Citation Nr: 21009233 Decision Date: 02/22/21 Archive Date: 02/22/21 DOCKET NO. 14-38 342 DATE: February 22, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for coronary arteriosclerosis is granted. REMANDED Entitlement to a compensable initial rating for a bilateral hearing loss disability is remanded. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran’s coronary arteriosclerosis may be presumed to be the result of in-service herbicide exposure. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for coronary arteriosclerosis have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1112, 1113, 1131, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309 (2019). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Navy from June 1964 to August 1967. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from an April 2013 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran testified before the undersigned Veteran’s Law Judge in February 2021. This appeal is being decided and remanded using the One Touch process. Entitlement to service connection for coronary artery disease The Veteran contends that he has a heart disability due to his active service, to include herbicide exposure during service in the territorial water of the Republic of Vietnam. With respect to service connection based on herbicide exposure, VA laws and regulation provide that a veteran who, during active military, naval, or air service, served in the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam war (i.e., January 9, 1962, to May 7, 1975), shall be presumed to have been exposed to an herbicide agent, unless there is affirmative evidence to the contrary. 38 U.S.C. § 1116(a)(3); 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a)(6)(iii). If a veteran was exposed to an herbicide agent during active service, certain diseases, including ischemic heart disease (which includes atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease including coronary artery disease), will be presumed to have been incurred in service if manifest to a compensable degree within specified periods, even if there is no record of such disease during service. 38 U.S.C. § 1116(a)(2); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307(a)(6), 3.309(e). The Federal Circuit held in Procopio v. Wilkie, 913 F.3d 1371 (Fed. Cir. 2019) holding that “service in the Republic of Vietnam” in 38 U.S.C. § 1116 includes the territorial sea of the Republic of Vietnam and is not limited to the landmass or inland waterways of that nation.” As noted above, for individuals exposed to herbicides in service ischemic heart disease is presumed to be due to such exposure. The evidence indicates that the Veteran has a current diagnosis of coronary arteriosclerosis. The dispositive question, therefore, is whether the Veteran had service in the Republic of Vietnam. Personnel records show that the Veteran was not within the country itself, or the inland waterways, but did serve aboard the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) when it was deployed in support of operations in Vietnam in parts of 1965, 1966, and 1967. In a January 2021 memorandum the RO made the determination that exposure to herbicides was conceded based on the Veteran’s service afloat in the offshore eligible waters as defined in the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019, Public Law 116-23. The Board, therefore, finds that the Veteran had service within the 12 nautical mile territorial sea of Vietnam. As such, herbicide exposure may be presumed and entitlement to service connection for coronary arteriosclerosis is granted. The Board acknowledges that the Veteran also has a diagnosis of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, but this has not been attributed to in-service herbicide exposure, is not presumptively associated with herbicide exposure, has not been medically linked to the coronary arteriosclerosis, and has not otherwise been found to be related to service. Instead, the atrial fibrillation has been associated with post-operative residuals following surgery for an abdominal aortic aneurysm. In any case, the Board finds the foregoing grant to constitute a complete grant of the claimed benefits on appeal, as there is no indication that the Veteran’s heart symptoms can be attributed to any specific diagnosed heart disability and, as such, all symptoms will be rated under the coronary arteriosclerosis. REASONS FOR REMAND Entitlement to a compensable initial rating for a bilateral hearing loss disability The Veteran last was afforded a VA examination for his hearing loss disability in March 2013. During his recent Board hearing, the Veteran described how his hearing loss symptoms had worsened since the time of his last examination. Given the length of time since the last examination and the Veteran’s reports of worsening symptomatology, the Board concludes that a remand is necessary to determine the current severity of the Veteran’s disability. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the current severity of his service-connected bilateral hearing loss disability. The examiner should provide a full description of the disability and report all signs and symptoms necessary for evaluating the Veteran’s disability under the rating criteria. J.W. FRANCIS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board C. J. Houbeck, 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.