‘I hope my son dies before me’: 44 years after US-Vietnam war, Agent Orange victims are treating brain damage with painkillers

The market for low-cost painkillers is ballooning as poverty-stricken victims of the US military’s toxic herbicide search for relief

But many living in rural areas without proper care cannot be weaned off their medication, which doctors say is worrying because of long-term health risks

Reading Time:4 minutes

Nguyen Thi Tai has brain damage and muscular dystrophy, and relies on her mother Tran Thi Gai for care. Photo: Khairul Anwar

Published: 9:00pm, 8 Jun 2019Updated: 9:54am, 10 Jun 2019

Every night for the past 20 years, Nguyen Thi Tai takes four white tablets before bed so she can sleep without pain.

The painkillers and anti-epilepsy medication provide relief for the 32-year-old, who has brain damage and muscular dystrophy caused by wartime toxin Agent Orange. “If she does not take the pills, she will be up all night crying and knocking her head against the wall,” says Tai’s mother, Tran Thi Gai, 58, at their home in Vietnam’s poverty-stricken Quang Tri province.

Four of Gai’s eight children have medical conditions linked with Agent Orange. The family lives on less than US$30 a month, crammed in a tattered house in rural Cam Tuyen village.

Quang Tri Provincial Hospital is a run-down place. Photo: Khairul Anwar

Three million Vietnamese born after the Vietnam war ended in 1975 have birth defects associated with Agent Orange. They need medication and rehabilitation therapy, but the lack of access to health care leaves many relying on over-the-counter painkillers instead.

Vietnam has become one of the fastest-growing markets for painkillers, according to market research firm Euromonitor International, with sales figures jumping nearly 80 per cent from US$76.1 million to US$135.4 million between 2014 and 2018.

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