Panama Canal Zone VA claims: Agent Orange and what the Board grants

Is there an Agent Orange presumption for Panama?

No. Panama and the Canal Zone are not among the places where VA presumes herbicide exposure. For any other place, VA's manual says it is the claimant's burden to establish the exposure as a fact (M21-1 VIII.i.1.A).

VA's location presumptions name Vietnam and its offshore waters, the Korean DMZ, Thailand, Laos, parts of Cambodia, Guam, American Samoa and Johnston Atoll, each for set dates. Panama is not on that list. A Panama claim is a direct claim: proof of the exposure, a current diagnosis and a medical link. VA's manual does list San Jose Island and Fort Clayton among the World War II mustard gas test sites (M21-1 VIII.iii.3.A), a separate rule for veterans of that era.

How often does the Board grant Panama Agent Orange claims?

Rarely. For the conditions on the herbicide list, the Board granted 9.6% of claims from veterans whose decision names Panama, against 25.0% for all veterans with the same conditions. Diabetes was granted 5.0% of the time, against 24.0% overall.

835 Board decisions from 2020 to 2025 with a service-connection claim name Panama, the Canal Zone or one of its bases. The decision records herbicide exposure in 253 of them (30.3%). The chart compares each condition with all veterans who claimed it.

Bar: share granted for Panama veterans

Red mark: all veterans with the same condition

Conditions on the Agent Orange list

VA presumes these for herbicide exposure at the listed places, not for Panama.

• Diabetes DC 7913

  5.0% · 8 of 160

  all veterans 24.0%On the Agent Orange list

• Hypertension DC 7101

  11.0% · 12 of 109

  all veterans 19.0%On the Agent Orange list

• Prostate, bladder or kidney cancer DC 7528

  15.8% · 9 of 57

  all veterans 33.7%On the Agent Orange list

• Coronary artery disease DC 7005

  12.5% · 5 of 40

  all veterans 34.1%On the Agent Orange list

Other conditions Panama veterans claimed

• PTSD DC 9411

  32.3% · 61 of 189

  all veterans 27.1%

• Hearing loss DC 6100

  20.0% · 14 of 70

  all veterans 23.5%

• Knee DC 5257

  8.8% · 6 of 68

  all veterans 16.3%

• Sleep apnea DC 6847

  16.1% · 10 of 62

  all veterans 26.2%

• Back or neck strain DC 5237

  15.8% · 9 of 57

  all veterans 15.8%

• Nerve damage, legs DC 8520

  19.2% · 10 of 52

  all veterans 23.0%

• Back (degenerative arthritis) DC 5242

  20.0% · 10 of 50

  all veterans 28.1%

• Tinnitus DC 6260

  60.4% · 29 of 48

  all veterans 52.8%

• Erectile dysfunction DC 7522

  12.8% · 6 of 47

  all veterans 19.5%

• Shoulder DC 5201

  15.2% · 7 of 46

  all veterans 16.7%

• Back (disc disease) DC 5243

  13.9% · 5 of 36

  all veterans 20.0%

• Depression DC 9434

  42.9% · 15 of 35

  all veterans 39.0%

• Ankle DC 5271

  14.3% · 4 of 28

  all veterans 16.6%

• Schizophrenia DC 9201

  22.2% · 6 of 27

  all veterans 12.7%

• COPD DC 6604

  0.0% · 0 of 25

  all veterans 12.4%

• Migraine DC 8100

  16.0% · 4 of 25

  all veterans 24.6%

• Nerve damage, arms DC 8513

  13.0% · 3 of 23

  all veterans 18.0%

• Degenerative arthritis (other joints) DC 5003

  40.9% · 9 of 22

  all veterans 32.5%

• Acid reflux (GERD) DC 7206

  9.1% · 2 of 22

  all veterans 19.2%

• Dermatitis or eczema DC 7806

  23.8% · 5 of 21

  all veterans 17.5%

• Hip or thigh DC 5253

  20.0% · 4 of 20

  all veterans 16.1%

One count per veteran per condition; a remand counts as not granted. Conditions with at least 20 veterans.

Diabetes was granted for 8 of 160 veterans, hypertension for 12 of 109, and coronary artery disease for 5 of 40 (12.5%, against 34.1% overall). Conditions off the list did about as well as for everyone: 22.5%, against 23.9% for the same mix of conditions. PTSD (32.3%) and tinnitus (60.4%) did a little better than overall.

Decisions that name PanamaAll veterans, same conditions

2020

3.8%

18.9%

2021

6.5%

21.9%

2022

0.0%

27.7%

2023

6.0%

28.5%

2024

11.5%

27.8%

2025

22.6%

25.2%

Share of decided claims granted; a remand counts as not granted. One count per veteran. Conditions on the herbicide list: 38 CFR 3.309(e) and 38 U.S.C. 1116.

The share rose from 5.1% in 2020 and 2021 to 13.6% from 2023 to 2025. The PACT Act did not add Panama, and the data does not show why grants rose.

How do Panama herbicide claims succeed?

Mostly on the Panama service itself, not on other service. Of 28 decisions that granted a herbicide-list condition, 3 also name Vietnam, Thailand, the Korean DMZ or another place with its own presumption. In two recent grants, the Board accepted the exposure in Panama, once on a private medical opinion linking the illness to herbicides and pesticides used there.

In the first grant below, the Board found the veteran was exposed to herbicides in Panama and also restored diabetes and hypothyroidism that VA had cut off. In the second, a private opinion tied Hodgkin's lymphoma to herbicides and pesticides used on Galeta Island.

Why are Panama herbicide claims denied?

For 110 denials of herbicide-list conditions, the Board's note named the exposure in 61.8% of them. Without a presumption, the claim needs proof that the exposure happened.

Without a presumption, the Board looks for evidence that herbicides were present where the veteran served and that the veteran was exposed. Personnel records, unit histories and specific, consistent statements about duties and places carry the most weight.

Read the decisions

Recent decisions, with the Board's reasoning as summarized by AI:

• A25107995, December 2025: hypertension granted after the Board found the veteran was exposed to herbicides in Panama; the severance of service connection for diabetes and hypothyroidism was found improper and restored.
• A25110182, December 2025: Hodgkin's lymphoma granted; a private medical opinion linked it to commercial herbicides and pesticides on Galeta Island, Panama, and the Board resolved doubt in the veteran's favor.
• 25014210, November 2025: testicular cancer claimed from herbicide exposure in Panama, denied; the evidence did not show the exposure.

What the data cannot tell you

The Panama group comes from the places each decision names; a mention is not proof of service there or of exposure. Decisions that name only Panama City, Florida, are left out. Service-connection claims only; rating appeals are left out. The herbicide flag and denial notes are AI-extracted. These are historical outcomes, not predictions.

For representatives

• Look for service at a listed place first: Vietnam and its waters, Thailand, the Korean DMZ, Guam and the others each carry a presumption.
• Without one, build the exposure as a fact: duties, dates, the base, and any records of herbicide or pesticide use there.
• Get a medical opinion that links the condition to the exposure the evidence supports.
• If VA cut off a grant based on Panama service, check whether the severance was proper; the first decision above restored two.