Citation Nr: 21004871 Decision Date: 01/28/21 Archive Date: 01/28/21 DOCKET NO. 20-12 625 DATE: January 28, 2021 ORDER Service connection for Parkinson’s disease is granted. Special monthly compensation (SMC) based on the need for regular aid and attendance or housebound status is granted. A 10 percent rating based on multiple noncompensable service-connected disabilities is dismissed as moot. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents (Agent Orange) while serving at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base (RTAFB) during the Vietnam era; and, as a result of his in-service exposure to herbicide agents, his diagnosed Parkinson’s disease is presumed to be etiologically related to his active service. 2. The Veteran’s Parkinson’s disease rendered him unable to care for his daily needs without the regular aid and attendance of another person. 3. The grant of service connection for Parkinson’s disease and award of SMC based on the need for regular aid and attendance has rendered the claim for a 10 percent rating based on multiple noncompensable service-connected disabilities moot. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The criteria for service connection for Parkinson’s disease are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303(a), 3.307, 3.309. 2. The criteria for SMC based on the need for the regular aid and attendance of another person have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1114(l), 1154(a), 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.350(b), 3.351, 3.352. 3. The claim for a 10 percent rating based on multiple noncompensable service-connected disabilities is dismissed as moot. 38 U.S.C. § 1155 ; 38 C.F.R. § 3.324. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from May 1950 to May 1953. The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Air Force from March 1955 to March 1959 and from June 1959 to June 1972.  This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from a September 2015 rating decision. The Veteran died in August 2018, and the Veteran’s surviving spouse has been substituted as the appellant for the purpose of processing the Veteran’s claims to completion. Service Connection Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131. In order to establish service connection, the evidence must show: (1) the existence of a present disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the present disability and the disease or injury incurred or aggravated during service. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1166-67 (Fed. Cir. 2004). VA assumes that veterans whose duties placed them near the perimeters of specified RTAFBs, including Udorn RTAFB, during the Vietnam era (defined as January 9, 1962, through May 7, 1975) were exposed to herbicide agents. The Veteran was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, which is presumptively associated with in-service exposure to herbicide agents. 38 U.S.C. § 1116(a)(2); 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e). Before his death, the Veteran claimed that his Parkinson’s disease related to his exposure to herbicide agents while serving in Thailand and during temporary duty travel to the Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam). His service personnel records show that the Veteran served at Udorn RTAFB during the Vietnam era, including from October 1966 to July 1967, and from October 1970 to January 1971. In pertinent part, he reported that his in-service duties placed him on the flight line, which he stated was located near the perimeter of the RTAFB. A September 1971 performance report indicated that the Veteran’s duties placed him at the flight line, and his duties more generally included maintenance of the Air Defense Alert Facility and Grounds. The Veteran’s personnel records do not explicitly state that he served at the perimeter of Udorn RTAFB. They also do not contradict the allegations that he regularly served at the RTAFB perimeter. Indeed, the Board finds no evidence contrary to the Veteran’s assertions that his duties placed him at the perimeter of the base. Accordingly, in light of the Veteran’s consistent reports that he worked near the perimeter of Udorn RTAFB during the Vietnam era, the weight of the probative evidence of record is at least in equipoise as to whether the Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents during service. Service connection for Parkinson’s disease is therefore warranted. SMC SMC for aid and attendance is payable if, as the result of service-connected disability, the Veteran was so helpless as to be in need of regular aid and attendance of another person. 38 U.S.C. § 1114(l); 38 C.F.R. § 3.350(b). When determining whether the need for regular aid and attendance exists, VA considers factors such as: the inability of claimant to dress or undress himself or to keep himself ordinarily clean and presentable; the inability of claimant to feed himself; the inability to attend to the wants of nature; or the incapacity, physical or mental, which requires care or assistance on a regular basis to protect the claimant from hazards or dangers incident to his daily environment. In August 2015, an examiner noted that the Veteran’s 80-year old spouse was his primary caretaker. His spouse performed all of the Veteran’s activities of daily living, including bathing, dressing, toileting, grooming, food preparation, and feeding the Veteran. In a September 2017 examination, a clinician noted that the Veteran required “total care” with bathing and hygiene. The clinician indicated that as a result of his Parkinson’s disease, the Veteran required the assistance of a home health aid or family member, and the Veteran did not drive. Thus, for the period prior to his death, the weight of the evidence shows that the Veteran required the aid of another person on a regular basis as a result of the impairment associated with his Parkinson’s disease, which is now service-connected. SMC based on the need for regular aid and attendance of another person is warranted. Multiple Noncompensable Service-Connected Disabilities VA may grant a 10 percent rating when a veteran has two or more permanent service-connected disabilities that interfere with normal employability, even though none of the disabilities are themselves compensable under the rating schedule. 38 C.F.R. § 3.324. Once a compensable evaluation for any such service-connected disability has been awarded, this provision, which requires the existence of multiple noncompensable service-connected disabilities, is rendered moot. See Butts v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 532, 541 (1993). The Board’s decision has granted service connection for Parkinson’s disease and an SMC based on the need for regular aid and attendance. The issue of entitlement to a 10 percent rating based upon multiple noncompensable service-connected disabilities is thereby moot. The claim for entitlement to a 10 percent rating based on multiple, noncompensable, service-connected disabilities must be denied as a matter of law. See Sabonis v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 426, 430 (1994). MICHAEL A. HERMAN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board J.A. Flynn, 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.