Citation Nr: 21015495 Decision Date: 03/17/21 Archive Date: 03/17/21 DOCKET NO. 17-63 420 DATE: March 17, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for bladder cancer is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran’s bladder cancer is the result of his presumed in-service exposure to herbicide agents, to include Agent Orange. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for bladder cancer are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1112, 1113, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309.   REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from October 1964 to October 1967. The Veteran testified in support of this claim during a hearing held before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ) in March 2021. The transcript of this hearing is not yet available. However, this appeal meets the criteria for VA’s one-touch initiative program, which is a complete grant of the benefit sought; and, as such, this decision is being prepared pursuant to such program. To provide an immediate response to the Veteran after his hearing, a transcript of the hearing will be added to the Veteran’s file later, in the normal course of business. 1. Entitlement to service connection for bladder cancer The Veteran contends that his bladder cancer should be service connected. The Board agrees. Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from a disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. See 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. A veteran seeking compensation under these provisions must establish three elements: “(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.” Saunders v. Wilkie, 886 F.3d 1356, 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2018) (quoting Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004)). With regard to herbicide agent exposure, VA laws and regulations 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). For these Veterans, diseases associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents will be presumed to have been incurred in service even though there is no evidence of that disease during the period of service at issue. 38 U.S.C. § 1116 ; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309(e). Medical records confirm that the Veteran had bladder cancer (a urothelial carcinoma). The agency of original jurisdiction has already made a formal finding that the Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents in service, but the Veteran was denied service connection as bladder cancer was not previously a condition for which service connection could be presumed. On January 1, 2021, however, Congress overrode the Presidential veto of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 and it became Public Law No. 116-283. Section 9109 of that law amended 38 U.S.C. § 1116(a)(2) to add bladder cancer to the list of presumptive conditions for exposure to herbicide agents, e.g. Agent Orange. As the Veteran had bladder cancer and was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam, service connection shall be presumed in the absence of intercurrent causes. The medical record does not suggest an intercurrent cause. Service connection shall thereby be granted. MICHAEL A. HERMAN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Paul Saindon, Special 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.