Parkinson's disease VA claims: Agent Orange, Camp Lejeune and what the Board grants

How VA rates Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is rated under DC 8004 in 38 CFR 4.124a, with a minimum rating of 30 percent. The schedule also lets VA rate its residuals, such as loss of use of a limb, speech or swallowing problems, in proportion to the impairment.

Where VA presumes the link

Parkinson's disease is on two presumptive lists: herbicide exposure under 38 CFR 3.309(e) and the Camp Lejeune water contamination under 38 CFR 3.309(f). How often the Board grants it still depends heavily on where and how a veteran served.

Granted

All Parkinson's claims

35.5%

Thai air base named

73.5%

Takhli air base, Thailand

96.6%

Korean DMZ named

45.4%

Camp Lejeune named

45.1%

Vietnam named

41.9%

Herbicide exposure recorded

40.5%

Blue Water Navy mentioned

32.9%

Share of decided claims that name Parkinson's granted; a remand counts as not granted. One count per veteran. Each group is one rule on the decision's own record; groups overlap and a mention is not proof of qualifying service.

In 279 decisions that name a Thai air base, the Board granted 73.5% of Parkinson's claims, 38.0 percentage points above the overall share. Decisions that name Vietnam did far worse (41.9%), and so did those that mention the Blue Water Navy (32.9%). The data does not show why. Thai claims may reach the Board with the service question already settled, while Vietnam and offshore claims are often fought over whether the veteran was there at all.

Camp Lejeune decisions mention Parkinson's 3.3 times as often as Board decisions overall, and the Board granted 51 of 113 claims (45.1%), 9.7 percentage points above the overall share. A presumption covers the link between the water and the disease. It does not prove the veteran was at the base during the contamination period, or that the diagnosis is Parkinson's disease rather than another movement disorder, and those were the questions the denials turned on.

Thailand before and after the PACT Act

The PACT Act, signed in August 2022, wrote the Thailand herbicide presumption into law. Board decisions on Parkinson's claims from Thai air base veterans granted 63.0% from 2017 to 2021 (192 veterans) and 77.1% from 2022 to 2026 (192 veterans).

Granted

Decided 2017-2021

63.0%

Decided 2022-2026

77.1%

Board decisions whose locations name a Thai air base, all years 2017-2026. The PACT Act was signed in August 2022.

Fewer of these claims now reach the Board: 82 in 2022 against 11 in 2025. The data does not show why. One possibility is that more are granted before an appeal.

Beyond the presumptions: the flight line

Decisions that mention trichloroethylene, or TCE, a degreaser long used on aircraft and vehicles, mention Parkinson's 12.3 times as often as Board decisions overall.

TCE was also in the Camp Lejeune water, and many veterans also served in Vietnam, so this could simply be a presumption showing up again. To check, we set aside the 53 veterans whose decision shows Agent Orange or Camp Lejeune service. Among the rest, the Board granted 54 of 75 (72.0%). Solvents (21 of 40) and jet fuel (25 of 51) hold up the same way, and 96.9% of jet fuel decisions never mention Camp Lejeune.

Granted

All Parkinson's claims

35.5%

Trichloroethylene (TCE)

72.0%

Solvents (general)

52.5%

Jet fuel

49.0%

Fuels and petroleum

48.1%

Veterans whose decision shows service VA presumes for Parkinson's (Agent Orange, Camp Lejeune) are left out: for them the presumption is the answer. Groups come from what the decision mentions and overlap.

Not every pattern survives that check. Aircraft mechanics won 28 of 45 Parkinson's claims, but 37 of those veterans also had Agent Orange service. Without them, 8 claims are left, too few to judge. For a mechanic who served in Vietnam or Thailand, the presumption is the stronger route.

None of this is a presumption. Without one, a grant depends on proof of the exposure and an individual medical opinion linking it to the disease.

Look up your client's group

Pick a group to see the Board's Parkinson's outcomes for every base, service history, exposure, job and medal with at least 15 decided claims, 65 groups in all.

