Citation Nr: 20002337
Decision Date: 01/14/20	Archive Date: 01/10/20

DOCKET NO. 17-48 360
DATE: January 14, 2020

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for esophageal cancer, to include as a result of in-service exposure to herbicides, is remanded.

Entitlement to service connection for stomach cancer, to include as a result of in-service exposure to herbicides, is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active service from December 1958 to December 1962. 

The Veteran asserts he was exposed to herbicides in service and that such exposure caused these disabilities. Specifically, on his September 2017 VA Form 9, he noted that he was exposed to herbicides while stationed at Kaneohe Bay (Hawaii). 

VA’s Adjudication Procedures Manual, M21-1, provides procedures to develop claims based on herbicide exposure on a factual basis in locations other than Vietnam, Korean DMZ, and Thailand. See M21-1, Part IV, Subpart ii, 1.H.7.a.  Initially, the Veteran should be asked to provide the approximate dates, location, and nature of the alleged exposure. If such information is obtained, the agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) should furnish the Veteran’s detailed description of exposure to the Compensation and Pension (C&P) Service via email and request a review of the Department of Defense inventory of herbicide operations to determine whether herbicides were used as purported. If the C&P’s review does not confirm that herbicides were used as asserted and if the Veteran has provided sufficient data to permit a search by the Joint Services Records Research Center (JSRRC), a request should be sent to JSRRC for verification of herbicide exposure.

Here, in the current appeal, the record does not document that the Manual directives have been followed with regard to the alleged herbicide exposure in Hawaii.  Accordingly, this appeal is remanded for the following action:

1. Ask the Veteran to provide the approximate dates, locations, and nature of his exposure to herbicides while serving in Hawaii. 

2. If the Veteran provides sufficient information, follow Manual provisions for verifying herbicide exposure and document the efforts made. If the Veteran does not provide sufficient information, document this finding and conduct any additional development deemed necessary. Return his appeal to the Board as is necessary.

 

 

THERESA M. CATINO

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	J. Dworkin, Counsel

The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential, and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.