Citation Nr: 21027926 Decision Date: 05/07/21 Archive Date: 05/07/21 DOCKET NO. 20-04 180 DATE: May 7, 2021 ORDER Service connection for bladder cancer is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran has papillary transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder, a form of bladder cancer, which is currently in remission. 2. The Veteran had in-country service in Vietnam and is presumed to have been exposed to herbicide agents, such as Agent Orange (AO). CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for bladder cancer are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1112, 1113, 1116(a)(2)(J); 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from March 1962 to December 1963, and from February 1967 to February 1969. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an April 2015 rating decision from a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In October 2020, the Veteran requested an extension of 180 days in order to submit additional evidence. See VA 21-4138 Statement in Support of Claim received 10/26/2020. In December 2020, the undersigned Veterans Law Judge granted the extension request for good cause shown. See Extension Request received 12/23/2020. Additionally, as this decision represents a full grant of the service connection benefit sought, there is no prejudice with issuing a decision. Service connection for bladder cancer is granted. The Veteran contends that his bladder cancer, which was diagnosed in May 2006 was caused by his exposure to AO since he has no familial history of cancer and his doctor told him that it was not hereditary. See Correspondence received 1/29/2015 at page 1; see also Form 9 received 1/30/2020. 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). The Veteran's exposure to AO is presumed since he had in-country service in Vietnam during the presumptive period. See Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty received 2/18/1970; see also STR Medical received 5/09/2014 at page 6. In the Board's August 2020 remand, the Board found that the Veteran had a current disability since his medical records showed that he had a recurrence of his bladder cancer in July 2016. See BVA Decision received 8/12/2020 at page 2; see also Capri received 01/08/2020 at page 4. Additionally, the October 2020 VA examiner found that the Veteran's bladder cancer was in remission. See C&P Exam received 10/19/2020 at page 2. See McClain v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 319, 321 (2007) (holding that the requirement that a claimant have a current disability before service connection may be awarded for that disability is also satisfied when a claimant has a disability at the time a claim for VA disability compensation is filed or during the pendency of that claim); see also Romanowsky v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 303 (2013) (stating that where a disease or disability is diagnosed proximate to the current appeal period, but not currently, the Board is required to determine whether the earlier diagnosis was inaccurate or the previously diagnosed condition had gone into remission). 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 law. See 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, to include AO. As the Veteran had bladder cancer and was exposed to AO in Vietnam, service connection shall be presumed in the absence of intercurrent causes. The medical record does not suggest an intercurrent cause. Service connection is presumptively granted for bladder cancer and its residuals. Paul Sorisio Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board S. Dixon, 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.