Front Street Weekly; 416

And I'm Gwyneth Gamble Booth. Here's a preview of tonight's stories. Over 1,500 Oregon Vietnam veterans claim they've been exposed to the toxic substance, Agent Orange. We'll look at whether the veterans here were justly compensated by the chemical companies, In a recent out of court settlement. It should have been done with a jury, and everyone should have been notified...??? [Jim Swenson] Not long ago people with arthritis were warned not to exercise. Well, that's changed and the motto now, is "Use it or lose it". [Male voice] We know that if you overuse a joint it deteriorates more rapidly. On the other hand there are important psychological secr???ely from exercise. [Booth] Later tonight meet Portland's gardener extraordinaire Andrew Biggerstaff and see why he loves his avocation. [Biggerstaff] Everyone had a garden and a plot of ground, there wouldn't be near as much trouble. [Booth] A class action lawsuit filed against the manufacturers of the highly toxic herbicide, Agent Orange, was recently settled out of court. It was a $180,000,000 settlement

that will eventually be distributed among the veterans. Fifteen hundred Oregon veterans stand to benefit from this money. But for many veterans of that unpopular war, the settlement came far too soon. Scientific research is less complete on the linkage between Agent Orange and cancer than was thought at the time of the settlement. Reporter Beth Whalen examines this settlement that has caused an uproar between the veterans' lawyers and scientists across the country. [Male voice] The problem with this settlement is that it's caused so much furor and so much unhappiness that... uh, it may never fulfill the function of the settlement. The function of the settlement is to get the situation over with, .that people feel that it's the best that could be done, and move on. [Whalen] Six years ago Don Wilner became the attorney for 300 Oregon Vietnam veterans. They merged with thousands of other Vietnam veterans from across the country in a class action

suit against the manufacturers of a highly toxic herbicide. It is called Agent Orange. It was a ??? used by U.S. forces in Vietnam to destroy leaves and other foliage, And it was a spray that contained a poison called "dioxin". The veterans claim their peace time ailments range from cancer and liver dysfunctions to birth defects and miscarriages. The case, however, never went to trial. In New York last May, the manufacturers agreed out of court to create a one hundred and eighty million dollar fund for thousands of Vietnam veterans and their families. But they denied the responsibility for the veterans' health problems. Today over 1500 Oregon Vietnam veterans stand to benefit from the settlement, however many don't expect to see a dime. [Male voice] And everybody should have been notified as far as a settling out of court thing because It's a cop out. I think the issue is probably such a complex issue, that a... the jury would not have added any, any great insight in decision [inaudible]

decisions all juries did. [Third male voice] I believe that the veterans should have been treated for their problems - which they were not. It was absolutely denied that they had any problems whatsoever. And Dow Chemical companies own internal reports indicate a very high degree of- of hazard with the ?24D, 245T hazard?, dioxins. This information was concealed for about 20 years. [Whalen] This settlement has caused an uproar among many veterans and medical researchers in Oregon and across the country. Some believe the veterans accepted far less than they deserved in the settlement, without knowing how many veterans were exposed to Agent Orange. And secondly, the case was settled long before scientific research has been completed on dioxin. [Male voice] I certainly wouldn't care to make any money from my son's death. I think I should ???? give it a month. Or so

have been affected by it. [Whalen] Robert and Constance Curtis of Portland have filed a claim in the settlement. Their son Mark died in 1979 from cancer of the lymph glands. Ten years earlier he had been sprayed by Agent Orange many times while serving in Vietnam. The cancer was diagnosed three years after he returned from duty. The Curtis' believe the Agent Orange caused his cancer. Only one of Mark's three doctors who worked for the Veterans Administration was available for comment and he refused to talk about the case. The Curtis's however, say the doctors instructed them to get Mark's cancer service connected. The V.A. refused and Mark could not get disability money for his cancer before he died. Now they doubt they will receive money from the settlement since a linkage between cancer and dioxin is still being researched. There was [inaudible], more than anything else. They had no idea that there was anything ??? Remember the number.

