Agent Orange Study Funding Criticized

The federal Centers for Disease Control misspent $6.6 million while conducting a disputed study of the effects of Agent Orange, a congressional study released Saturday said.

The General Accounting Office said the money was spent on work by outside contractors that was not needed or couldn’t be done because the CDC did not have a methodology ready to begin the work.

Agent Orange was a herbicide sprayed by U.S. troops during the Vietnam War to remove jungle cover. Many veterans contend it is responsible for cancers, birth defects and other ailments.

The report fueled renewed criticism of the CDC’s handling of the Agent Orange study.

Rep. Ted Weiss (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House human resources and intergovernmental relations subcommittee, called the report “direct evidence that the political manipulation of the Agent Orange study resulted in the waste of millions of taxpayer dollars.”