Citation Nr: 21000844 Decision Date: 01/06/21 Archive Date: 01/06/21 DOCKET NO. 16-53 436 DATE: January 6, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for Parkinson's disease is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran served in Vietnam from January 1969 to December 1969. 2. The Veteran has Parkinson’s disease. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria to establish service connection for Parkinson’s disease have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1131, 1112, 1113, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.159, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from July 1968 to February 1970. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2015 rating decision by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO), which denied the Veteran service connection for Parkinson’s disease. A Board hearing was held in December 2020. A transcript is of record. A Veteran is entitled to VA disability compensation if there is a disability resulting from personal injury suffered or disease contracted in the line of duty in active service, or for aggravation of a preexisting injury suffered or disease contracted in the line of duty in active service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110. Service connection is generally found in a three-element test set out by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Service connection may also be granted on a presumptive basis for certain diseases associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents. 38 U.S.C. § 1116; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309(e), 3.313. The presumption is applicable where the disease manifests to a compensable degree in a veteran who had active service for at least 90 days in the Republic of Vietnam between January 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975, even where there is no record of such disease during service. Id. However, the presumption may be rebutted by affirmative evidence to the contrary. 38 U.S.C. § 1113; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309. Thus, to benefit from the presumption, the Veteran must have one of the diseases enumerated in 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e), which includes Parkinson’s disease, and have been exposed to an herbicide agent. Further, a Veteran who during active service served in the Republic of Vietnam between January 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975, shall be presumed to have been exposed to an herbicide agent, unless there is affirmative evidence establishing the contrary. 38 U.S.C. § 1116(f); 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a)(6). Here, the Veteran has had Parkinson’s disease, or symptoms indicative thereof, since at least December 2014. See June 2015, July 2016, and December 2020 private medical records. Therefore, the Veteran has a disease enumerated in 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e). The Veteran served in the Republic of Vietnam from January 1969 to December 1969, which is within the period prescribed by § 3.307(a)(6). As such, he is presumed exposed to an herbicide agent. 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a)(6). Accordingly, the Board finds that the Veteran was exposed to an herbicide agent and has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a disease enumerated in § 3.309(e). The Veteran has met the criteria necessary to enjoy the presumption of service connection. There is no evidence of record that disputes this presumption. Therefore, the criteria for service connection for Parkinson’s disease due to herbicide agent exposure has been met, and the claim is granted. See 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.307, 3.309; Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 9, 55-57 (1990). DONNIE R. HACHEY Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board A. Strickland 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.