Citation Nr: 18161172 Decision Date: 12/28/18 Archive Date: 12/28/18 DOCKET NO. 17-13 804 DATE: December 28, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for glioblastoma mutliforme is granted. Entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran’s glioblastoma multiforme (glioblastoma) was related to service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for glioblastoma have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1112, 1116, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.307, 3.309. The criteria for service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1116, 1310; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.5, 3.312. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran had active service from October 1966 to August 1968. The Veteran died in June 2014. The appellant is the Veteran’s surviving spouse, who has been recognized as a valid substitute in the matter. 1. Service connection for glioblastoma brain cancer Service connection may be established for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active military, naval, or air service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Service connection may be granted for any disease initially diagnosed after discharge, when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). Service incurrence for certain diseases, including diabetes and prostate cancer, will be presumed on the basis of an association with certain herbicide agents (e.g., Agent Orange). 38 U.S.C. § 1116; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307(a)(6), 3.309(e). Such a presumption, however, requires evidence of actual or presumed exposure to herbicides. Veterans who during active 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; 38 C.F.R. § 3.307. The Veteran served in Vietnam from September 1967 to August 1968; thus the Veteran is presumed to have been exposed to an herbicide agent. In an October 2018 medical opinion, a private physician reported the determination that it was more likely than not that the Veteran’s herbicide exposure caused or substantially aggravated his risk for glioblastoma, citing epidemiology and scientific evidence in support of the finding that Agent Orange contributes to glioblastoma pathogenesis and noting that the Veteran did not appear to have other risk factors that would predispose him to glioblastoma. There is no probative evidence against the claim for service connection. Thus, the Board finds service connection is warranted. 2. Service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death DIC benefits are payable to the surviving spouse of a veteran if the veteran died from service-connected disability. 38 U.S.C. § 1310; 38 C.F.R. § 3.5. Service connection for the cause of a veteran’s death is warranted if a service-connected disability either caused or contributed substantially or materially to the cause of the veteran’s death. 38 U.S.C. § 1310; 38 C.F.R. § 3.312. The death of a veteran will be considered as having been due to a service-connected disability when the evidence establishes that such disability was either the principal or a contributory cause of death. A service-connected disability will be considered as the principal, or primary, cause of death when such disability, singly or jointly with some other condition, was the immediate or underlying cause of death or was etiologically related thereto. 38 C.F.R. § 3.312(b). (Continued on the next page)   The record indicates that the cause of the Veteran’s death was glioblastoma. The Board has determined that the Veteran’s glioblastoma was related to service. Thus, the Board finds service connection is warranted for the cause of the Veteran’s death. T. REYNOLDS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD N. Snyder, counsel