(August 1, 2016, 10:35 AM EDT) -- WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on July 29 affirmed a lower court’s decision that it lacked authority to rule on the appeal filed by a group of veterans who contended that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) decision to deny benefits for alleged exposure to Agent Orange violated a federal act, which those veterans had argued guaranteed them medical benefits (Blue Water Vietnam Veterans Association Inc., et al. v. Robert A. McDonald, No. 15-5109, D.C. Cir.; 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 13780)....