Citation Nr: 21021007 Decision Date: 04/09/21 Archive Date: 04/09/21 DOCKET NO. 14-35 076 DATE: April 9, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome is dismissed. Entitlement to service connection for a disability manifested by joint pain and weakness, to include neuropathy or an undiagnosed illness is dismissed. FINDING OF FACT In February 2021 the Board was notified that the Veteran died in February 2021. While a substitution request, submitted by the Veteran’s surviving spouse, was received by the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) in March 2021, the AOJ has not issued a determination on the request to substitute at this time. CONCLUSION OF LAW Due to the death of the Veteran, the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of this appeal at this time. 38 U.S.C. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from June 1972 to June 1992. This case comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an April 2012 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran was afforded a hearing before the undersigned Veteran’s Law Judge in May 2017. A transcript of that hearing is of record. These issues were previously remanded by the Board in an April 2018 decision for further development. After completion of the ordered development, a Supplemental Statement of the Case (SSOC) was issued in March 2020. Service connection for type 2 diabetes mellitus with retinopathy, renal disease, a blood disorder, and heart disease were all previously on appeal before the Board in April 2018 and were remanded for further development. In an October 2019 rating decision, the AOJ granted service connection for type 2 diabetes mellitus with retinopathy, assigning a 20 percent rating for diabetes mellitus type II effective from July 27, 2012 and a 90 percent rating for diabetic retinopathy with legal blindness effective from July 27, 2012, and for diabetic nephropathy with chronic kidney disease and hypertension, assigning a 60 percent rating effective from July 27, 2012. In a March 2020 rating decision, the AOJ granted service connection for congestive heart failure with coronary artery disease, assigning a 100 percent rating effective from June 26, 2019, and for anemia claimed as a blood disorder, assigning a 100 percent rating effective from June 28, 2019. The grant of service connection is a full grant of the benefit sought on appeal, and as such, the issues are no longer before the Board for consideration. Grantham v. Brown, 114 F.3d 1156, 1158 (Fed. Cir. 1997) (holding that a separate notice of disagreement must be filed to initiate appellate review of downstream elements such as the disability rating or effective date assigned).   Dismissal 1. Entitlement to service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome is dismissed. 2. Entitlement to service connection for a disability manifested by joint pain and weakness, to include neuropathy or an undiagnosed illness is dismissed. Unfortunately, the Veteran died during the pendency of the appeal. As a matter of law, appellants’ claims do not survive their deaths. Zevalkink v. Brown, 102 F.3d 1236, 1243-44 (Fed. Cir. 1996); Smith v. Brown, 10 Vet. App. 330, 333-34 (1997); Landicho v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 42, 47 (1994). This appeal on the merits has become moot by virtue of the death of the Veteran and must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. 38 U.S.C. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302. In reaching this determination, the Board intimates no opinion as to the merits of this appeal or to any derivative claim brought by a survivor of the Veteran. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1106. (Continued on the next page)   A request from the Veteran’s surviving spouse to be substituted as the appellant for purposes of continuing these claims for service connection was received by the AOJ in March 2021, along with an application for service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death and an application for accrued benefits. At this time, the AOJ has not yet issued a decision on the Veteran’s surviving spouse’s pending request for substitution. Service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death was granted in a March 2021 rating decision. The Board’s dismissal of this appeal does not affect the right of an eligible person to file a request to be substituted as the appellant for purposes of processing the claim to completion. Such request must be filed not later than one year after the date of the appellant’s death. 38 U.S.C. § 5121A; 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b). A person eligible for substitution includes “a living person who would be eligible to receive accrued benefits due to the claimant under section 5121(a) of this title ….” 38 U.S.C. § 5121A; 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(a). An eligible party seeking substitution in an appeal that has been dismissed by the Board due to the death of the claimant should file a request for substitution with the VA office from which the claim originated. 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b). K. Conner Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board K. Kleponis, Associate 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.