Citation Nr: 18148436
Decision Date: 11/07/18	Archive Date: 11/07/18

DOCKET NO. 16-19 114
DATE:	November 7, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for skin cancer, to include as due to herbicide exposure is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from March 1968 to November 1969.  This matter comes to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a rating decision by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Waco, Texas.
Entitlement to service connection for skin cancer, to include as due to herbicide exposure is remanded.
The Veteran asserts that his skin cancer, diagnosed as basal cell carcinoma, should be service connected due to his exposure to herbicide agents.
Veterans who, during active duty service, served in the Republic of Vietnam during the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975, shall be presumed to have been exposed to an herbicide agent, unless there is affirmative evidence of non-exposure.  38 U.S.C. § 1116 (f); 38 C.F.R. § 3.307 (a)(6)(iii).  If the Veteran was exposed to an herbicide agent during active service, certain enumerated diseases shall be presumptively service-connected even where there is no record of such disease during service, provided that the disease is manifested to a compensable degree as set forth in 38 C.F.R. § 3.307, and the rebuttable presumption provisions of 38 C.F.R. § 3.307 are met.
The Veteran’s claims file reflects service in the United States Army with deployment to the Republic of Vietnam.  Specifically, his record of assignments shows that he was deployed to Vietnam in October 1968.  The Veteran’s DD-214 also reflects approximately eleven months overseas.  Therefore, the Veteran has established a presumption of exposure to herbicide agents.
Additionally, service connection granted on a presumptive basis claiming exposure to herbicide agents requires the Veteran’s disability to be a qualified disease under 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e).  Basal cell carcinoma is not a disease or injury that is presumed to be related to exposure to herbicide agents.  38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309.  This does not preclude the Veteran from establishing service connection with proof of direct causation from exposure to herbicide agents.  Combee v. Brown, 34 F. 3d 1039 (Fed. Cir. 1994).  
However, the Board does not have sufficient medical evidence to make a determination on this claim at this time.  Therefore, the Veteran should be afforded a VA examination to determine whether any skin disorder, including basal cell carcinoma, is related to the Veteran’s service.
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the nature and etiology of any skin disorders during the pendency of the appeal, to include basal cell carcinoma.  The examiner must opine whether it is at least as likely as not related to an in-service injury, event, or disease, including exposure to herbicide agents.  
a. In addressing presumed herbicide agent exposure without a presumptive disease, state whether it is at least as likely as not related to in-service herbicide agent exposure.
2. Once this is completed, the issue on appeal should be readjudicated.  If the benefit sought on appeal is denied, issue a Supplemental Statement of the Case (SSOC) to the Veteran and his representative. 
 
MICHAEL LANE
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	M. Hebert, Law Clerk