koreankid:
The studies to which you refer are the fol:
1)
Cancer Incidence Study 2003: Australian Veterans of the Korean War.
It is available here:
http://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=6442467537
2)
Mortality Study 2003: Australian Veterans of the Korean War.
It is available here:
http://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=6442467527
3)
Health Study 2005: Australian Veterans of the Korean War.
http://www.dva.gov.au/health-and-wellbeing/research-and-development/health-studies/health-study-2005-australian-veterans
Those are the three studies the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has published to date in reference to Australian Veterans of the Korean War.
All three are listed – as hyperlinks back to the original creator and holder of the document - on the Veterans Review and Appeal Board (VRAB) web site for information purposes.
It is my regret to inform you there is no conspiracy involved in the links being removed from the Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) web site. Those three documents are linked on the VRAB site, and are easily found on the Australian Government Department of Veterans’ Affairs (AGDVA) web site.
Furthermore, the three studies, as well as the AGDVA’s Statements of Principles and many other reputable medical journals and studies, were used to form the basis of VAC’s Entitlement Eligibility Guidelines.
The VAC web site contains a document which should be of interest to you, and can be found here:
http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/about-us/policy/document/1445
It is the Policy Document as related to the studies listed above. It outlines the guiding principles for the adjudication of disability benefit applications for conditions recognized under ALL three of the studies listed above.
I will direct your attention to the list below:
Illnesses/Medical Conditions Accepted by VAC as Associated with Service in Korea
2. VAC may grant disability benefit entitlement to Canadian Korean War Veterans, who served in Korea, for the types of conditions identified below:
a. Primary malignant neoplasms (including "in situ" neoplasms) of the following sites:
i. Primary malignant neoplasms of the head and neck - includes only the following sites:
• lip (excludes skin of the lip)
• tongue
• salivary glands
• gums
• mouth
• tonsils
• oropharynx
• nasopharynx; and
• hypopharynx
ii. Primary malignant neoplasms of the larynx
iii. Primary malignant neoplasms of the trachea
iv. Primary malignant neoplasms of the lung
v. Primary malignant neoplasms of the esophagus which includes:
• gastroesophageal junction
• squamous cell carcinoma of the cardia of the stomach
vi. Primary malignant neoplasms of the colon
vii. Primary malignant neoplasms of the rectum and anus (excludes skin of the anus)
viii. Primary malignant neoplasms of the prostate
ix. Malignant melanoma of the skin
b. Malignant melanomas of the following sites:
i. skin of the lip
ii. skin of the anus
c. Other General Medical Conditions:
i. Chronic obstructive lung disease (includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema)
ii. Ischemic heart disease
iii. Cerebrovascular disease
This list would have been used, in part and along with all of the other medical and service evidence in your file – of which you would have a copy through your Access to Information and Privacy Act request – to determine whether your claimed medical conditions are related to your service in Korea.
Following any determination of a link between your claimed medical conditions and your service in Korea, the resulting pensioned medical conditions would have been assessed by using the Table of Disabilities.
The Table of Disabilities is a legislated document, of which a copy can easily be found on the VAC web site, and is used in assessing the degree of disability resulting from medical conditions associated with military service, in war time and in peace time.
The Medical Impairment ratings are based on the symptoms presented due to a specific medical condition, and provide the basis for the percentage a Veteran or service member is then awarded. Korean War Veteran claims fall under the
Pension Act, which means this percentage would equate to a monthly pension, based on the Disability Pension Rate Table for any given year. (2015: http://www.veterans.gc.ca/pdf/services/disability-pension/Disability-Pension-Rates-2015.pdf)
In other words, let us say your peripheral vascular disease (PVD) was found to be associated with your service in Korea, and you receive a full disability pension of five-fifths. The symptoms related to your PVD are then assessed against the concordant Table of Disabilities, and a percentage is then awarded. For the sake of argument, let us go with 25%. This would equate to a monthly pension of $665.94 for an unmarried pensioner.
I still fail to see how you feel VAC or DND “owes” you an amount IVO $750,000.00, considering the amounts prescribed by the Rate Table above. To my knowledge, no
ex gratia payment has been approved by the Government of Canada for chemical exposure in Korea, such as is the case for Agent Orange exposure in the mid-50’s at CFB Gagetown – which amounted to $25,000.00.
I will not speak to your claims of a conspiracy regarding the adjudicator. While not knowing the specifics of what you may or may not hold in your hand, I have great difficulty believing such a situation exists in any form you or I may believe of reality.
I still strongly recommend you reach out to the lawyers at the Bureau of Pensions Advocates (BPA), for the reasons I have previously mentioned. BPA's mandate is to assist clients in the preparation of applications for review or for appeals and to arrange for them to be represented by an advocate at hearings before the Veterans Review and Appeal Board. They have the expertise to assist you with your concerns, as I have already mentioned. It would be to your benefit to request Departmental Reviews to the Department, and/or Reviews to VRAB, of any unfavourable decisions you have received regarding your pension applications, rather than expend time, energy and money (regardless of your “no object” statement - all wells run dry eventually), on what could be a fruitless endeavour.
BPA can be reached, toll-free, at 1-877-228-2250.
Edit: Edited to clean up some abbreviation use, and added the phone number.