A Vietnam veteran died partly because he was exposed to Agent Orange, a doctor who treated him says.
In what was believed to be a medical first for New Zealand, the man's death certificate listed exposure to Agent Orange as a cause of death. It also attributed the death of Pat Hauwai, 65, to cigarette smoking.
Veterans told the New Zealand Herald it was the first time in New Zealand a death had been officially attributed to the chemical.
Agent Orange was a herbicide sprayed over thick jungle in Vietnam to kill off growth which was giving North Vietnamese soldiers places to hide. It released cancer-causing dioxins and soldiers were not protected from the aerial spray.
Mr Hauwai was a private in Victor One Company in 1967.
Six weeks ago he went to a doctor with what he believed was the flu but two weeks later was diagnosed with lung cancer. It spread quickly through his body and he died last week.
His death certificate, signed by Dr Desmond Wong of Manukau, gave the cause of death as "metastatic non-small cell carcinoma of the left lung" - a form of lung cancer. He noted smoking and Agent Orange beneath the cause of death, the newspaper said.
Mr Hauwai's wife Cavell Hauwai told the Herald doctors believed the cancer spread so rapidly because of her husband's exposure to Agent Orange.
She said veterans should have free medical care instead of the one free health check they were allowed each year.
