Citation Nr: 18146701 Decision Date: 11/01/18 Archive Date: 10/31/18 DOCKET NO. 16-53 568A DATE: November 1, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for the Veteran’s cause of death is denied. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran died in January 2015. 2. The Veteran's death certificate reports that the cause of death was essential (primary) hypertension. 3. At the time of the Veteran's death service connection was not in effect for any disability. 4. The preponderance of the evidence shows that the Veteran's cause of death was not manifested during the Veteran's period of active service and it has not otherwise been shown to be related to military service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death have not been met. 38 U.S.C. § 1310; 38 C.F.R. § 3.312. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from September 1953 to August 1955. He died in January 2015; the Appellant in this case is his surviving spouse. The appellant seeks entitlement to service connection for the Veteran’s death. The death of a Veteran will be considered as having been due to a service-connected disability where the evidence establishes that such disability was either the principal or a contributory cause of death. 38 C.F.R. § 3.312 (a). A principal cause of death is one which, singularly or jointly with some other condition, was the immediate or underlying cause of death, or was etiologically related thereto. 38 C.F.R. § 3.312 (b). A contributory cause of death is one that contributed substantially or materially to death, combined to cause death, and aided or lent assistance to the production of death. 38 C.F.R. § 3.312 (c). It is not sufficient to show that it casually shared in producing death, but rather it must be shown that there was a causal connection. Id. Generally, in order to establish service connection for the cause of death, there must be (1) evidence of death; (2) evidence of in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) evidence of a nexus between the claimed in-service disease or injury and death. See Hickson v. West, 12 Vet. App. 247, 253 (1999). Service connection will be granted if the evidence demonstrates that a current disability resulted from an injury or disease incurred in or aggravated by active service, even if the disability was initially diagnosed after service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Service treatment records do not reveal any complaint, diagnosis or treatment for any hypertension, diabetes, or neoplasm. Upon separation from service the Veteran’s blood pressure was reported as 118/88; however, there is no indication of any hypertension, diabetes, or neoplasm. In an unrelated VA examination report, dated in March 2014, the Veteran was noted be housebound and in need of aid and attendance because of his advanced esophageal cancer. In a statement dated in December 2014 the Veteran reported that he was hospitalized due to terminal cancer. In a discharge note dated in December 2014 the Veteran was noted to have principle diagnoses of malignant neoplasm of the esophagus, secondary malignant neoplasm of the lung, peripheral vascular disease, and diabetes mellitus, type II. VA treatment records reveal a diagnosis of hypertension. The Veteran died in January 2015 and the death certificate indicates that the cause of the Veteran’s death was essential (primary) hypertension. Entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death is not warranted. The Veteran died in January 2015 and the listed cause of death was essential hypertension. At the time of the Veteran’s death service connection was not in effect for any disability. Post-service treatment records reveal that the Veteran was diagnosed with and treated for hypertension; however, service treatment records do not reveal any complaint, diagnosis, or treatment for any hypertension. There are no complaints or treatment records indicating any hypertension within one year of separation from service and the appellant does not provide any argument regarding the any connection between the Veteran’s hypertension and his service or the onset of the Veteran’s hypertension. Although lay persons are competent to provide opinions on some medical issues, the cause of the Veteran’s death is outside the realm of common knowledge of a lay person because it involves complex medical issues that go beyond a simple and immediately observable cause-and-effect relationship. See Kahana v. Shinseki, 24 Vet. App. 428 (2011); Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372, 1377 n.4 (Fed. Cir. 2007). There is no competent evidence in the claims file that the Veteran’s hypertension was related to his active service. The Board acknowledges that the Veteran reported that he was treated for terminal cancer and that the record reveals that the Veteran was treated for advanced esophageal cancer. It is further acknowledged that a discharge note, dated shortly before the Veteran’s death, noted malignant neoplasm of the esophagus, secondary malignant neoplasm of the lung, peripheral vascular disease, and diabetes mellitus, type II. However, service treatment records do not reveal any complaint, diagnosis, or treatment for any neoplasm, peripheral vascular disease, or diabetes. Additionally, there is no indication in the claims file that these disabilities may be related to the Veteran’s active service. As the preponderance of the evidence is against a finding that the Veteran’s death is due to a service-connected disability, entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death is denied. M.E. LARKIN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Robert J. Burriesci, Counsel