Veterans’ Medical Care

I am sure your editorial “Agent Orange: Suddenly There’s Action” (Feb. 2) is received as welcomed support by many concerned about the plight of Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange toxicity. An issue well alluded to in the editorial but still, I feel, in need of further emphasis, relates to the availability of medical care for all veterans regardless of Agent Orange exposure.

Those of us involved in the day-to-day medical care of our veteran population, as I have been for more than 13 years, are repeatedly chagrined and frustrated by the many administrative impositions placed on the medical delivery system because of resource limitations at presumably the federal level. As hostilities in the Gulf War intensify and we prepare our VA facilities to receive the casualties, there could be no better moment than the present to insist through our congressional representatives that resources be prioritized so that medical care for all veterans, present and future, be as unrestricted and comprehensive as possible.

BASIL CLYMAN, MD

Associate Chief of Staff

Ambulatory Care

VA Medical Center, Sepulveda