Citation Nr: 18144653 Decision Date: 10/25/18 Archive Date: 10/24/18 DOCKET NO. 15-29 550 DATE: October 25, 2018 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for the Veteran's cause of death is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the Air Force from March 1973 to March 1993. He died in January 2011. The appellant is the Veteran’s surviving spouse. The appellant requested a Board hearing and one was scheduled for October 10, 2018. The appellant failed to appear for the hearing and has not suggested there was good cause for doing so. Her request for a Board hearing is therefore considered withdrawn. 38 C.F.R. § 20.704(d) (2017). The Appellant seeks service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death. Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) benefits are payable to the surviving spouse of a Veteran if the Veteran died from a service-connected disability. 38 U.S.C. § 1310 (a) (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 3.5 (a)(1). In order to establish service connection for the cause of a Veteran’s death, the evidence must show that a disability incurred in or aggravated by active service was the principal or contributory cause of death. 38 C.F.R. § 3.312 (a). The Veteran’s certificate of death shows that he died in January 2011 and that the immediate cause of death was aortic dissection and hypertension. In an updated death certificate submitted in July 2015, “history of lung cancer” was listed as a significant condition contributing to death. At the time of the Veteran’s death, he had no service-connected disabilities, but the appellant may still establish entitlement to service connection for the cause of death by showing that the lung cancer that significantly contributed to his death was related to service. The Appellant asserts that the Veteran’s lung cancer was due to his military service, to include as due to in-service herbicide agent exposure. She claimed on the May 2015 notice of disagreement (NOD) that the Veteran had a lung mass removed in 2004 which was a direct result of his military service. The presence of a lung mass is corroborated in a July 2004 medical note. Similarly, during her substantive appeal to the Board (via VA Form 9), the Appellant stated that for the Veteran’s many deployments, he was required to be immunized for diseases that were prevalent in other countries, that she knew he was exposed to chemicals that were used to clean electronic equipment on a daily basis, and that his clothes would have fuel or chemical odors all over them when he would return home. There has been no opinion obtained as to whether the lung cancer that contributed to the Veteran’s death was related to service. 38 U.S.C. § 5103A (a) is applicable to claims for service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death. Wood v. Peake, 520 F.3d 1345, 1347 (Fed. Cir. 2008); Delarosa v. Peake, 515 F.3d 1319, 1322 (Fed. Cir. 2008). While 38 U.S.C. § 5103A (a) does not always require VA to assist a claimant in obtaining a medical opinion or assistance, such assistance is required whenever a medical opinion is “necessary to substantiate the claim,” and VA is excused from providing such assistance only when “no reasonable possibility exists that such assistance would aid in substantiating the claim.” Wood, 520 F.3d at 1348. The above reflects that there is a reasonable possibility that such assistance would aid in substantiating the claim. Therefore, the claim is remanded to obtain a VA medical opinion. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: Request an opinion from a VA physician as to the cause of the Veteran’s death, to include whether the Veteran’s lung cancer was related to his military service, to include any in-service herbicide agent or chemical exposure. The claims file must be sent to the physician for review. The VA physician should offer an opinion addressing whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent probability or more) that the Veteran’s lung cancer had its onset in service or was otherwise a result of a disease or injury in service, to include herbicide agent or chemical exposure. A complete rationale should accompany any opinion provided. (Continued on the next page)   The physician is advised that the Veteran was and the appellant and any other lay witnesses are competent to report symptoms and treatment, and that these reports must be taken into account in formulating the requested opinion. Jonathan Hager Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD JR Cummings, Associate Counsel