Episode 14: Download the first Independent Medical Opinion letter that got a Vietnam Veteran VA Service-Connection for Agent Orange causing Dementia.

UPDATE 11/10/2025: We were successful! The VA Awarded 100% Service-Connection for Agent Orange Causing Dementia for the first time in history. Read the VA's Rating Decision Letter for Agent Orange Dementia.

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I recently had the experience of doing an evaluation on a Vietnam veteran who had been exposed to Agent Orange. Since 1993, the VA Secretary has declared that there is no link between Agent Orange and the subsequent development of dementia. In the past two years, all that has changed.

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I just have to say, Thank a Vietnam Veteran TODAY

The entire world owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to our Vietnam Veterans, not only for suffering the way the did and continue to, but for advancing mental health care with the advent of the PTSD diagnosis in 1980. My family got involved because my father brought Vietnam home with him too. I like to say my little brother and I were Sons of Rambo, but my life experience led me to a completely different way to look at the whole problem. Flashbacks are electromagnetic waves in the body. Dozens of ancient, and several modern, techniques address the EMF wave without talking about trauma or pain at all. I believe energy healing returns us to our ancestral roots and God, in His infinite grace and lovingkindness, has provided a way for all peoples to find relief through different forms of medicine and healing. That's why Mindshift Care blends modern PTSD care with the much more effective ancient techniques that are Complementary and Alternative Medicine options for self-care. So, now I can help you, pray for you, and watch you release the residue from the body that is the real problem-magnifier. // MAJ (fmr) Daniel M. Williams, M.D., P.A.

The toxic shame-culture still abounds at every step and every layer of the Matrix.

So when you do VA Disability Evaluations, sometimes you get push-back on your reports. It's usually a previously written rebuttal paragraph, like this one. Notice how they address a board-certified psychiatrist of 10 years that believes neurotoxins kill brain cells - they said my report had "deficiencies". What I really wanted to say, instead of this IMO letter below, is "You're copy/pasting a 'deficiency' reply into the official VA disability claim from a veteran who was drafted, had nerve agent dumped on top of him from American aircraft, and was spit upon when he returned home to a country with several cities burning in protest fires. No, my report did not have deficiencies. You're part of a corrupt system that has been denying these claims since Agent Orange's first test spray in Vietnam on August 10, 1961. Signed, MAJ (fmr) Daniel. M. Williams, M.D., P.A., former 36th Infantry Division Psychiatrist."

Here's what the VA said when I concluded Agent Orange caused Dementia

"Please have the previous examiner address the deficiencies with the examination he or she conducted on the Veteran. Neurobehavioral disorders (cognitive and neuropsychiatric) have been determined by the Secretary, based on cumulative scientific data reported by the National Academies of Science since 1993, to have no positive association with herbicide exposure. Dementia is classified as a neurobehavioral disorder, encompassing both cognitive and neuropsychiatric components. You indicated that "the rationale is the veteran was exposed to Herbicide Agent TCDD while the Veteran served in Vietnam. This has been associated with the subsequent development of dementia." However, this rationale is not sufficient in this case. The rationale must: 1. Cite any general medical principles used to support the opinion. 2. Identify pertinent medical evidence and case-specific information relied on to support the opinion. 3. Demonstrate how the opinion was formulated. 4. Include supportive arguments for any opinions rendered or conclusions reached, with an analysis that can be considered when weighing contradictory or conflicting opinions. 5. Provide clear conclusions based upon supporting data and analysis, including a reasoned medical explanation connecting the two. Please clarify how, as a specific and individual matter, the Veteran’s dementia is associated with herbicide exposure, given that the National Academies of Science since 1993 have found no positive association involving neurobehavioral disorders with herbicide exposure as a general matter. Provide a specific, individualized rationale consistent with the five points above, to substantiate and support the opinion rendered."

I have to admit that when I first saw this reply, it was news to me. I had the feeling I made a mistake, but I had to fight this one. If you've read about my personal struggle with detoxing from the PFAS Forever Chemicals, you'd know I'm intimately familiar with how neurotoxins kill brain cells. I decided to dig my feet in and write an essay on how Agent Orange causes dementia. Besides, I had to because there was no way to resubmit the document I had already filled out. I didn't know the research when I made that decision.

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2026 Nominee for the Mindshift Care Every Day Hero Award

I invited Dr. Suzanne de la Monte, MD MPH to appear on the Gluten-Free Psychiatry Podcast. She is the researcher that provided both missing links between Agent Orange and dementia. Contact me to submit questions you'd like me to ask prior to that podcast. My plan is to emphasize her as a role model for future researchers' footsteps to follow.

Download and share the full IMO letter with citation at the bottom of this page. Be sure to leave the PDF unchanged and cite properly.

My Proof That Agent Orange Causes Dementia: Response to the VA

[The most current version of the letter will be at the bottom of the page.]

"Recent evidence suggests that Agent Orange exposures may predispose to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s Disease.1 There are now biological breakthroughs in science demonstrating what has been missing since in establishing causality of Agent Orange leading to neurocognitive decline and dementia. This contradicts the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs long held position that there is no causality (see Appendix A). It is well accepted that amyloid plaque collects in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.2  More recent evidence suggest that medications with anti-histamine properties, like over-the-counter sleep aids and allergy pills, shut down the glymphatic system’s nightly brain wash-out of these amyloid plaques. Higher plasma Aβ oligomer levels were found in the blood of Alzheimer’s Disease patients that had been exposed to Agent Orange than those who had not.3 This landmark finding is a missing biological link to elevated amyloid plaques that build up (See Figure 1).

Figure 1. Peer-reviewed, scientific studies now demonstrate causality of Agent Orange and neurocognitive damage, including the mechanism of action of dementia.

The Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2008 publication was written by the Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides (Seventh Biennial Update) at the Institutes of Medicine.4 In the 2008 Update, they write “Neurologic disorders due to toxicant exposure may result in either immediate or delayed dysfunction of any component of the nervous system; immediate effects of toxicants may involve all aspects of the nervous system, whereas delayed effects are likely to produce more focal problems.” They ruled against Agent Orange causing neurobehavioral effects, while simultaneously writing that Alzheimer’s Dementia, Parkinson’s Disease, Spinocerebellar degeneration, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis “all may be triggered by aspects of the environment, including toxicant exposure.” I opine that the reason there is not enough data to show causality is because it would be unethical to arrange a research study to prove it. The closest we can come is to recreate the conditions in a lab. Fortunately, researchers at Rhode Island Hospital, Lifespan Academic Institutions, and the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island have made progress demonstrating the mechanism of action in cell cultures and in rat models.

In 2023, Suzanne de la Monte et al. published their landmark finding under laboratory conditions, citing “Exposures to Agent Orange herbicidal chemicals rapidly damage CNS neurons, initiating a path toward AD-type neurodegeneration. Additional research is needed to understand the permanency of these neuropathologic processes and the added risks of developing AD in Agent Orange-exposed aging Vietnam Veterans.5 This study supports previously denied claims that the two main constituents in Agent Orange, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T), which independently and synergistically damage the central nervous system.5 Both compounds impair mitochondrial function and reduce cell viability in neuronal models, with 2,4,5-T demonstrating greater potency in causing cell death and mitochondrial dysfunction.”5         

In 2024, Suzanne de la Monte and Ming Tong published their findings in live rat models.6 The rats were injected with Agent Orange and developed brain damage that clearly mimics dementia in humans.6 They concluded “Exposures to AO herbicidal chemicals damage frontal lobe brain tissue with molecular and biochemical abnormalities that mimic pathologies associated with early-stage AD-type neurodegeneration.”6