Veteran’s appeal hearing at least three years away

In March, atomic veteran Mike Hirschhorn, a former Navy sailor, appealed his 10 percent disability rating for skin cancer linked to exposure to radioactivity during 1962 nuclear tests over the Pacific Ocean near Christmas Island.

It took seven years for him to wade through the Department of Veterans Affairs' paperwork requirements to get to that point.

Instead of receiving a 10 percent disability payment of $115 per month, Hirschhorn is seeking $900 a month, which represents a 60 percent disability rating.

He said he believes that payment should be retroactive to cover the years he has spent proving his case to the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

A Defense Threat Reduction Agency spokeswoman has said Hirschhorn didn't receive an appreciable radiation dose, even though the VA has given him a 10 percent disability rating because of his exposure while aboard the USS Merrick when nuclear tests were conducted over the Pacific Ocean in 1962.

Now the VA regional office in Reno is requiring him to submit the same paperwork he sent in by certified mail in January before his appeal.

"This is totally beyond belief. It's everything they can possibly do to stall this out until I die," he said. "After six months I'm back to square one."

This month, Hirschhorn found out that for unknown reasons the Board of Veterans Appeals has split his case into two appeals: one for his rating for sometimes-fatal melanoma and the other for the effects of melanoma.

"One of these days I'm going to go ballistic," Hirschhorn said recently when he found out that the first appeal finally has been assigned a docket number.

The Board of Veterans appeals is working docket numbers from September 2005.

That means it will probably be two years before Hirschhorn's case is even assigned a date for a video appeal hearing.

"The closest I can tell, I'm looking at the better part of three years before it will be even heard by the board," he said.

"My health being what it is, I can almost guarantee you they're going to win," Hirschhorn said. "I won't live long enough to ever see this thing finally give me the rating that I deserve.

"Does anyone want to wonder why people get frustrated?" he asked.

KEITH ROGERS Wondering how a local story turned out or what happened to someone in the news? Call the City Desk at 383-0264, and we will try to answer your question in this column.