Citation Nr: 20031998 Decision Date: 05/06/20 Archive Date: 05/06/20 DOCKET NO. 17-26 695 DATE: May 6, 2020 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 May 1969 to April 1973. The Veteran died in February 2017; the appellant is his surviving spouse. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an April 2017 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The appeal was last before the Board in February 2019, when the appellant’s claim for entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death was denied. The appellant appealed the Board’s denial to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). By Order dated February 2020, the Court vacated the Board’s February 2019 decision and remanded the matter to the Board for compliance with the instructions included in the March 2020 Joint Motion for Remand (JMR) by the parties. In April 2020, the Veteran waived any further time to submit evidence or argument. Entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death The appellant argues that the Veteran’s death was the result of his bladder cancer that manifested due to his exposure to herbicide agents. See January 2018 Correspondence. The immediate cause of death identified on the Veteran’s death certificate is bladder cancer. See March 2017 Death Certificate. No contributory cause is noted on the death certificate. The Veteran was service connected for PTSD, diabetes mellitus, tinnitus, and bilateral hearing loss at the time of his death. The Board concedes that the Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents as he was stationed in Vietnam, however bladder cancer is not a recognized disease associated with exposure to herbicide agents. 38C.F.R. §3.309(e). A VA medical opinion should be obtained. The evidence confirms that the Veteran had a diagnosis of bladder cancer and it was conceded that he had in-service herbicide exposure. Additionally, February 2017 VA treatment notes reflect that the Veteran received private medical care from Hospice of Redmond approximately contemporaneous with his passing. It does not appear that those records have been associated with the claims file. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Contact the appellant, and, with her assistance, identify any of the Veteran’s outstanding records of pertinent medical treatment from private or VA health care providers, to include medical care from Hospice of Redmond, and associate them with the claims file. 2. Obtain a VA opinion to determine the nature and etiology of the Veteran’s bladder cancer. The claims file must be reviewed in conjunction with the examination, and the examiner must indicate that such review occurred. The examiner should provide a well-reasoned opinion on whether it is at least as likely as not (a probability of 50 percent or greater) that any diagnosed bladder cancer had its clinical onset during the Veteran’s active duty service or is otherwise etiologically related to his period of active service, to include herbicide exposure on a direct basis. It is not satisfactory to simply refer to the absence of a presumption of service connection for this disease due to herbicide exposure. Any opinion offered should be accompanied by a clear rationale consistent with the evidence of record to include references to relevant medical research. J.W. FRANCIS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board T. Fitzgerald, 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.