Citation Nr: 21014145 Decision Date: 03/11/21 Archive Date: 03/11/21 DOCKET NO. 18-13 278 DATE: March 11, 2021 REMANDED Service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from July 1966 to July 1972. The Veteran passed away in October 2015. The Appellant, who is the Veteran’s surviving spouse, was properly substituted in a November 2017 VA memorandum. The Appellant declined a Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) hearing on the February 2018 VA Form 9, Appeal to the Board. In May 2019, the Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death on the basis of a lack of nexus between the Veteran’s cause of death and active service. In July 2020, this case was subject to a Joint Motion for Partial Remand by the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims to address whether a medical opinion is warranted in this matter. The case is again before the Board. Service Connection for Cause of Death is Remanded. Service connection for cause of a veteran’s death is payable to a surviving spouse of a veteran if the veteran died from a service-connected disability. 38 U.S.C.A. § 1310(a); 38 C.F.R. § 3.5(a)(1). In order to establish service connection for the cause of a veteran's death, the evidence must show that a disability incurred in or aggravated by active service was the principal or contributory cause of death. 38 C.F.R. § 3.312(a). In order to constitute the principal cause of death, the service-connected disability must be one of the immediate or underlying causes of death, or be etiologically related to the cause of death. 38 C.F.R. § 3.312(b). A contributory cause of death is inherently not one related to the principal cause. In order to constitute the contributory cause of death, it must be shown that the service-connected disability contributed substantially or materially; that it combined to cause death; that it aided or lent assistance to the production of death. 38 C.F.R. § 3.312(c)(1). In this case, during the Veteran’s lifetime, service connection was not established for any disability. The Board has carefully considered the September 2020 statement by the Appellant, which asserts that a medical opinion is warranted regarding the cause of death of the Veteran. The Board finds that a medical opinion regarding the cause of death of the Veteran may help answer the questions of whether the Veteran’s death was caused by the in-service herbicide exposure in Vietnam. The issue is REMANDED for the following action: Obtain a VA medical opinion on the question of whether it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran’s exposure to herbicide agents in Vietnam was either: A) a principal cause of the Veteran’s death (was an immediate or underlying cause of death), or B) a contributory cause of the Veteran’s death (contributed substantially or materially to death; combined to cause death; or aided or lent assistance to the production of death). The VA examiner is informed of the following facts: a) The Veteran had active service in the Republic of Vietnam from May 1967 to February 1968, so is presumed to have been exposed to herbicide agents. b) The Death Certificate states that the Veteran passed away from sepsis from presumed pneumonia, liver failure, and gastrointestinal bleeding, with contributing causes of dementia, a chronically debilitated state, and severe malnutrition. The VA examiner should provide an explanation (rationale) for the opinion offered. J. PARKER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Department of Veterans Affairs A. Caruso, Attorney for the Board 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.