Citation Nr: 21061684 Decision Date: 10/05/21 Archive Date: 10/05/21 DOCKET NO. 17-17 988 DATE: October 5, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from April 1966 to April 1989. The Veteran passed away in March 2014 and the appellant is his surviving spouse. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2015 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In July 2021, the appellant testified at a virtual hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A transcript of the hearing is of record. 1. Entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death is remanded. The appellant contends that the Veteran's cause of death is related to his service, to include exposure to herbicides therein or, alternatively due to industrial exposures (such as asbestos, dust, and insulation) as a result of his mode of specialty (MOS) as a construction engineer as well as his MOS as a police officer. The RO has conceded the Veteran's exposure to herbicides in service and such service is noted on his DD Form 214. The Veteran's death certificate lists his cause of death as complications of pulmonary emphysema. Pursuant to a March 2017 letter from the medical examiner who signed the Veteran's death certificate, he stated that he determined his death to be most likely due to his chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and the manner of death to be natural. He further stated that the diagnosis of COPD has been made in the course of the decedent's medical treatment and was most probably contributed to by his cigarette smoking. Although emphysema and COPD are not among the conditions that are entitled to a presumption of service connection based on exposure to herbicides, service connection may also be established with proof of actual direct causation. Combee v. Brown, 34 F.3d 1039, 1043-44 (Fed. Cir. 1994). The Board notes that a VA medical opinion has not been obtained to address this question nor has an opinion been obtained to address the alternative theory of the Veteran's death due to industrial exposures during service. Accordingly, a medical opinion should be obtained upon remand. See McClendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79 (2006) (describing the circumstances under which VA has a duty to provide a VA medical examination or opinion). The Board notes that only partial service treatment records from 1987 through 1989 have been associated with the Veteran's claims file. The Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) was unable to secure the Veteran's complete service treatment records after determining that they could not be located. In cases such as this where the Veteran's service records are unavailable, the Board's obligation to explain its findings and conclusions, and to carefully consider the benefit-of-the-doubt doctrine, is heightened. See O'Hare v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 365, 367 (1991); Pruitt v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 83, 85 (1992). With this heightened duty to assist in mind, the Board finds that the AOJ should once again attempt to obtain any relevant service treatment records. The matters are REMANDED for the following actions: (Continued on the next page) 1. Contact the National Personnel Records Center, Records Management Center, and any other appropriate repositories to obtain any of the Veteran's service treatment records. Any additional action necessary to obtain these records, including follow-up action requested by the contacted entity, should be accomplished. If, after making reasonable efforts, the AOJ cannot locate any of the Veteran's service treatment records, it must specifically document what attempts were made to locate the records and indicate in writing that further attempts to locate or obtain any government records would be futile. 2. Send the claims file to an appropriate examiner to provide an opinion concerning the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death. Following review of the claims file, the examiner should provide an opinion as to whether it is as at least as likely as not (50 percent probability or greater) that the Veteran's cause of death was etiologically related to service, to include herbicide agent exposure therein and/or industrial exposures as a result of his MOS as a construction engineer and police officer. Please explain why or why not, to include addressing the appellant's contentions. A. S. CARACCIOLO Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board S. Medina 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.