Citation Nr: 20030103 Decision Date: 04/29/20 Archive Date: 04/29/20 DOCKET NO. 18-07 191 DATE: April 29, 2020 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for porphyria cutanea tarda is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from February 1964 to February 1968. This matter comes on appeal before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from a June 2017 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In May 2019, the Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge via videoconference hearing. A copy of the hearing transcript is of record and has been reviewed. 1. Entitlement to service-connection for porphyria cutanea tarda is remanded. As an initial matter, the Veteran was diagnosed with porphyria cutanea tarda during a February 2017 VA Agent Orange Evaluation. However, the RO determined that the February 2017 diagnosis of porphyria cutanea tarda was not probative due to essentially normal laboratory testing. See December 2017 SOC. The Veteran has not yet been afforded a VA examination. On remand, the Veteran should be afforded a VA examination to clarify whether the Veteran meets the current diagnostic criteria for porphyria cutanea tarda. Next, the Veteran contends that he was exposed to herbicide agents while serving at Clark Air Force Base (AFB) between March 1965 to August 1966. Although he acknowledges that C-123 planes were not stationed at Clark AFB until 1969, the Veteran contends that several C-123s were sent there for repairs. As a radio repairman, he was assigned to repair TACAN units, some of which were on these C-123s. Further, he asserts that these C-123s had large orange spray tanks inside the plane approximately four to five feet from the TACAN units. He also had to wipe a white powder residue off the TACAN units, and on one occasion, developed tiny blisters over his chest, shoulders, and back within hours of exposure. He sought treatment at Clark AFB’s hospital for the rash, although he notes that he may have been diagnosed with something other than porphyria cutanea tarda due to the unknown nature and side effects of herbicide agent exposure at that time. He contends he has scars to this day. See July 2017 notice of disagreement and May 2019 hearing transcript. The RO has not yet sent requests to Compensation & Pension service to review the Department of Defense’s (DOD) inventory of herbicide agent exposure, JSRRC, PIES, or DRIS to determine if the Veteran was in-fact exposed to herbicide agents. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain any pertinent outstanding VA treatment records and associate with the claims file. 2. Furnish a detailed description of the Veteran’s claimed herbicide agent exposure at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines between March 1965 and August 1966 to C&P Service, and request a review of DoD’s inventory of herbicide agent operations to determine whether any C-123s used for herbicide agent spraying were serviced or repaired at Clark AFB at that time. See July 2017 notice of disagreement and May 2019 hearing transcript. 3. If a negative response is received from the C&P Service, submit a request to JSRRC, DRIS, or any other appropriate resource to attempt to verify exposure to herbicide agent at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines between March 1965 and August 1966. See July 2017 notice of disagreement and May 2019 hearing transcript. 4. Then, schedule the Veteran for a VA examination to clarify whether the Veteran meets the diagnostic criteria for porphyria cutanea tarda and, if so, the nature and etiology of the disability. After a thorough review of the claims file, the examiner should address the following: a) Clarify whether the Veteran meets the diagnostic criteria for porphyria cutanea tarda. If not, the examiner should provide a thorough rationale to support this conclusion, and the examiner should discuss the February 2017 diagnosis and medical findings from the VA Agent Orange evaluation. b) If the Veteran has a current diagnosis of porphyria cutanea tarda or current residuals of porphyria cutanea tarda (e.g. scars), provide an opinion as to whether it had onset during or is otherwise related to service, to include in-fact herbicide agent exposure, if it has been verified. See December 1965 to August 1965 service treatment records. **The examiner must address the Veteran’s contentions that he was treated for an unknown rash by Dr. Palumeque within hours of being exposed to a white powdery substance inside a C-123 at Clark AFB. See July 2017 notice of disagreement and May 2019 hearing transcript. 4. Then, readjudicate the claim on appeal. S. B. MAYS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board T. Harper, Associate 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.