“All Bets Were Off”: Changes in Scientific Causation and Tort Law through the Lens of Agent Orange from 1984 to 2005

Agent Orange, an herbicide used during the Vietnam War, occupies a unique place in the American psyche. On the one hand, the use of it and other similar herbicides and defoliants may have saved countless lives during the war, helping to protect American troops. On the other, Agent Orange contained highly toxic dioxin, a chemical that has been blamed for numerous medical problems among veterans, Vietnamese, and their families. The legal cases that have developed regarding Agent Orange balance a number of contentious issues, from the rights of former servicemen to sue the government to what kind of evidence is necessary to show that dioxin caused a disease.