[Second male voice] I could tell you this, that the law states on cancer that if the condition occurred, occurred in service and was diagnosed in service, or if it was diagnosed within one year of discharge, that there's already a law on the books that's presumptive that that's a service-connected condition. [Whalen] The problem with the law, according to some veterans, is that illnesses like cancer may not surface for years and since the linkage between Agent Orange and cancer is still being studied, veterans that might get Agent Orange related cancers will never benefit from the settlement. The federal government at this point does not recognize animal studies that have proven a linkage between dioxin and cancer. [Male voice] Are you having more trouble right now, than usual? [Second male voice] A non- carcinogenic substance will never produce cancer. Never. No matter what the dose is. And, with a known carcinogenic agent, it will. So it's a matter of black and white. It either will or it won't. And the laboratory Studies which have been done indicate that the chlorinated phenyl compounds and dioxins are carcinogenic. No question in my mind about that. There is no question in

your mind that Agent Orange can cause cancer? [Male voice] None whatsoever. [Whalen] Dr. Phillip Leveque, a forensic toxologist, has treated about 40 patients who have been exposed to dioxins while working with wood preservatives in lumber mills. ?More Sweet? is one of those patients who suffers from some of the same ailments as a Vietnam veteran. [?Sweet?] In my case it started fairly soon after I became in contact with these, such things as feeling like you have the flu all the time, nausea in the mornings. I went into lung problems to where I have very serious lung problems now. I had skin rashes of all types, boils, stys, muscle problems. It goes on and on with the different types of symptoms. [Whalen] At the VA's outpatient clinic in Portland, Agent Orange examinations are given to veterans. It is the VA's attempt to identify the

veterans exposed to the poison and put them on a registry. Out of Oregon's approximate 57,000 Vietnam veterans, just over 2000 have received examinations. VA doctor ?Ann Mador? believes the answers are not in yet on Agent Orange. Particularly with cancer. [Dr. ?Mador?] There has been in the scientific literature an association of dioxin exposure to certain types of cancer. And the association has been with soft tissue sarcoma, which is a very rare kind of cancer. And also with certain types of lymphomas, like Hodgkin's disease-type of cancer; that's a cancer of the lymph glands. [Whalen] Right now Agent Orange compensation and death benefits are only given to veterans and their families diagnosed as having ?chloracne?, an acne-like skin disease and to a rare liver disease known as PCT. [Male voice] And as far as disability goes, of the claims in the state, there have been over 400 claims filed in the state and one person has been accepted with a case of chloracne as being

service related and was given a 10% - or a 0% disability which means no compensation because you need a 10% or more disability rating to obtain any compensation. [Whalen] Bob ?Schroeder? was a jungle fighter in Vietnam, now living in Estacada. He says he returned home about 15 years ago with a severe acne-like rash on his back and on his legs. He also has had continual problems with his kidneys. Although the rash on his back went away it still reappears on his legs. His kidneys are still giving him problems. He too has filed a claim in this settlement. [?Schroeder?] It was what they called a "?solar-acne"? And the ?solar-acne? is - I told them "Well that, that's a good answer, I guess. But how come I have it in the winter?" So I didn't get much response out of that. [Dr. ?Mador?] The thing about chloracne is that chloracne occurs at the time of an acute

exposure, not later. It's only very rare for chloracne to persist on. Usually it's an acute and self-limited skin problem that occurs very close to the time of the exposure. And then goes away. And there are rare Cases of persistent chloracne. [Whalen] Many Vietnam veterans like Bob say they became disillusioned with the V.A. long ago and its ability to help them with their problems. Because of this, many simply won't come in for examinations, making statistical information incomplete. This is particularly true with the women Vietnam veterans who feel they have been ignored. [Male voice] You know, since we started filing the claims and it was, I believe back in October, and we've done absolutely hundreds and hundreds of the claims. I have not talked or helped fill out for one woman. [Female voice] And in the time that I've been here at the VA, doing uh, involved with the Agent Orange

