Citation Nr: 19103003 Decision Date: 01/15/19 Archive Date: 01/11/19 DOCKET NO. 15-38 084 DATE: January 15, 2019 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for bladder cancer, for accrued benefit purposes is granted. Entitlement to service connection for the Veteran's cause of death is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran has confirmed service at Camp Lejeune. 2. The Veteran’s bladder cancer is presumed to have originated in service from his service at Camp Lejeune. 3. The Veteran died in June 2012 due to bladder cancer. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The criteria for entitlement to service connection for bladder cancer, for accrued benefit purposes have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107, 5121; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.304, 3.307, 3.309 3.1000. 2. The criteria for entitlement to service connection for the Veteran's cause of death have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1310, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.307, 3.309, 3.312. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran had active duty service in the United States Marine Corps from June 1964 through March 1966, to include service in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. These matters come before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from a March 2013 rating decision from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regional office (RO) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1. Entitlement to service connection for bladder cancer, for accrued benefit purposes. Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active military, naval, or air service. 38 U.S.C. § 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (a). Service connection may be granted for any disease initially diagnosed after service when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (d). Service connection for a disability requires evidence of: (1) a current disability; (2) a disease or injury in service, and; (3) a relationship or nexus between the current disability and any injury or disease during service. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Veterans that served at Camp Lejeune for at least thirty days during the period from August 1, 1953 to December 31, 1987 are presumed to have been exposed to contaminants in the Camp Lejeune water supply, unless there is affirmative evidence to the contrary. 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a)(7). Exposed Veterans meeting the requirements of § 3.307(a)(7) are presumed to be service connected for certain disabilities, including bladder cancer. 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(f). The Appellant asserts the Veteran’s bladder cancer should be service connected because he was stationed at Camp Lejeune between 1964 and 1966. The service treatment records show that the Veteran served at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina for at least thirty days during the applicable period. Service treatment records indicate the Veteran sought medical treatment on November 1964, January 1965, and May 1965. Additionally, the Veteran’s Certificate of Release lists Camp Lejeune, North Carolina as the installation from which he was honorably discharged. Although the exact dates of his service at Camp Lejeune are not available, he clearly served at the base for at least 30 days, and therefore met the threshold duration of service during the applicable time-period required under 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a)(7)(iii). The Appellant provided a death certificate issued by the State of Florida and certified by Dr. H.G., M.D. The Veteran’s natural cause of death listed by Dr. H.G. on the death certificate is bladder cancer. The Veteran’s bladder cancer disability is listed in 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(f) as a disorder subject to service connection on a presumptive basis for a Camp Lejeune veteran. As such, the Board finds that service connection for bladder cancer is presumed. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309. Consequently, service connection for bladder cancer, for accrued benefit purposes is warranted. 2. Entitlement to service connection for the Veteran's cause of death. Service connection may be granted for the cause of the Veteran’s death if a disorder incurred in or aggravated by service either caused or contributed substantially or materially to the cause of death. 38 C.F.R. § 3.312(a). For a service-connected disability to be the cause of death, it must singly or with some other condition be the immediate or underlying cause. 38 U.S.C. § 1310; 38 C.F.R. § 3.312(b). Service connection for cause of death may be warranted where a service-connected disability was a contributory cause of death. A contributory cause of death is inherently one not related to the principal cause, and it must be shown that it contributed substantially or materially; that it combined to cause death; that it aided or lent assistance to the production of death. It is not sufficient to show that it casually shared in producing death, but rather it must be shown that there was a causal connection. 38 C.F.R. § 3.312(c)(1). The Veteran’s death certificate identified bladder cancer as the Veteran’s cause of death. Based on the face of the death certificate the Board concludes that bladder cancer caused the Veteran’s death. Service connection for bladder cancer based upon a presumptive basis associated with exposure to contaminants in the on-base water supply located at Camp Lejeune was granted and is discussed above. Considering the totality of the evidence, the Board concludes that the Veteran’s service connected bladder cancer was the sole cause of death. Therefore, service connection for the Veteran’s cause of death is granted. Thomas H. O'Shay Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD M. Mahmoudi, Associate Counsel