Off Beat: Lots of smoke in radiation ruling

One of the tragic legacies of the nuclear age is the open-air testing that occurred in the 1950s with U.S. servicemen as the guinea pigs.

Many contracted cancer from their exposure to radiation and have been trying to extract compensation from the federal government ever since.

A recent decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims brings that testing closer to home because the claimant says he worked at Beale Air Force Base in the mid-1950s.

But Lyle Larsen wasn't present during the nuclear testing. He claims he received a cancer-causing dose of radiation after the blast.

Larsen filed his claim in 1998, alleging he contracted acute myelocytic leukemia — a rare bone marrow cancer — from radiation at the nuclear test site.

AML, according to Wikipedia, is "a cancer of the myeloid line of cells, characterized by the rapid proliferation of abnormal cells which accumulate in the bone marrow and interfere with the production of normal blood cells."

About 1.2 percent of all cancer deaths in the United State are attributed to this disease.

The court noted that when Larsen filed his claim, he acknowledged that "while he was not present at the Nevada Test Site during nuclear testing, he performed various earthwork projects as part of a special unit cleaning up the NTS after Operation TEAPOT, a series of atmospheric nuclear tests conducted between February and June of 1955. (Larsen) also stated that he experienced diarrhea at that time and that he believed it to be caused by exposure to radiation."

Larsen's claim was initially denied, until July 2000, when VA's Chief Public Health and Environmental Hazards Office, Susan H. Mather, M.D "opined, based upon (his) alleged exposure during 1955 and 1956, that his AML 'can be attributed to exposure to ionizing radiation in service,'" the court noted.

Shortly thereafter, Mather reversed her decision, the court said, after the VA said Larsen was stationed in the blast zone for "only" five months.

Larsen continued through the process until December 2006, when Board of Veterans' Appeals "found that the competent medical evidence of record failed to show that the appellant's AML could be related to exposure to ionizing radiation in service, either on a direct or presumptive basis."

The appeals court reversed the board, noting that "some veterans who participated in 'radiation-risk activities' during service are entitled to presumptive service connection for certain enumerated diseases."

In ruling for Larsen, the court observed that the board "wholly disregarded (Larsen's) lay evidence suggesting that he performed a variety of earthwork and cleanup activities in and around the NTS after Operation TEAPOT."

The appeals court sent Larsen's case back to the board and told Larsen he "is free to submit additional evidence — including 'buddy' statements establishing his presence at the site as described in his claim."