Citation Nr: 21007768 Decision Date: 02/10/21 Archive Date: 02/10/21 DOCKET NO. 18-27 867 DATE: February 10, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death is denied. FINDING OF FACT The evidence does not demonstrate that the Veteran’s service played an etiological role in his death. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.304, 3.307, 3.309, 3.312. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran had active duty from September 1952 to June 1957. He also had additional unverified service in the U.S. Army National Guard and the U.S. Army Reserve in include from June 1957 to October 1958. The Veteran died in December 2016. The Appellant is his surviving spouse. 1. Entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death. The death of a veteran will be considered as having been due to a service-connected disability when the evidence establishes that such a disability was either the principal or contributory cause of death. See 38 U.S.C. § 1310; see also 38 C.F.R. § 3.312. A service-connected disability is considered the “principal” cause of death when that disability, “singly or jointly with some other condition, was the immediate or underlying cause of death or was etiologically related thereto.” 38 C.F.R. § 3.312(b). A “contributory” cause of death is inherently one not related to the principal cause. 38 C.F.R. § 3.312(c). A contributory cause must be causally connected to the death and must have “contributed substantially or materially” to death, “combined to cause death,” or “aided or lent assistance to the production of death.” Id. The Veteran’s death certificate indicates the clinical cause of death was end stage leukemia. The Veteran was not service connected for any disabilities during his lifetime, and the Veteran’s service treatment records are silent for complaints of or treatment for symptoms of leukemia. There is also no evidence indicating that the Veteran’s leukemia manifested within one year of separation. In a November 2019 medical opinion, the examiner opined that it was less likely as not that the Veteran’s cause of death was related to service. The examiner reasoned that the service treatment records do not show recurrent signs, symptoms, diagnoses, treatments, or a chronic disability pattern to support a diagnosis of Leukemia during active duty period or within a year of separation. The Veteran was diagnosed in 2016 making its onset less likely related to active service. The Board finds the VA examiner’s opinion adequate and probative to the question at hand. The examiner possessed the necessary education, training, and expertise to provide the requested opinions. See Grottveit v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 91, 93 (1993). In addition, the VA examiner provided a detailed rationale for the opinions, which was based on a review of the service treatment records and post-service treatment records. The opinion considered an accurate history, was definitive and supported by a detailed rationale that considered the lay and medical evidence. Nieves-Rodriguez v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 295 (2008). Significantly, the Appellant has not presented or identified any contrary medical opinion that supports the claim for service connection. VA adjudicators are not free to ignore or disregard the medical conclusions of a VA physician, and are not permitted to substitute their own judgment on a medical matter. Colvin v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 171 (1991); Willis v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 66 (1991). In sum, the Board finds that the most probative evidence of record shows that the Veteran’s cause of death was not related to service. Accordingly, entitlement to service connection for cause of death is not warranted. In reaching this conclusion, the Board has considered the applicability of the benefit of the doubt doctrine. However, as the preponderance of the evidence is against the Veteran’s claim, that doctrine is not applicable. See 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); Ortiz v. Principi, 274 F.3d 1361, 1364 (Fed. Cir. 2001); Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49, 55-57 (1990). R. FEINBERG Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board J.A. Williams, 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.