Citation Nr: 18153409
Decision Date: 11/27/18	Archive Date: 11/27/18

DOCKET NO. 16-54 605
DATE:	November 27, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from August 1966 to April 1969.  He died in September 2013.  The appellant is his surviving spouse.  
This matter comes to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from a December 2015 rating decision which denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death.
Entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death is remanded.
The Veteran’s death certificate shows that the Veteran died in September 2013.  Primary cause of death was noted to be respiratory failure due liver and renal failure due to metastatic pancreatic cancer.  
The appellant claims entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death.  She has stated her belief and contends that the etiology of the Veteran’s metastatic pancreatic cancer is related to his exposure to herbicide agents during service.
The record reflects that the Veteran had service in the Republic of Vietnam from December 1967 to February 1968, and is therefore presumed to have been exposed to herbicide agents.  The Veteran was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in July 2012.  If a Veteran is exposed to herbicide agents, certain cancers are presumed to be service-connected; however, pancreatic cancer is not one for which the presumption can be applied.  See 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a)(6); 3.309(e) (2017).  
However, service connection can still be established on a direct basis.  The appellant has submitted several journal and internet articles in support of a nexus between the Veteran’s presumed herbicide agent exposure and his cause of death, including pancreatic cancer.
Therefore, the Board finds that a remand is warranted so that a VA medical opinion can be obtained as to the nature and etiology of the Veteran’s cause of death.
The matter is REMANDED for the following actions:
1. Obtain an opinion from an appropriate clinician to determine the nature and etiology of the Veteran’s cause of death.  The examiner must opine whether the Veteran’s pancreatic cancer, or any other contributing cause of death, is at least as likely as not related to an in-service injury, event, or disease, including his presumed exposure to herbicide agents.  
2. After completing the above, and any other development as may be indicated, the appellant’s claim should be readjudicated based on the entirety of the evidence.  If the claim remains denied, the appellant, and her representative if one is appointed, should be issued a supplemental statement of the case (SSOC).  An appropriate period of time should be allowed for response.  Thereafter, the case should be returned to the Board for further appellate consideration, if otherwise in order.
 
K. PARAKKAL
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	S. Owen, Associate Counsel