Citation Nr: 18147886 Decision Date: 11/06/18 Archive Date: 11/06/18 DOCKET NO. 14-28 091A DATE: November 6, 2018 ORDER New and material evidence having been submitted, the claim of entitlement to service connection for a lung disability, to include as due to asbestos exposure, is reopened. REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a lung disability, to include as due to asbestos exposure, is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for ischemic heart disease, to include as due to herbicide exposure, is remanded. FINDING OF FACT 1. The April 1999 rating decision denying service connection for a lung disability was not appealed and became final. 2. Evidence received since the April 1999 rating decision relates to unestablished facts necessary to substantiate the claim of entitlement to service connection for a lung disability. CONCLUSION OF LAW Evidence received since the April 1999 rating decision is new and material, and the claim of entitlement to service connection for a lung disability, to include as due to asbestos exposure, is reopened. 38 U.S.C. § 5108; 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(a). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from October 1963 to September 1967. The Veteran testified at a hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in July 2018. A transcript of the hearing has been associated with the record. Whether new and material evidence has been received to reopen a claim of entitlement to service connection for a lung disability, to include as due to asbestos exposure The Board finds that the low threshold for reopening the claim for service connection has been met. Shade v. Shinseki, 24 Vet. App. 110 (2010). The new evidence is material, and the Veteran’s claim for service connection for a lung disability, to include as due to asbestos exposure, is reopened. REASONS FOR REMAND 1. Entitlement to service connection for a lung disability, to include as due to asbestos exposure, is remanded. As discussed above, the Veteran’s claim for service connection for a lung disability due to asbestos exposure was denied in an April 1999 Rating Decision. The Rating Decision found that the Veteran was exposed to asbestos in service, and that the Veteran has a current lung disability. However, the Rating Decision found no nexus between the Veteran’s in-service exposure to asbestos and his current lung disability. Since that Rating Decision, the Veteran has submitted new and material evidence, including VA medical treatment records. In November 2015, a VA radiologist found that the Veteran had bilateral pleural plaque consistent with asbestos exposure, though there was no significant interstitial lung disease appreciated. In light of this new medical evidence, the Board finds that remand is necessary to obtain a VA medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran’s current lung disability is related to his in-service exposure to asbestos. 2. Entitlement to service connection for ischemic heart disease, to include as due to herbicide exposure, is remanded. VA laws and regulations provide that, if a Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents during service, certain listed diseases, including ischemic heart disease, are presumptively service-connected. 38 U.S.C. § 1116 (a)(1); 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e). There is an additional presumption of exposure to herbicides (to include Agent Orange) for all veterans who served in Vietnam during the Vietnam Era (the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975). 38 U.S.C. § 1116(f); 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a)(6)(iii). The Veteran contends that he was exposed to Agent Orange while serving aboard the U.S.S. Castor, which performed duties in Vietnam’s offshore waters. In a July 2013 memorandum, the Joint Services Records Research Center (JSRRC) did not concede exposure to Agent Orange. The JSRRC indicated that it reviewed the Veteran’s service personnel records, and deck logs for the U.S.S. Castor, and found that the ship did not dock in Vietnam during the Veteran’s service aboard that ship. At the June 2018 hearing, the Veteran described an incident which occurred during his service aboard U.S.S. Castor, when the ship came under enemy fire while docked at Da Nang, Vietnam. The Veteran also submitted a December 1965 letter from the captain of the U.S.S. Castor, indicating that the ship had made stops in Da Nang, An Thoi, Vin Cam Ranh, and Qui Nhon, Vietnam. In light of this letter, further development of the Veteran’s exposure to Agent Orange is warranted. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the nature and etiology of any lung disability. The examiner must opine whether it is at least as likely as not related to an in-service injury, event, or disease, including established exposure to asbestos. (a.) The examiner must address the February 1997 chest x-ray, which revealed findings consistent with past chronic exposure to asbestos, the March 1999 x-rays, which were not pathognomonic for asbestos, and the November 2015 radiology report, which found bilateral pleural plaque consistent with asbestos exposure. 2. Attempt to verify the Veteran’s asserted in-service exposure to herbicide agents. If more details are needed, contact the Veteran to request the information. If there is still insufficient information to verify exposure to herbicide agents, issue a Formal Finding outlining the steps taken to assist the Veteran and notify the Veteran of VA’s inability to verify the in-service herbicide agent exposure. (a.) The VA must address the December 1965 letter from the captain of the U.S.S. Castor, indicating that his ship had made stops in the Republic of Vietnam. (b.) The VA must address the January 2014 statement from the Veteran’s VA treating physician that his current heart condition is due to Agent Orange exposure. JENNIFER HWA Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD C. Casey, Associate Counsel