Citation Nr: A25035425 Decision Date: 04/17/25 Archive Date: 04/17/25 DOCKET NO. 210913-184386 DATE: April 17, 2025 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for liver cancer due to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran had a diagnosis of liver cancer. 2. The Veteran served at Camp Lejeune for longer than 30 days during the applicable period of time. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for liver cancer due to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 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 November 1968 to January 1972. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rating decision on appeal was issued in May 2021 under The Veterans Appeals Improvement Modernization Act of 2017 (AMA) review system. In September 2021, the Veteran timely appealed this rating decision to the Board and selected the hearing lane for this claim. Thus, the Board can only consider evidence submitted prior to the May 2021 AMA rating decision and evidence provided within 90 days of the Veteran's Board hearing. 38 C.F.R. § 20.301. In April 2025, the Veteran testified at a videoconference Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. The Board notes that the Veteran's 90 days has not expired. However, the Board finds no prejudice in adjudicating the claim where the full benefit requested has been awarded, in this case, service connection. Service Connection Establishing service connection generally requires medical or, in certain circumstances, lay evidence of (1) a current disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a link between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the present disability. Romanowsky v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 289, 293 (2013). Service connection is granted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active duty. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.304. Service connection may be granted for any disease initially diagnosed after service when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (d). VA laws and regulations provide that, if a Veteran was exposed to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune during service, certain listed diseases are presumptively service connected. Under the codified 38 C.F.R. § 3.307 (a)(7), certain diseases have been associated with exposure to contaminants in the water supply at Camp Lejeune. The diseases listed in §3.309(f) shall have become manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more at any time after service; (iii) A veteran, or former reservist or member of the National Guard, who had no less than 30 days (consecutive or nonconsecutive) of service at Camp Lejeune during the period beginning on August 1, 1953, and ending on December 31, 1987, shall be presumed to have been exposed during such service to the contaminants in the water supply, unless there is affirmative evidence to establish that the individual was not exposed to contaminants in the water supply during that service; (iv) Exposure described in paragraph (a)(7)(iii) of this section is an injury under 38 U.S.C. § 101 (24)(B) and (C). Under 38 C.F.R. § 3.309 (f), if a veteran, or former reservist or member of the National Guard, was exposed to contaminants in the water supply at Camp Lejeune during military service and the exposure meets the requirements of §3.307(a)(7), the following diseases shall be service-connected even though there is no record of such disease during service, subject to the rebuttable presumption provisions of §3.307(d): (1) Kidney cancer; (2) Liver cancer; (3) Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; (4) Adult leukemia; (5) Multiple myeloma; (6) Parkinson's disease; (7) Aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes; and (8) Bladder cancer. In the instant case, the Veteran contends that he developed liver cancer as a result of his exposure to contaminated water during his service at Camp Lejeune. The Veteran has a diagnosis of liver cancer. See May 2021 VA Rating decision favorable finding. See also September 2020 private medical records from Dr. A.K. Thus, the Veteran has satisfied the first element of service connection. The record confirms the Veteran's presence at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina for longer than 30 days during the applicable period, from January 1969 to March 1969. See DD-214. Also, it is a favorable finding in May 2021 VA Rating Decision. Thus, exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune is presumed. Therefore, the Veteran has satisfied the second element of service connection, an in-service occurrence. Here, the Veteran's private records reflect that the Veteran developed cirrhosis of the liver secondary to his chronic hepatitis C. Then, Dr A.K. noted that the Veteran later developed liver cancer. See private medical records from Dr. A.K. While there is no medical opinion of record that establishes the cause of the Veteran's liver cancer, the Board finds that the nexus element is satisfied on a presumptive basis. Given such, with respect to the third element of service connection, the Board notes that Veteran's claimed disability of liver cancer is included on the list of presumptive diseases under 38 C.F.R. § 3.309. Consequently, the Board finds liver cancer is presumed to be associated with his Camp Lejeune service. Thus, the third element is satisfied. Accordingly, service connection for liver cancer due to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune is granted. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102 ; Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49, 53 (1990). YVETTE R. WHITE Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board D. Abdelbary, 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.