Citation Nr: 22018583 Decision Date: 03/29/22 Archive Date: 03/29/22 DOCKET NO. 17-44 164 DATE: March 29, 2022 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for cause of death is denied. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran died from metastatic lung cancer. 2. A service-connected disability was not the immediate or underlying cause of the Veteran's death. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for cause of death have not been met. 38 U.S.C. § 1310; 38 C.F.R. § 3.312 (2018). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Navy from December 1969 to May 1972. He died in August 2016. The appellant in this matter is the Veteran's surviving spouse. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an April 2017 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In her August 2017 substantive appeal (VA Form 9), the appellant requested a Board hearing; however, in September 2021 written correspondence, she withdrew her request for a Board hearing. In October 2021, the Board remanded the claim to obtain outstanding VA records. Entitlement to service connection for cause of death The appellant contends that the Veteran's cause of death was related to his active service. The death of a veteran will be considered to result from a service-connected disability when the evidence establishes that such disability was either the principal or a contributory cause of death. 38 U.S.C. § 1310; 38 C.F.R. § 3.312. Therefore, service connection for the cause of a veteran's death may be demonstrated by showing that the veteran's death was caused by a disability for which service connection had been established at the time of death or for which service connection should have been established. 38 U.S.C. § 1310; 38 C.F.R. § 3.312. A disability will be considered the principal cause of death when such disability, singly or jointly with some other condition, was the immediate or underlying cause of death or was etiologically related thereto. A disability will be considered a contributory cause of death when it contributed substantially or materially to death, combined to cause death, or aided or lent assistance to the production of death. 38 U.S.C. § 1310; 38 C.F.R. § 3.312. The Veteran's death certificate indicated that he died in August 2016 of metastatic lung cancer. Service treatment records (STRs) are silent for any lung cancer or respiratory disabilities. Post-service, there is evidence that the Veteran was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer as early as March 2016. His condition progressively worsened until his death in August 2016. Based on the foregoing, the Board finds that the evidence does not support an award of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death. There are no lay statements of record suggesting that he was diagnosed with lung cancer or experienced relevant symptomology during service, either by the Veteran when he was seeking VA benefits or by the appellant during the course of this claim. The only post-service medical evidence relevant to the claim includes VA treatment records beginning in March 2016. The appellant has not identified any outstanding private treatment records that may be relevant to the claim reflecting treatment during the long interval between discharge in 1972 and the first evidence of lung cancer in 2016. No treating provider has ever suggested an etiological link between the Veteran's lung cancer and any aspect of service. The Board finds that without any indication that the Veteran's symptoms began in service or are otherwise related to service, to include as a consequence of any toxic exposures therein, the weight of the evidence is against a finding that metastatic lung cancer bore any etiological relationship to service. The Board recognizes that a VA opinion has not been obtained regarding the claim. The VA Secretary must provide a VA medical opinion when there is: (1) competent evidence of a current disability or persistent or recurrent symptoms of a disability, and (2) evidence establishing that an event, injury, or disease occurred in service or establishing certain diseases manifesting during an applicable presumptive period for which the claimant qualifies, and (3) an indication that the disability or persistent or recurrent symptoms of a disability may be associated with service or with another service-connected disability, but (4) insufficient competent medical evidence on file for the Secretary to make a decision on the claim. See McClendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79, 81 (2006). Here, there is no evidence establishing that the condition occurred in service. The only indication that metastatic lung cancer may be associated with service has been put forward by the appellant who does not have the requisite medical expertise necessary to determine the nature and cause of a complex condition. As such, the low threshold to necessitate obtaining a VA opinion has not been met. As the persuasive evidence in this case is against the claim, service connection for the Veteran's cause of death is not warranted. Z. SAHRAIE Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Kelsey Love, 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.