project, I've not examined one woman veteran for an Agent Orange exam. [Whalen] We talked to several women Vietnam veterans who refused to be interviewed before the camera. Very few have filed claims in the settlement; but they talk of problems with miscarriages and other internal medical problems. Former Vietnam nurse Kathy Gunnison is one who never followed through on her claim. She now suffers from an auto-immune disease. [Gunnison] And basically what it has done is set up an auto-immune response in the in the in the soft tissue and in the connective tissue and so where I have the localized area it looks like I've been burned. It has formed a real thick scar and the skin turned odd colors. But at this point putting up with the VA and versus filing a claim, I will go without filing a claim. [Male voice] And if you think of the veterans like being married to the Federal government in this type of responsibility coexistence, you realize the Viet Nam

veterans have been divorced for a long time. For right now it's a fight, fight over entitlement and property. [Whalen] In the area of birth defects, the Center for Disease Control recently released a report stating that long term there is no evidence that a history of dioxin exposure places risk for birth defects. However the report had little statistical information on women and future problems with miscarriages and birth defects. [Dr. ?Mador?] There is no question that acute dioxin exposures have been associated with birth defects, spontaneous abortions, that was [inaudible] ?Italy episode? and documented in other acute exposures. Long term, there's no evidence that a history of dioxin exposure places any increased risk for birth defects. [Male voice] A special Agent Orange survey is being taken right now and it needs your input. [Whalen] Oregon, along with 22 other states is now conducting an Agent Orange survey trying to

establish the number of veterans that have been exposed to dioxin. Former Viet Nam vet and coordinator Brian Moore believes it will have to be the state's responsibility to seek out these veterans who refuse to go through the V.A. [Moore] It seems that the government's reaction so far has been always been a rather stonewall type of reaction, where [every] every incident, for instance, chloracne took years for them to recognize it as being dioxin related. Now it's PCT as being related. I'm sure others are going to start ?keeping on?. [Whalen] While the Vietnam veterans are slowly being sought out and the scientific data is slowly coming in on Agent Orange, the $180,000,000 settlement will be distributed. A distribution plan is now being established. For future medical problems unknown, many believe the settlement pool is clearly inadequate. [Male voice] These veterans have been dealt a very, very bad hand in this deal. They should have been treated for their problems. They were

not. [Booth] Well veterans' attorneys recently moved to overturn the settlement and bring the case to trial in an open court. Originally the lawyers supported the settlement, because they were told there would be only 20,000 claims. To date, over 200,000 claims have been filed. Also recently opened sealed documents revealed that the manufacturers of Agent Orange knew that exposure to dioxin could cause serious illnesses. The U.S. District court in New York will hold arguments for overturning the case on March 18th. Jim. [Swenson] About 400,000 people who live in Oregon and southwest Washington suffer from some form of arthritis. Arthritis is actually a group of diseases which cause inflammation of the joints. And although it's a common problem, arthritis is one of the most misunderstood afflictions today. Rhonda Barton explains why. [Flute playing] [Barton] Debbie ?Elden? may be just 16, but she knows what it feels like to be very old.

For the past dozen years, Debbie [inaudible] had juvenile arthritis. It's affected her hands,wrists and ankles. [Debbie] Sometimes it's just like burning in your joints and I just feel like stiff, but [inaudible] sharp, shooting pain. [Barton] What kinds of things do you do? [Debbie] I take 14 aspirin a day and every 3 weeks I get a gold injection. [Barton] There are 3 to 4 thousand Oregon youngsters like Debbie. That fact surprises a lot of people. Commercials for aspirin and other pain relievers give people the idea that arthritis is just a problem for older folks; that it's just one disease rather than a hundred or more different types of illness. There's also the misconception that arthritis just means minor aches and pains. [Female voice] What the mystery of it is, you're not bleeding and you don't see an open sore. And it's very hard for the outsider to really understand the intense pain of the person who's suffering. The pain is so bad that laying in bed,

a sheet over you hurts. You can't get out of bed. You can't help yourself in the bathroom. You can't walk. You can't pull your pillow under your head. Every time you roll over at night it wakes you up because there's so much pain. [Barton] To see Sharon ?Zwingly? in action you'd never guess anything was wrong. But her doctor says she has the body of an 80 year old woman. Five days a week ?Zwingly? swims in a specially heated pool that strengthens the muscles around joints inflamed by rheumatoid arthritis, a disease which also has crept into her voice box, lungs and eyes. [?Zwingly?] It is imperative to exercise. My motto is "use it or lose it". [Female voice] Uh, the bungie cords are a little tight. [Zwingly] These are my favorite exercises. And the reason why I like these is because you can exercise your muscles without putting any stress on your joints. [Barton] Volunteering for the Arthritis

