Citation Nr: 20034428 Decision Date: 05/18/20 Archive Date: 05/18/20 DOCKET NO. 14-43 853 DATE: May 18, 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 August 1966 to May 1970. The Veteran died in July 2009; the appellant is the Veteran's surviving spouse. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (hereinafter Board) on appeal from a May 2013 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In October 2018, the appellant testified at a videoconference hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ) and a transcript of the proceeding is of record. In May 2019, the Board remanded the case to the RO for further evidentiary development. Following the requested development, a supplemental statement of the case (SSOC) was issued in March 2020. 1. Entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death is remanded. A remand by the Board confers on a Veteran, as a matter of law, a right to compliance with the remand instructions, and imposes upon VA a concomitant duty to ensure compliance with the terms of the remand. If the Board proceeds with final disposition of an appeal, and the remand orders have not been complied with, the Board itself errs in failing to ensure compliance. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998). After a review of the Veteran's claims folder, the Board finds that further development of the case is necessary. As noted above, the case was before the Board in May 2019, at which time it was remanded to the RO for further development. Significantly, the Board directed the AOJ to obtain a VA medical opinion form an examiner who had not previously given an opinion regarding the cause of the Veteran’s death. However, the AOJ obtained a March 2020 opinion concerning the link, if any, between the cause of the Veteran’s death and treatment for meningitis during military service from the same VA examiner who provided the medical opinion in November 2014. A remand is required to obtain a VA medical opinion that complies with the May 2019 Board remand instructions. See Barr v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 303, 311 (2017); Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998). The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. The AOJ should arrange for the Veteran’s claims file to be forwarded to an appropriate physician, who has not previously given an opinion in this case, for an advisory medical opinion regarding the cause of the Veteran’s death. Based on review of the record, including this Remand, the June 2013 private medical opinion, as well as the November 2014 and March 2020 VA medical opinions, the examiner must provide an opinion that response to the following: a) Whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent probability or better) that the Veteran’s in-service meningitis was a principal cause of Veteran’s death? The disability will be considered as the principal (primary) cause of death when such disability, singly or jointly with some other condition, was the immediate or underlying cause of death or was etiologically related thereto; b) Whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent probability or better) that the Veteran’s in-service meningitis was a contributory cause of Veteran’s death? In determining whether the service-connected disability contributed to death, it must be shown that it contributed substantially or materially; that it combined to cause death; that it aided or lent assistance to the production of death. 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. The examiner should provide a complete rationale for all opinions provided. (Continued on the next page)   2. Confirm that all medical opinions provided comport with this remand and undertake any other development determined to be warranted. 3. After undertaking any other development deemed appropriate, readjudicate the appellant's claim on appeal. If the benefit sought on appeal remains denied, furnish to the appellant and her representative a supplemental statement of the case (SSOC) and allow an appropriate opportunity to respond thereto before returning the case to the Board. JAMES G. REINHART Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Department of Veterans Affairs 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.