caused his death. There is no way of course in proving this but thereis
certainly adequate information in the literature to suggest
a causal
relationship. He did state to me that during his work as
an X-ray
exposure, there is then an 80% chance that his death is attributable to
exposure from X-rays.
technician he wore no protective badge which would have
adequately
monitored his X-ray exposure.
The other attending physician stated with respect to veteran’s service
occupation as an X-ray technician:
Exposure to X-ray nearly every day, may have contributed to the
Leukemia which caused his death.
The radiologist submitted the following opinion concerning
the veteran’s
case:
It is apparently well documented and also proven by his
clinical
course that this was a case of acute leukemia. It is well establi
shed in
medical literature that people who have been exposed to radiati
on over a
period of time have a much higher incidence of leukemia than
a normal!
segment of population. As a radiologist, | am deeply conscio
us of this
situation and everyone in our department who works with X-rays
wears
film badges, which are changed every week to record the amount
of
radiation which they have been exposed to and to prevent overexp
osure.
In addition, the radiologists who fluoroscope wear their lead aprons
and
lead gloves.
It was my personal experience in residency that one of my teacher
s
who was somewhat casual as to wearing particular attire developed
acute
leukemia in the same way and died very rapidly. 1 am convincedthati
t is
very likely that [veteran’s] fatal illness was related to inadequ
ate
protection and chronic exposure to radiation during his service years.
The claimant also submitted a statement from a health physicist, testifyin
g
as an expert, in which hesaid in pertinent part:
lam... particularly interested to note that {veteran] worked as an
_ X-ray technologist for quite some (ime prior to his death.
During the past few years, I have... attempted in every way | know
to point up the risks of leukemia and other forms of radiation
damage ... from exposure to X-rays. Reports of the United Nations
Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation have indicated
that on a linear hypothesis one would expect from 0.5 to 2x10
leukemia per year per rem. In the United States, there are on an average
14,000 new cases of Jeukemia each year, so the doubling rate
for
leukemia is between 35 and 140 rem.In other words, if a person dies of
leukemia and has been exposed to X-rays between 35 and 140 tem, there
is a 50% chance his death was due to radiation.
... The average X-ray technologist... receives far more that this
exposure. In fact, there is good evidence that many are receiving a few
hundred roentgens of occupational exposure per year. Thus, if in the
course of his work [veteran] received, let us say, 400 roentgen
s of X-ray
16
lam sorry I cannot be very quantitative expressing my opinionin this
case. However, from the information | have on the average exposures
received by X-ray technologists, | would say that in my own mind at
least there is better than a 50% chance his death was caused by exposure
to X-rays. It is very probable that there is more than an 80% chancethat
this death resulted from such occupational exposure.
Concerning the latent period between radiation exposure and the onset of
the leukemia another expert who had done extensive research in the causes of
cancer said:
Another point of possible pertinence is the question of the induction
period intervening between irradiation and the onset of the
disease... There is a great variation in induction period, depending
upon age, amount of radiation received and other factors. The induction
period for most types of leukemia reaches a peak at 10 to 15 years after
irradiation. However, it should be pointed out that the disease may
occur only a year or two after exposure or after a very long time, Recent
reports point out that leukemia continues to develop in the bomb
survivors of Hiroshima (after 23-24 years).
... authorities in this field of scientific investigation would strongly
suggest a cause and effect relationship between radiation received during
{veteran’s] tenure in the service and the tragic case of leukemia which
has just terminated hislife.
VA's Decision: In rejecting the claim the Veterans Administration pointed out
that the evidence of record did not indicate that the veteran received
“excessive radiation” during his work andsaid:
It is held that it would be purely speculative to service connect cause
of death in this case when no positive pathology has been shown
between separation from service until just prior to veteran's death andit
is not indicated from any, source that the veteran received excessive
doses of radiation during service. . . It is held that the cause of death is in
no way related to the veteran’s military service nor is it due to excessive
radiation received by the veteran during service.
No appeal taken.