Foundation, ?Zwingly? teaches others how to control their disease through self-help techniques like exercise. About a thousand Oregonians have taken the course in the year it's been offered here. Not only is the program new, but so is the philosophy behind it. [Robert Bennett] For many years it was considered bad for people with arthritis to exercise. Because we know that if you overuse a joint it deteriorates more rapidly. On the other hand the important psychological [inaudible] from exercise. And also physical ones, like keeping bones strong, keeping muscles strong that are equally important; we have to try to balance that [voice fades out] [Barton] Robert Bennett heads the rheumatology department at the Oregon Health Sciences University, where research is going on in everything from the genetic basis of some arthritis, to the effectiveness of ?DMSO?. Bennett says while self-help courses are very important, early diagnosis is even more critical. [Bennett] Unfortunately with several types of arthritis we don't have an absolute cure. That in fact really makes

it even more important to treat these people at an early stage. For instance, in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, if one can treat the disease at a very early stage and delay the destruction of joints that usually occurs with this disease, one could keep someone functionally active a very long period of time. [Barton] But most people wait to see a doctor. They think their aches and pains will go away or they're afraid. [Female voice] Most employees are fearful of losing their jobs. Or they don't think that they will be promoted or advanced if their supervisors or management finds out they have arthritis. [Barton] The Arthritis Foundation is going to the workplace to change that attitude. A pilot program beginning in March will let employers know how to help their workers with arthritis and it will save disability payments at the same time. [Female voice] Ninety-five percent of [Female voice] The people that have arthritis can lead a normal productive life. [Noise] [Barton] But for some, living with arthritis, this means making adjustments. [Pauline] I think back about last year,

last January, I had a part time job, I was going to school part time. I was taking aerobics twice a week and weight lifting. And I do none of those things now. So the adjustment in my life has been a big slowdown. It's not that I can't work or that I can't go to school. It just takes a tremendous amount of energy. And people don't realize that arthritis makes me tired. [Barton] These days 29 year old Pauline ?Lejay? saves her energy for daughter Nicole and the rest of her family. She takes medication, six or seven different drugs in the last year, and lots of naps and she tries not to think about tomorrow. [Pauline] I've only had it for a year and so I'm still denying the fact that it will be with me for a lifetime. In all likelihood it will be. But I can't think of that in term - I don't think of in long term, ah that I will have this forever. I think of coping with it: today, I feel good. And maybe tomorrow I'll feel good. I don't think of it in terms

that I'm going to get worse. [Swenson] Well the Arthritis Foundation offers self-help courses throughout the state and in order to participate you must be referred by a physician. For more information on the program you can write to the Arthritis Foundation in Portland. Gwyneth. [Booth] Well if you're having difficulty remembering those warm halcyon days when you worked in last summer's garden, then this story is for you. [classical music] [Booth] It is the time of the year when seed catalogs bloom profusely [Music] [Female voice] On the coffee tables of would be gardeners and and green thumbers, it is a time of remembering those beautiful dahlias last summer's garden offered, or the sweet scent of just-picked and still warm tomatoes or corn, from the vegetable gardens which flourished in the September sun. For those contemplating upcoming gardens, Front Street offers a look at one of Oregon's

most successful men of the soil. We visited with him last September to see the garden which won the National Annual Victory Garden contest sponsored by WGBH in Boston. [Male voice] Andrew, it's my pleasure to be able to present you with this, uh, the award of the silver trowel for being the winner of our sixth annual Victory Garden contest. You have a wonderful garden and you have my congratulations. It's a great honor. [Biggerstaff] Thank you very much. [Voice in background] [Booth] 84-year-old Andrew Biggerstaff of Portland was one of 500 entries nation-wide in the contest. His garden, an an engineering feat in itself, is unique for its extreme slope and terracing. Andrew constructed the terraced garden himself. It took him five years to complete the 17 terraces of rock or two by twelves held in place by long steel angle irons. Of course Andrew was a much younger man when he began this monumental task. [Biggerstaff] I did this, when I was, started when I was 67. [Booth] You started the terraces when you were

