Citation Nr: 21069163
Decision Date: 11/17/21	Archive Date: 11/17/21

DOCKET NO. 17-27 005
DATE: November 17, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for colon cancer is remanded.

Entitlement to service connection for prostate cancer is remanded.

Entitlement to service connection for skin cancer is remanded.

Entitlement to service connection for a psychiatric disability is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from June 1958 to June 1962.

This matter comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a December 2014 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Huntington, West Virginia which, among other things, denied service connection for anxiety, depression with sleep disorder, colon cancer, prostate cancer, and skin cancer.

In December 2014, the Veteran filed his notice of disagreement, and in May 2017 was issued a statement of the case and perfected his appeal to the Board.

In February 2019, the Veteran died and in August 2019 the Board dismissed the appeal due to the death of the Veteran.  The appellant is the Veteran's surviving spouse whose request to be substituted as the claimant in this case was granted in August 2019.

In November 2019, the appellant appeared at a Travel Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge.  A copy of the transcript is of record.

In a March 2020 decision, the Board, among other things, remanded the appellant's claims for service connection for new medical opinions.

In November 2020, the RO denied the appellant's claims for service connection, notifying the appellant in a supplemental statement of the case.

The Board notes that in an August 2021 brief, the appellant's representative indicated that a copy of the Veteran's Death Certificate and additional personnel records should be obtained, and that additional time should be allotted for the appellant to submit additional evidence, as the substitution grant was dated August 5, 2019, and the previous BVA denial letter was dated August 6, 2019.  While the Veteran's personnel records had previously been obtained which reflected service in Alaska, and the appellant was provided with an additional opportunity to submit evidence once the substitution was granted and the claims remanded in March 2020, the Veteran's death certificate was not obtained and is not of record.  Therefore, a remand is necessary to allow for the RO to obtain the Veteran's death certificate as it may contain relevant information regarding the appellant's claims.

The matters are thus REMANDED for the following action:

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Obtain and associate a copy of the Veteran's death certificate with the claims file.  

 

Jonathan Hager

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	R. Maddox, 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.