Citation Nr: 20003703 Decision Date: 01/16/20 Archive Date: 01/15/20 DOCKET NO. 14-03 613 DATE: January 16, 2020 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is dismissed. Entitlement to service connection for hypertension is dismissed. Entitlement to service connection for restless leg syndrome is dismissed. Entitlement to service connection for erectile dysfunction (ED) is dismissed. Entitlement to service connection for arthritis is dismissed. Entitlement to service connection for a lung disease, to include as due to herbicide exposure, is dismissed. FINDING OF FACT In December 2019, the VA received notification that the Veteran died during the pendency of this appeal. CONCLUSION OF LAW Due to the death of the Veteran, the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of the claims at this time. 38 U.S.C. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302(a). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from May 1962 to September 1966. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2011 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Board notes that this appeal originally contained the issue of entitlement to service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder. In a September 2019 rating decision, however, VA awarded the Veteran that benefit. Thus, that issue is not subject to this decision and will not be discussed herein. See Grantham v. Brown, 114 F.3d 1156 (Fed. Cir. 1997) (noting that a grant of service connection extinguishes appeals before the Board). As a matter of law, appellants’ claims do not survive their deaths. Zevalkink v. Brown, 102 F.3d 1236, 1243-44 (Fed. Cir. 1996); Smith v. Brown, 10 Vet. App. 330, 333-34 (1997); Landicho v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 42, 47 (1994). With respect to the remaining issues on appeal, a December 3, 2019, letter from the VA Regional Office (VARO) Director addressed to the Veteran and sent to his address on file indicated that a benefit payment had been returned, indicating that the Veteran passed away and that further benefits would be suspended. The letter further requested that VA be informed of the Veteran’s date of death. In a December 16, 2019, letter to the Veteran’s estate, VA indicated that the Veteran’s payments had been stopped due to his passing and the next steps that a surviving spouse could take. There also is information from the Social Security Administration (SSA), indicating that the Veteran was not paid his November or December 2019 disability payments. Benefits were noted to suspended or terminated in November 2019. To date, no response from the Veteran’s estate or representative has been obtained. This appeal on the merits has become moot by virtue of the death of the Veteran and must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. See 38 U.S.C. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302(a). In reaching this determination, the Board intimates no opinion as to the merits of this appeal or to any derivative claim brought by a survivor of the Veteran in regards to the remaining issues that were not withdrawn at the time of his death. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1106. The Board’s dismissal of this appeal does not affect the right of an eligible person to file a request to be substituted as the appellant for purposes of processing the claim to completion. Such request must be filed not later than one year after the date of the appellant’s death. See 38 U.S.C. § 5121A. A person eligible for substitution will include “a living person who would be eligible to receive accrued benefits due to the claimant under section 5121(a) of this title.” JONATHAN B. KRAMER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Trevor T. Bernard, Associate 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.