67? [Biggerstaff] Oh yeah, 67. [Booth] How long did it take, Mr. Biggertsaff? [Biggerstaff] Ah,most of the heavy construction, about 5 years. [Booth] Did you do it all by yourself? [Biggertstaff] [inaudible] You know I wanted a terrace wide enough for ?dahlias?. Well I got it all right, but the first winter, that thing tilted. And so I got in with a jackhammer and I took, well you can see how much I took off of it. [Booth] Yeah. [Biggerstaff] And then also dug it out behind. And since then we've been through some pretty bad winters. I mean ?slide stuff? it hasn't moved. So I think maybe they'll stay put. [Booth] Andrew Biggerstaff's garden includes flowers, as well as the many vegetable varieties produced. He did admit that he planted his garden with the contest in mind, so he didn't include as many flowers as in past years. [Background voices] The edible offerings included corn,

potatoes, bush beans, cukes, peas, carrots, beets and some things he had never grown before: cauliflower, cabbage, okra, eggplant, and giant pumpkins. It looks like you're going to have more. I see more ripening. [Biggerstaff] Looks like the pumpkin's gonna take over the tomatoes. [Booth] Uh-huh. [Biggerstaff] And now this year I learned of a new one they call "Atlantic Giant". I believe someone up in Nova Scotia originated. Anyway, I got some seed of it. And it's supposed to go over 300 pounds. So we'll wait and see. [Booth] Mr. Biggerstaff... [Biggerstaff] It's already a pretty good size. [Booth] What do you do with a 300-pound pumpkin? [Biggertsaff] Well the main thing is don't let it get away from you on a slope. [Booth] [laughing] He shared with us some of his flower growing experiences as well. [Biggerstaff] I don't know how you could actually have a sunflower that's a lot better than others. I like a specimen if it's an exceptional specimen of a flower. [inaudible]

But the delphiniums are great [voice trails off] [Booth] Andrew Biggerstaff has always loved to garden. [Booth] Why do you love to garden? [Biggerstaff] Because there's always something new. I think that's the main thing. [inaudible] ?I like to? plant the seed and watch it grow either into a vegetable or into a flower maybe that you've never seen before. There's always a surprise for you. [Booth] He sees gardening as a kind of religion and believes others should return to the soil. [Biggerstaff] I think really we're getting too far away from the soil. Everybody. You know the kids grow up now, they don't even know [laughing] they don't even know a cow if they saw it. I used to tell the wife, I says, I think if everyone had a garden and a plot of ground, there wouldn't be near as much trouble

in the world at large, you know. [classical music] [Booth] With its spectacular view of Portland, as well as Mt. Hood, the Biggerstaff garden is a treasure. But no more so than its gardener, who grow seeds for the love of it and shares his results with his neighbors and his community. It is indeed a victory garden for Andrew Biggerstaff. Well Jim, Andrew was a real inspiration to know, as was his garden to see. Speaking of gardens, I'd like to know if you have planted your primroses yet. [Swenson] If I had ti - I haven't even cleaned up my garden from last year. I've dead nasturtiums all over the place. So, maybe by next week. And speaking of next week, on the next edition of Front Street Weekly you'll meet Portland's new police chief, Penny Harrington. She's the first woman in the country to head a major city police force and she plans on bringing some changes to the bureau. [Booth] Montessori has provided an education alternative for young children around the world for over

75 years. All of Oregon's Montessori schools are private, but now there's talk of incorporating the Montessori concept into the public schools. [Swenson] And we'll see how by combining color and geometry a Eugene couple has been able to mix work and play, business and home. And that's our show for this evening.Thanks for joining us. We'll see you next week. Good night. [Booth] 'Til then, good night.