Reference Material System (WARMS).