Citation Nr: 21024059
Decision Date: 04/22/21	Archive Date: 04/22/21

DOCKET NO. 17-65 949
DATE:       April 22, 2021

ORDER

Entitlement to service connection for bladder cancer is granted.

FINDING OF FACT

The Veteran is presumed to have been exposed to herbicide agents during service in the Republic of Vietnam and bladder cancer is presumed to be due to exposure to herbicide agents.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria for entitlement to service connection for bladder cancer have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1116, 5107 (2018); 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 Navy from July 1964 to March 1979, which included service in Vietnam.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2017 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in San Diego, California. This case was previously remanded by the Board in January 2020.

The RO has conceded that the Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents during his service in Vietnam but denied the claim for service connection because bladder cancer was not among the list of diseases presumed to be associated with herbicide exposure. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e). 

Recently, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 was enacted on January 1, 2021. Part of this act amended 38 U.S.C. § 1116(a)(2) to add parkinsonism, bladder cancer, and hypothyroidism to the list of diseases presumptively associated with exposure to herbicide agents. See National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, Pub L. 116-283 § 9109 (January 1, 2021). As the Veteran is presumed to have been exposed to herbicide agents during service and bladder cancer is a disease presumed to be due to exposure to herbicide agents, the Board finds that service connection for bladder cancer is warranted and the claim is granted.

 

 

Sonja A. Mishalanie

Acting Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Edward G. Lent

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 This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.