Citation Nr: 21015740 Decision Date: 03/18/21 Archive Date: 03/18/21 DOCKET NO. 19-34 079 DATE: March 18, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death is denied. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran died in October 2014; his death certificate lists the cause of death as lung cancer; no other underlying cause of death or significant condition contributing to death is listed. 2. The Veteran had not established service connection for any disability. 3. Lung cancer was not manifested in, or within a year following, and is not shown to have been etiologically related to, the Veteran’s service. 4. The Veteran did not die due to a service-connected disability, and a service-connected disability is not shown to have contributed to cause his death. CONCLUSION OF LAW Service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death is not warranted. 38 U.S.C. § 1310; 38 C.F.R. § 3.312. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from January 1960 to September 1964. He died in October 2014, and the appellant is his surviving spouse. This matter is before the Board on appeal from a September 2018 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rating decision. Entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death is denied. The Veteran died in October 2014. His death certificate shows that the immediate cause of his death was lung cancer, with onset in September 2014; no underlying cause of death or significant condition contributing to death was cited. The appellant alleges that the cancer that caused the Veteran’s death was due to his exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune during service. VA has acknowledged a relationship between exposure to contaminants in the water supply at Camp Lejeune during the period beginning on August 1, 1953 and ending on December 31, 1987, and the subsequent development of the following conditions: kidney cancer, liver cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, adult leukemia, multiple myeloma, Parkinson’s disease, aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes, and bladder cancer. Service at Camp Lejeune for Veterans, Reservists, and former National Guard members must have been for at least 30 days (cumulative) during the specific time frame. A presumption of service connection based on exposure to contaminants in the water supply at Camp Lejeune is not warranted for any other condition. To establish service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death, the evidence must show that a service-connected disability was either the principal or a contributory cause of death. For a service-connected disability to be the principal (primary) cause of death, it must singly or with some other condition be the immediate or underlying cause of death or be etiologically related. For a service-connected disability to constitute a contributory cause, it must contribute substantially or materially; it is not sufficient to show that it casually shared in producing death, but rather it must be shown that there was a causal connection. 38 U.S.C. § 1310; 38 C.F.R. § 3.312. The Veteran had not established service connection for any disability. Medical evidence in the record shows that in September 2014 it was noted that the Veteran metastatic cancer of the bone, from the lung, to the lymph system, and was receiving radiation treatment. He had recently been hospitalized for back pain and was found to have two broken vertebrae; on further evaluation, cancer was discovered in his bone, lung, and lymph nodes. The evidence does not show that the Veteran’s lung cancer was manifested during (or within a year following) his service. Postservice treatment records first show treatment for lung cancer many years after service, as noted above. Consequently, service connection for lung cancer on the basis that it became manifest in service and persisted, or on a presumptive basis (as a chronic disease under 38 U.S.C. §§ 1112, 1137) is not warranted. The Veteran’s military personnel records showed he was stationed at Camp Lejeune for at least 30 days during the affected period of contamination. However, lung cancer is not listed in 38 CFR 3.309(f) as a condition presumed to be related to conceded exposure to contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune; therefore, the Veteran’s death-causing lung cancer may not be presumed to be service connected as due to exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. While service connection for the Veteran’s lung cancer may still be established based on the theory that it was related to exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune by affirmative competent evidence supporting that theory, the appellant and her attorney have not submitted any such evidence (or identified any such evidence for VA to obtain on her behalf. There is no probative evidence in the record indicating that the listed immediate cause (lung cancer) of the Veteran’s death was somehow otherwise etiologically related to his service. Postservice evaluation/treatment records also do not show or suggest that the cancer may have been etiologically related to his service. The Board acknowledges the appellant’s sincere belief that the Veteran’s death was due to environmental exposures during service. However, because he is not shown to have served in Vietnam (or to have been exposed to herbicide agents in service), the presumptive provisions of 38 U.S.C. § 1116 also do not apply, and the etiology of his primary death-causing disease (lung cancer) is a medical question. See Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372, 1377 (Fed. Cir, 2007). The appellant is a layperson and her own opinion is not competent evidence in the matter; she has not presented any medical opinion or treatise evidence supporting her allegation. Accordingly, the Board finds that the preponderance of the evidence is against the claim of service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death. There is no reasonable doubt that may be resolved in the appellant’s favor (see 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b), and the appeal in the matter must be denied. GEORGE R. SENYK Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board D. Schechner, 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.