Citation Nr: 21024469 Decision Date: 04/22/21 Archive Date: 04/22/21 DOCKET NO. 14-34 402 DATE: April 22, 2021 REMANDED The issue of entitlement to service connection for cause of the Veteran’s death is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from February 1971 to April 1974. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeal (Board) on appeal from a December 2013 rating decision. The Board denied entitlement to service connection for cause of the Veteran’s death in an October 2019 decision. The appellant appealed that denial to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In December 2020, the Court issued a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR) vacating the denial of service connection for cause of the Veteran’s death and remanding the issue to the Board for further development and readjudication. 1. The issue of service connection for cause of death is remanded. In a May 2019 Board remand, the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) was directed to attempt to obtain treatment records identified by the appellant from Lenoir Memorial Hospital. The AOJ complied with this directive on May 2019. See May 16, 2019, Development Letter. The facility responded that a search under both the Veteran’s date of birth and social security number revealed that the Veteran did not have any treatment dates at that location. June 3, 2019, Third Party Correspondence. The AOJ failed to notify the appellant of this negative response as required by 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(e)(1) and a remand is warranted. In addition, a close examination of the May 16, 2019 development letter reveals that the social security number and date of birth listed for the Veteran on the letter is different from the social security number and date of birth listed for the Veteran on the attached VA Form 21-4142, Authorization to Disclose Information to the Department of Veterans Affairs, completed by the appellant. See May 16, 2019, Development Letter; see also November 27, 2018, VA 21-4142. The Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty indicates that the development letter lists the incorrect date of birth and the VA Form 21-4142 lists the incorrect social security number. See also February 8, 2019, Report of General Information (documenting appellant’s call to the AOJ regarding the Veteran’s date of birth). These discrepancies may have contributed to the negative response from Lenoir Memorial Hospital, and any other provider, and must be corrected upon remand. Finally, the appellant contends that the Veteran’s death resulted from him seeking illegal drugs to self-medicate his posttraumatic stress disorder that was related to his service in Vietnam. See February 13, 2014, Notice of Disagreement (NOD). The death certificate indicates that the Veteran died at D.C. General Hospital. These records may provide relevant information regarding the circumstances of the Veteran’s death as asserted by the appellant. The AOJ should undertake reasonable efforts to obtain these records. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Take all appropriate steps to verify and correct, if necessary, the Veteran’s social security number and/or date of birth in the claims file. 2. Contact the appellant and request that she complete a VA Form 21-4142 with the correct social security number and date of birth for Lenoir Memorial Hospital, D.C. General Hospital and any other providers who may have treated the Veteran for any psychological disorder. 3. After completion of directives #1 and #2, undertake reasonable attempts to obtain the identified treatment records. A copy of the Veteran’s death certificate must be included with the request for records from Lenoir Memorial Hospital. All efforts to obtain identified records, as well as all responses, must be documented in the claims file. If the records are unavailable, the appellant must be provided with notice of this fact in compliance with 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(e)(1). K. Parakkal Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Monica Ball Jackson, 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.