Citation Nr: 22013552 Decision Date: 03/09/22 Archive Date: 03/09/22 DOCKET NO. 15-09 023A DATE: March 9, 2022 ORDER Service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death is denied. FINDING OF FACT The evidence does not persuasively show that a service-connected disability was the immediate or underlying cause of the Veteran's death, nor was a service-connected disability etiologically related to the cause of the Veteran's death. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for cause of the Veteran's death have not been met. 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 November 1944 to October 1945. The Board notes that the Veteran was a World War II Veteran. The Veteran died in June 2009; the Appellant is his surviving spouse. Dependency and Indemnity Benefits Cause of Death Dependency and indemnity compensation is available to a surviving spouse who can establish, among other things, that the Veteran died from a service-connected disability. 38 U.S.C. § 1310. Service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death can be established by showing that a service-connected disability was either the principal cause of death or a contributory cause of death. 38 C.F.R. § 3.312. To establish entitlement to service connection for the cause of a Veteran's death, the evidence of record must show that a disability incurred in or aggravated by service either caused or contributed substantially or materially to cause death. 38 C.F.R. § 3.312(a). For a service-connected disability to be considered the principal or primary cause of death, it must singly, or with some other condition, be the immediate or underlying cause, or be etiologically related thereto. 38 C.F.R. § 3.312(b). In determining whether a service-connected disability contributed to death, it must be shown that it contributed substantially or materially; that it combined to cause death; or that it aided or lent assistance to the production of death. 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 C.F.R. § 3.312(c)(1). The debilitating effects of a service-connected disability must have made the veteran materially less capable of resisting the fatal disease or must have had a material influence in accelerating death. See Lathan v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 359 (1995). In order to establish service connection for the cause of death, there must be (1) evidence of death; (2) evidence of in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) medical evidence of a nexus between the claimed in-service disease or injury and death. Hickson v. West, 12 Vet. App. 247, 253 (1999). In determining whether the disability that resulted in the death of the Veteran was the result of active service, the laws, and regulations generally applicable to compensation for service connected disability apply. 38 U.S.C. § 1310. Service connection may be granted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Service connection may be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge, when all of the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that it was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). In determining whether service connection is warranted for a disability, VA is responsible for determining whether the evidence supports the claim or is in relative equipoise, with the claimant prevailing in either event, or whether a preponderance of the evidence is against the claim, in which case the claim must be denied. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.102, Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49 (1990). When there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding any issue material to the determination, the benefit of the doubt is afforded the claimant. In this matter, the Veteran's death certificate shows that he died on June [REDACTED], 2009, from metastatic prostate cancer which had onset 19 years prior. He did not have treatment for or diagnosis of prostate cancer during his active duty service. At the time of his death, the Veteran was service-connected for rheumatic fever at a non-compensable rate. It is clear from the evidence of record that the Veteran was not diagnosed with prostate cancer until over 45 years after discharge from his active duty service. Additionally, there is no evidence of prostate cancer or any other similar pathology during service and there is no evidence of record of that condition or any associated symptomology within one year of separation. Thus, the evidence of record establishes that the cause of the Veteran's death, prostate cancer, was not manifest either in service or within one year of separation from service and there is no competent evidence of record linking his prostate cancer to service. Accordingly, the Board finds that the cause of the Veteran's death does not warrant service connection. At the time of his death the Veteran was service connected for rheumatic fever. As discussed above, service connection for the Veteran's listed cause of death, prostate cancer, has not been established. As the Veteran's sole service connected disability rheumatic fever is not shown in any manner to have caused or contributed to his death, the criteria of service connection for cause of death are not satisfied. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.312. Significantly, the Appellant has not presented or identified any medical opinion or other treatment record that supports the claim for service connection for the Veteran's death due to his active duty service, including his service-connected rheumatic fever. The Board recognizes that the Appellant has submitted articles into evidence which indicate that the Veteran's rheumatic fever caused damage to his heart. However, there is no indication in the articles submitted or other evidence introduced into the record that there is a link between the Veteran's service-connected rheumatic fever and his cause of death, prostate cancer. In assessing the evidence, the Board has considered the Appellant's statements and acknowledges the Appellant is competent to provide evidence regarding the Veteran's medical history and his symptoms prior to his passing. See Barr v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 303, 307-08 (2007). However, as the Appellant's lay statements relate to the etiology of the Veteran's death, the Board is unable to accord these statements probative weight because she is not competent to render a medical diagnosis or opinion on such a complex medical question. See Jones v. West, 12 Vet. App. 460, 465 (1999). (Continued on the next page) In sum, service connection for the cause of death must be denied. Although the Board is sympathetic to the Appellant's claim, the Board has no authority to grant claims on an equitable basis; instead, the Board is constrained to follow specific provisions of law. See 38 U.S.C. § 7104; Taylor v. West, 11 Vet. App. 436, 440-41 (1998); Harvey v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 416, 425 (1994). The Board emphasizes that the denial of this claim does not in any way diminish the Veteran's honorable service to our country. Because the preponderance of the evidence is against the claim for service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, the claim must be denied, and the benefit of the doubt doctrine is not for application. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. JOHN Z. JONES Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board A. Parrish 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.