http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/americas/view/41811/1/.html
Vietnam veteran can sue Agent Orange makers
A former US serviceman who has cancer can sue the makers of Agent
Orange, the defoliant sprayed by US forces during the Vietnam War,
after the US Supreme Court failed to reach consensus in an
appeal.
The plaintiff, Daniel Stephenson, was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam
from 1965 to 1970 and diagnosed with bone marrow cancer in 1998. He
said his illness was due to contact with the herbicide.
Stephenson can now sue major chemical manufacturers such as Dow
Chemical and Monsanto, the main producers of the substance.
Between 1961 and 1971, the US and South Vietnamese armies used
millions of litres of herbicides containing toxic dioxins to
destroy jungle and crops and deny their communist enemies food and
cover.
The dioxins ended up in the food chain and are today blamed for
widespread health problems such as congenital malformation, cancer
and paralysis.
Vietnam said as many as one million people had been affected by
Agent Orange.