Citation Nr: 21000624 Decision Date: 01/05/21 Archive Date: 01/05/21 DOCKET NO. 17-42 511 DATE: January 5, 2021 REMANDED Service connection for the Veteran’s cause of death.   REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from July 1956 to July 1958. The Veteran died in January 2007 and the appellant is his surviving spouse. The case is on appeal from a September 2014 rating decision. In February 2019, the Board denied service connection for the Veteran’s cause of death. The Veteran subsequently appealed the claim to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). The parties to the appeal entered into a February 2020 Joint Motion for Remand (Joint Motion) to remand the claim to the Board. In an Order issued in March 2020, the Court granted the Joint Motion. Most recently, in August 2020, the Board remanded the claim for additional consideration. Service connection for the Veteran’s cause of death. The Veteran’s death certificate shows that his immediate cause of death was adult respiratory distress syndrome with underlying causes and significant conditions, including Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP). In June 2017, the appellant submitted a medical opinion that stated the Veteran’s PSP may have been caused by military service on Guam due to an increased likelihood of being exposed to the neurotoxin B-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA). In a January 2019 correspondence, the appellant stated that the Veteran was on board the USS General J.C. Breckinridge when it stopped at Guam and other islands. The appellant also stated that the Veteran was exposed to BMAA during the stop on Guam. The Veteran’s service personnel records (SPRs) show that the Veteran travelled from San Diego, California to Okinawa, Japan on board the USS General J.C. Breckinridge in February 1957. The SPRs also show that he travelled on board the USS Tulare from Okinawa to Luzon, Philippines and then back to Okinawa in March 1957. The SPRs further show that he returned to the United States from Okinawa on board the USNS Anderson in April 1958. The Board finds that a remand is warranted to allow the RO to attempt to verify if the Veteran stopped at Guam during service. If the service in Guam is verified, a medical opinion should be obtained addressing whether the Veteran’s PSP is due to any possible exposure to BMAA during a stop in Guam. The claim is REMANDED for the following actions: 1. Request that JSRRC, or any other appropriate official source, investigate and attempt to verify whether any of the Veteran travelled to Guam during service, including during voyages on board the USS General J.C. Breckinridge from San Diego, California to Okinawa, Japan in February 1957, on board the USS Tulare from Okinawa to Luzon, Philippines and then back to Okinawa in March 1957, and on board the USNS Anderson from Okinawa to San Francisco, California in April 1958. 2. If the Veteran is found to have travelled to Guam during service, forward the claims file to an appropriate VA examiner. The entire claims file should be reviewed by the examiner. Thereafter, the examiner should provide a medical opinion as to whether it is as at least as likely as not that the Veteran’s contributory cause of death of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy is due to any possible exposure to the neurotoxin B-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) during service in Guam. (Continued on the next page)   The examiner should consider the scientific findings submitted by the appellant, including the June 2017 opinion. A rationale should be provided for opinions expressed. RYAN T. KESSEL Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board D. Jimerfield 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.