Veterans

[selpam]

Is there any Vietnam Era veterans that have been compensated for Hep C.
I was station in Germany. But was in close contact with others that came from
Vietman.I believe this is the only way of could have got it. No drug or alcohol use.

[oneatenuff]

If you're a veteran and have Hep C and believe you contracted it during your service, there are ways you can receive compensation.   It might be difficult and require many years of visits to the VA and being seen by doctor after doctor and putting up a "fight" and not giving up - ever - but don't totally discount the idea that you possibly CAN get some kind of service connection disability.   You say "close contact."  How close?   Did you ever come into contact with someone's blood, as in did you ever work in a healthcare setting, dental hygienist, etc.?   I've got several friends who are Vietnam veterans who got their 100% service connected disability ratings;  two of them were dental hygienists and claimed this route of transmission.   It wasn't easy for them to get, they had to travel long distances to the VA center for several years, neither of them have attempted treatment, but they were successful with their claims.  If you think you got Hep C serving our country, think think think of how it may have happened.  And if you DID get it serving,  you deserve compensation.   Go for it!   It's worth trying.  

Good luck either way.  

[SeiserL]

Agreed. I probably got mine in-country.
HCV rates high for that era.
No way to prove it.
No compensation.
More of the same.

BTW, where in Germany?
I was medically rotated from Nam to Baumholder in 74.
Welcome home vet.

[nygirl7]

Unfortunately that is something that would most likely be too hard to prove, especially at this late date.

You would probably have to hunt down every person and prove somehow they all used the same equipment and never had any other way they could have gotten it........so I agree with Bill, as unfair as it is that it happened - it doesn't seem feasible.

it is not that uncommon to hear though that people got it using those vaccination guns that they used to use.  They just didn't know better about this stuff back then.

[Bill1028]

I don’t think so.  How can you prove it?  Did you ever go to a dentist, get a shot from a doctor, have you had surgery, could you have been born with it, or come in contact with anyone’s blood?  As you can see, it would be impossible to prove.