Citation Nr: 21027335
Decision Date: 05/05/21	Archive Date: 05/05/21

DOCKET NO. 18-12 098
DATE: May 5, 2021

ORDER

Entitlement to service connection for Crohn's disease, to include as due to herbicide exposure is dismissed.

Entitlement to service connection for residuals of intestine removal, to include as secondary to Crohn's disease and as due to herbicide exposure is dismissed.

Entitlement to service connection for skin cancers, basil cell carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma is dismissed.

FINDING OF FACT

In March 2021, the Board was notified that the Veteran died in March 2021.

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. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 19.55.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty from November 1967 to July 1969, including in the Republic of Vietnam.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2014 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Muskogee, OK.  

This matter was previously before the Board in June 2019 when it was remanded for additional evidentiary development.

Service Connection

1. Entitlement to service connection for Crohn's disease, to include as due to herbicide exposure

2. Entitlement to service connection for residuals of intestine removal, to include as secondary to Crohn's disease and as due to herbicide exposure

3. Entitlement to service connection for skin cancers, basil cell carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma

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.  See 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.

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.  See 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; see 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 (listed on the first page of this decision).  38 C.F.R. § 3.1010 (b).

 

 

KRISTI L. GUNN

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	A. C. Slaughter, 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.