Citation Nr: 18142454 Decision Date: 10/15/18 Archive Date: 10/15/18 DOCKET NO. 15-21 855 DATE: October 15, 2018 REMANDED Service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death is remanded.   REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from March 1951 to March 1954. The Veteran died in October 2012, and the appellant is his surviving spouse. The case is on appeal from a November 2013 rating decision. In July 2018, the appellant testified at a Board videoconference hearing. From the date of the hearing, the record was held open for 60 days to allow for the submission of additional evidence for consideration. Service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death. The Veteran’s death certificate documents that his immediate cause of death in October 2012 was intracerebral hemorrhage, due to (or as a consequence of) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The Veteran’s service-connected disabilities were status post total right knee replacement with scar (rated 30 percent disabling) and status post total left knee replacement with scar (rated 30 percent disabling). He was also in receipt of a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to his service-connected disabilities (TDIU rating), effective August 16, 2010. The appellant has contended that the Veteran’s service-connected knee disabilities caused him to suffer from conditions (including mechanical falls, blood clots, and depression) which, she has alleged, ultimately caused his fatal intracerebral hemorrhage and COPD. In an April 2013 written statement and in testimony at her July 2018 Board hearing, the appellant reported that the Veteran had been treated in the months prior to his death at two private hospitals: the Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Massachusetts. On remand, all outstanding treatment records for the Veteran from these two private hospitals should be obtained and associated with the claims file. There is also evidence of record indicating that there may be outstanding VA treatment records for the Veteran. At present, the only VA progress notes for the Veteran that have been associated with the claims file are dated from December 2010 to April 2011 and are from the VA Boston Healthcare System. Thereafter, VA hospital admission reports dated in May 2011, June 2011, September 2011, and December 2011 document that he was hospitalized on those occasions through the VA Boston Healthcare System or at the Bedford, Massachusetts VA Medical Center (VAMC). In addition, the appellant indicated in a May 2013 written statement that there were treatment records for the Veteran located at the Bedford VAMC, the Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts VAMC [part of the VA Boston Healthcare System], and the West Roxbury, Massachusetts VAMC [part of the VA Boston Healthcare System]. Furthermore, the Veteran’s death certificate documents that he died in October 2012 as an inpatient at the Bedford VAMC. The Board notes that any VA treatment records are within VA’s constructive possession, and are considered potentially relevant to the issue on appeal. On remand, all outstanding VA treatment records for the Veteran must be obtained and associated with the claims file. The matter is REMANDED for the following actions: 1. Ask the appellant to complete a VA Form 21-4142 for all private providers who treated the Veteran prior to his death (including all outstanding treatment records from the Beth Israel Hospital and the Lahey Clinic). Make two requests for the authorized records from these providers, unless it is clear after the first request that a second request would be futile. 2. Obtain all outstanding VA treatment records for the Veteran (including from all facilities associated with the VA Boston Healthcare System and the Bedford VAMC) for the period from April 2011 until his death in October 2012, to include all of his terminal treatment records. RYAN T. KESSEL Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD L. B. Yantz, Counsel