Citation Nr: 21003248 Decision Date: 01/21/21 Archive Date: 01/21/21 DOCKET NO. 04-14 864 DATE: January 21, 2021 ORDER The issue of entitlement to service connection for hypertension, to include as secondary to medication for service-connected disabilities, is dismissed. The issue of entitlement to service connection for a deviated nasal septum with nasal valve collapse and right-side nasal bone spur, as secondary to the service-connected disability of chronic sinusitis, is dismissed. The issue of entitlement to service connection for acute diastolic heart failure, as secondary to hypertension, is dismissed. The issue of entitlement to service connection for atrial fibrillation, as secondary to hypertension, is dismissed. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran passed away on December 8, 2020. CONCLUSION OF LAW Due to the death of the Veteran, the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of this appeal at this time. 38 U.S.C. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the Army from October 1970 to October 1973 and November 1974 to August 1975. This appeal of the issues of entitlement to service connection for a deviated nasal septum with nasal valve collapse and right side nasal bone spur, as secondary to the service-connected disability of chronic sinusitis; acute diastolic heart failure, as secondary to hypertension; and atrial fibrillation, as secondary to hypertension comes before the Board from a December 2018 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The appeal of the issue of entitlement to service connection for hypertension, to include as secondary to medication for service-connected disabilities, comes before the Board from a May 2004 rating decision by the VARO. In January 2009, the Board denied, in pertinent part, entitlement to service connection for hypertension. The Veteran appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In May 2013, the Court, in pertinent part, vacated and remanded the Board’s denial of entitlement to service connection for hypertension. In July 2015, the Board remanded the claim of entitlement to service connection for hypertension, to include as secondary to sinusitis or medication used to treat sinusitis for additional development. In October 2016, the Board again, in pertinent part, denied entitlement to service connection for hypertension. The Veteran appealed, and in an April 2018 memorandum decision, the Court set aside and remanded the portion of the October 2016 decision that denied entitlement to service connection for hypertension. The issue was remanded by the Board in December 2018. The Veteran was afforded Board hearings in August 2008 and February 2016 before former Veterans Law Judges. Transcripts from these hearings are of record. The former Veterans Law Judges are not able to continue their participation in this case. Upon notification of this, the Veteran requested an in-person Board hearing at his local VARO in September 2020. Unfortunately, the Veteran died during the pendency of the appeal. 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). This appeal on the merits has become moot by virtue of the death of the appellant and must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. 38 U.S.C. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302. 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. 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. 38 U.S.C. § 5121A; 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b). A person eligible for substitution includes “a living person who would be eligible to receive accrued benefits due to the claimant under section 5121(a) of this title ….” 38 U.S.C. § 5121A; 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(a). An eligible party seeking substitution in an appeal that has been dismissed by the Board due to the death of the claimant should file a request for substitution with the VA office from which the claim originated. 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b). S.C. Krembs Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board C. Samuelson, 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.