Citation Nr: 20022036 Decision Date: 03/30/20 Archive Date: 03/30/20 DOCKET NO. 17-12 760 DATE: March 30, 2020 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for cause of death is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Air Force from November 1971 to December 1975. The Veteran died in September 2014. The appellant is his surviving spouse. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a February 2015 decision by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office. The appellant testified at a hearing before the undersigned Veteran Law Judge in February 2020, with her representative present. A transcript of the hearing has been associated with the file. Entitlement to service connection for cause of death is remanded. The appellant contends that the Veteran’s cause of death, acute myocardial infraction, is the result of his exposure to herbicide agents in Thailand. The Board notes that the Veteran did not serve in Vietnam and the appellant has not alleged that he served in Vietnam. Exposure to herbicide agents has been noted to have occurred in various places, including Thailand. VA has determined that United States Air Force Veterans who served on Royal Thai Air Force Bases (“RTAFB”) at U-Tapao, Ubon, Nakhon Phanom, Udorn, Takhli, Korat, and Don Muang, near the air base perimeter anytime between February 28, 1961 and May 7, 1975, may have been exposed to herbicides. Particularly, to benefit from the presumption of herbicide exposure at one of the above listed air bases, a veteran must have served as a security policeman, security patrol dog handler, member of a security police squadron, or otherwise served near the air base perimeter, as shown by military occupational specialty (“MOS”), performance evaluation, or other credible evidence. Here, the Veteran was stationed at the Ubon RTAFB from September 1972 to June 1973. The appellant testified that during the Veteran’s life, he generally stated that his MOS involved transporting supplies among designated locations. See generally Hearing Transcript at 3-5. This is confirmed by the Veteran’s military personnel records and his DD Form 214 (identifying Veteran’s MOS as “material facilities specialist,” as equivalent to civilian “receiving and shipping foreman”). The Board accordingly finds that the Veteran would have routinely crossed the perimeter of the Ubon RTAFB when entering and exiting, thus resulting in repeated visits to the base perimeter and repeated exposure to the herbicide agents used in those areas. During the Veteran’s life, he was only service connected for depressive disorder with anxiety not otherwise specified and residuals to a middle finger injury. Meanwhile, the sole cause of death listed on his death certificate is an acute myocardial infarction. In a cause of death claim, VA must make reasonable efforts to assist a claimant in obtaining a medical opinion when such opinion is “necessary to substantiate the claimant’s claim for a benefit.” De La Rosa v. Peake, 515 F.3d 1319, 1322 (Fed. Cir. 2008). Here, the record does not include a medical opinion concerning whether the Veteran’s acute myocardial infarction is directly related to service, to include his in-service exposure to herbicide agents. As a result, the Board finds that a remand is necessary to obtain such opinion. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. The appellant and her representative should be given an opportunity to identify any outstanding private or VA treatment records relevant to the claim on appeal. After obtaining any necessary authorization from the Veteran, all outstanding records should be obtained. For private treatment records, make at least two (2) attempts to obtain records from any identified sources. If any such records are unavailable, inform the appellant and afford her an opportunity to submit any copies in her possession. For federal records, all reasonable attempts should be made to obtain such records. If any records cannot be obtained after reasonable efforts have been made, issue a formal determination that such records do not exist or that further efforts to obtain such records would be futile, which should be documented in the claims file. The appellant must be notified of the attempts made and why further attempts would be futile, and allowed the opportunity to provide such records, as provided in 38 U.S.C. § 5103A(b)(2) and 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(e). 2. After completing the foregoing development, and following the receipt of any outstanding records, forward the claims file, to include a copy of this remand, to a VA examiner, who should provide an opinion as to the cause of the Veteran’s death. Following a review of the claims file, the examiner is specifically asked to furnish an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not (a 50 percent or higher probability) that the immediate cause of the Veteran’s death (acute myocardial infarction) is related to his military service, to include his in-service exposure to herbicide agents at Ubon RTAFB from September 1972 to June 1973. A rationale should be provided for any opinion offered. If it is not possible to provide a specific opinion regarding the above question, the examiner must state whether the need to speculate is due to a deficiency in the state of general medical knowledge (no one could respond given medical science and the known facts), a deficiency in the record (additional facts are required), or the examiner (does not have the knowledge or training). KRISTY L. ZADORA Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Michael B. Engle, 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.