Citation Nr: 21012668 Decision Date: 03/04/21 Archive Date: 03/04/21 DOCKET NO. 15-35 754 DATE: March 4, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for bladder cancer is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran’s currently diagnosed bladder cancer is presumed to have been incurred as a result of herbicide exposure. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for bladder cancer have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1112, 1116, 1131, 1137, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.307, 3.309. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the Navy from September 1957 to June 1968. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2015 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In May 2018, the Veteran testified at a videoconference hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A transcript of the hearing is of record. This claim was last before the Board in December 2020 where it was remanded for additional development. This appeal has been advanced on the Board’s docket pursuant to 38 C.F.R. §20.900(c); 38 U.S.C. § 7107(a)(2). 1. Entitlement to service connection for bladder cancer The Veteran contends that his bladder cancer is related to his service, to include his in-service agent orange exposure. See June 2015 Notice of Disagreement. Service connection may be granted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. The three-element test for service connection requires evidence of: (1) a current disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the current disability and the in-service disease or injury. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1166 -67 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Veterans who, during active military, naval, or air service, served in the Republic of Vietnam from February 28, 1961 to May 7, 1975, shall be presumed to have been exposed to an herbicide agent, including Agent Orange, unless there is affirmative evidence to establish that the Veteran was not exposed to any such agent during that service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.307 (a)(6)(iii). Additionally, if a veteran was exposed to an herbicide agent during active military, naval, or air service, certain diseases, to include certain cancers, shall be service-connected if the requirements of section 3.307(a)(6) are met, even though there is no record of such disease during service, provided that the rebuttable presumption provisions of 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(d) are also satisfied. 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e). Treatment records show that the Veteran has a current diagnosis of bladder cancer that was initially diagnosed in 2013. Additionally, herbicide exposure has previously been conceded.   The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, P.L. 116-283, § 6501, 134 Stat. 3388 (Jan. 1, 2021) added bladder cancer to the list of diseases associated with Agent Orange exposure. As the Veteran has a current diagnosis of bladder cancer and in-service herbicide exposure has been conceded, the claim for entitlement to service connection for bladder cancer is granted. K. A. BANFIELD Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board G. N. Wilson, 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.