The Vietnamese government is treating some people exposed to Agent Orange, the defoliant sprayed by American troops during the Vietnam War, using a detoxification method developed by the founder of the Church of Scientology, according to doctors involved in the program.

Nguyen Ba Vuong, a doctor at the Vietnam Military Medical University in Hanoi, said his facility had received “training and methods” from the Association for Better Living and Education, an organization that is financed by Scientologists and the Church of Scientology, according to the association’s Web site.

About 300 people from the northern province of Thai Binh have passed through the program, which involves taking vitamins and minerals, performing strenuous exercise and sweating in a sauna, among other activities, according to Vietnamese news reports.

The aim of the Vietnamese program is to purge the body of dioxin, a toxic contaminant of Agent Orange that has been linked by some researchers to cancers, birth defects and other diseases. A spokeswoman for the Association for Better Living and Education confirmed the program....