Bases 14Service history 19Exposures 21Military jobs 5Medals 6

Bar: share of this group's Parkinson's claims the Board granted. Red line: all Parkinson's claims, 35.5% granted. A bar past the line won more often than usual.

×

More often than usual: how much more often Parkinson's comes up in this group's decisions than in all Board decisions. It shows how common the condition is here, not how often it wins.

Set aside

For groups VA does not presume, veterans whose decision shows service VA already presumes for Parkinson's (for example Vietnam or Thailand for Agent Orange) are left out, because for them the presumption is the answer.

Sort byGrant shareMore often than usualClaims decided

• Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand

  Presumed by law · 38 CFR 3.309(e)
  96.6% granted · 28 of 29

  9.6×more often

• Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand

  Presumed by law · 38 CFR 3.309(e)
  85.7% granted · 18 of 21

  7.7×more often

• Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand

  Presumed by law · 38 CFR 3.309(e)
  79.2% granted · 42 of 53

  9.8×more often

• U-Tapao Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand

  Presumed by law · 38 CFR 3.309(e)
  76.1% granted · 54 of 71

  10.9×more often

• Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand

  Presumed by law · 38 CFR 3.309(e)
  75.0% granted · 15 of 20

  8.4×more often

• Royal Thai Air Force Base (RTAFB) in Korat, Thailand

  Presumed by law · 38 CFR 3.309(e)
  74.1% granted · 40 of 54

  10.0×more often

• Da Nang AFB

  Presumed by law · 38 CFR 3.309(e)
  65.2% granted · 30 of 46

  7.2×more often

• Camp Lejeune

  Presumed by law · 38 CFR 3.309(f)
  43.5% granted · 54 of 124

  3.3×more often

6 more groups: too few claims to judge once veterans with presumptive service are set aside

• Fort McClellan, Alabama: 10 of 33 claims left, 23 set aside
• Camp Casey: 1 of 24 claims left, 23 set aside
• Eglin AFB, Florida: 0 of 17 claims left, 17 set aside
• Kadena AFB: 0 of 30 claims left, 30 set aside
• Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa, Japan: 0 of 28 claims left, 28 set aside
• Osan Air Force Base: 0 of 15 claims left, 15 set aside

Conditions claimed secondary to Parkinson's

Claimed secondary to Parkinson's disease	Granted	Veterans	Times as common
Neurocognitive disorder	16	29	25.9 times
Neurogenic bladder	16	26	5.4 times
Major depressive disorder	17	30	3.4 times

The link also runs the other way. Under 38 CFR 3.310(d), VA presumes Parkinsonism that follows a moderate or severe traumatic brain injury is secondary to the injury.

Read the decisions

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

• A25098470, granted in 2025: presumed herbicide exposure during service at Takhli in Thailand.
• A25051149, granted in 2025: service in Thailand, now recognized under the PACT Act.
• A25074692, granted in 2025: direct service connection for TCE exposure as a helicopter mechanic, supported by a private opinion and a VA opinion.
• A25050255, granted in 2025: conceded exposure to chemicals including TCE as a jet aircraft mechanic.
• 25010745, granted in 2025: a VA physician linked the disease to trichloroethylene and DDT exposure at Aberdeen Proving Ground.

What the data cannot tell you

Groups come from what each decision mentions. A mention of a base or a chemical is not proof of service there or of exposure, and one veteran can appear in several groups. These are historical outcomes, not predictions, and they do not show that any exposure causes Parkinson's disease.

For representatives

• For Thai air base service, confirm the base and the dates first. In decisions that name a Thai air base the grant share was 73.5%, against 35.5% overall.
• For Camp Lejeune, the presumption alone did not carry most claims. Build the record on time at the base during the contamination period and on the diagnosis.
• For aircraft maintenance, degreasers and fuels, there is no presumption. Check first for Vietnam, Thailand or Camp Lejeune service; without it, a nexus opinion that addresses the specific exposure, such as TCE, is the core of the claim.
• Check for secondary conditions such as cognitive decline, bladder problems and depression once Parkinson's is service connected.