BVA9503551 DOCKET NO. 93-03 075 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Indianapolis, Indiana THE ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for the cause of the veteran's death. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Ronald R. Bosch, Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran served on active duty from May 1941 to September 1945. He died in December 1990, and his surviving spouse is the appellant. This appeal arose from a March 1991 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Indianapolis, Indiana. The RO denied entitlement to service connection for the cause of the veteran's death. The Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) REMANDED the case to the RO for further development in October 1993. The RO affirmed the denial of entitlement to service connection for the cause of the veteran's death when it issued a rating decision in June 1994. The case has been returned to the Board for final appellate review. CONTENTIONS OF APPELLANT ON APPEAL The appellant contends that service connection is warranted for the cause of the veteran's death. She states that the disability for which service connection had been established during his lifetime materially contributed to his death. DECISION OF THE BOARD The Board, in accordance with the provisions of 38 U.S.C.A. § 7104 (West 1991), has reviewed and considered all of the evidence and material of record in the veteran's claims file. Based on its review of the relevant evidence in this matter, and for the following reasons and bases, it is the decision of the Board that the appellant has not submitted evidence of a well grounded claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death. FINDING OF FACT The claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death is not supported by cognizable evidence showing that the claim is plausible or capable of substantiation. CONCLUSION OF LAW The claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death is not well grounded. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107 (West 1991). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The threshold question to be answered in this case is whether the appellant has presented evidence of a well grounded claim; that is, a claim which is plausible and meritorious on its own or capable of substantiation. If she has not, her appeal must fail. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(a); Murphy v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 78 (1990). The Board finds that the appellant's claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death is not well grounded, and there is no further duty to assist her in the development of her claim. In order for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death to be granted, it must be shown that a service-connected disorder caused the death, or substantially or materially contributed to it. A service-connected disorder is one which was incurred in or aggravated by active service, one which may be presumed to have been incurred during such service if manifested to a compensable degree during the first post service year, or one which was proximately due to or the result of an established service-connected disability. 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 1101, 1110, 1112, 1113, 1131; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309, 3.310(a) (1994). During the veteran's lifetime, service connection had been established for residuals of a gunshot wound of the right knee with muscle damage (Group XIV), with knee involvement, evaluated as 40 percent disabling. According to the veteran's death certificate, the reported cause of death was cardiac arrest due to or as a consequence of an acute myocardial infarction and coronary artery disease. No other significant conditions contributing to death were noted. It was indicated that an autopsy had not been conducted. A review of the service and post service medical records discloses that coronary artery disease was not shown in service or for many years thereafter, and there is no competent evidence showing that coronary artery disease was disabling to a compensable degree during the first post service year. The August 1945 Certificate of Disability for Discharge contains no findings as to coronary artery disease, nor was it shown when the veteran was hospitalized by VA from August 1949 to April 1950. The post service medical record shows the veteran was privately hospitalized in September 1989 for an inferior myocardial infarction. Coronary artery disease was diagnosed in connection with emergency treatment at a private hospital in December 1990. The appellant has contended that the combat incurred injury of the right lower extremity contributed to the veteran's death. The appellant has submitted no competent evidence to show that the disability for which service connection was established during the veteran's lifetime constituted a causal factor eventuating in his death. The Board can sympathize with the appellant on the loss of her husband. The competent evidence of record, however, does not show that the veteran died of a disability related to his period of service. Accordingly, the appellant's claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death is not well grounded, and her claim must be dismissed. In dismissing the appellant's claim the Board observes that the appellant has argued that the veteran's service-connected disability contributed materially to his death. The Board must note that competent medical evidence is required to establish that a claim is plausible and therefore well grounded. Grottveit v. Brown, 5 Vet.App. 91 (1993). Lay persons, such as the appellant, who are not trained in medicine are not competent to offer medical opinions on causation or medical diagnoses. In other words, the appellant cannot unilaterally declare that the combat incurred disability of the right lower extremity was a contributing factor in the veteran's death. Espiritu v. Derwinski, 2 Vet.App. 492 (1992). If no competent medical evidence is submitted to support the appellant's claim, it is not well grounded. Tirpak v. Derwinski, 2 Vet.App. 609, 611 (1992). Consistent with the duty set forth in 38 U.S.C.A. § 5103(a) to notify the claimant of what evidence is necessary to make this claim well grounded, the appellant should understand that this claim would be well grounded if evidence from a competent medical professional (e.g., physician, cardiologist, etc.) provided an opinion finding that the veteran incurred or aggravated a disorder while on active duty which caused or contributed substantially or materially to the veteran's ultimate demise. Although the Board considered and denied this appeal on a ground different from that of the RO, which denied the claim on the merits, the appellant has not been prejudiced by the decision. This is because in assuming that the claim was well grounded, the RO accorded the claimant greater consideration than her claim in fact warranted under the circumstances. Bernard v. Brown, 4 Vet.App. 384, 392-94 (1993). To remand this case to the RO for consideration of the issue of whether the appellant's claim is well grounded would be pointless and, in light of the law cited above, would not result in a determination favorable to her. VA O.G.C. Prec. Op. 16-92, 57 Fed.Reg. 49-747 (1992). ORDER The claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death is dismissed. BRUCE KANNEE Member, Board of Veterans' Appeals The Board of Veterans' Appeals Administrative Procedures Improvement Act, Pub. L. No. 103-271, § 6, 108 Stat. 740, ___ (1994), permits a proceeding instituted before the Board to be assigned to an individual member of the Board for a determination. This proceeding has been assigned to an individual member of the Board. NOTICE OF APPELLATE RIGHTS: Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7266 (West 1991), a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals granting less than the complete benefit, or benefits, sought on appeal is appealable to the United States Court of Veterans Appeals within 120 days from the date of mailing of notice of the decision, provided that a Notice of Disagreement concerning an issue which was before the Board was filed with the agency of original jurisdiction on or after November 18, 1988. Veterans' Judicial Review Act, Pub. L. No. 100-687, § 402 (1988). The date which appears on the face of this decision constitutes the date of mailing and the copy of this decision which you have received is your notice of the action taken on your appeal by the Board of Veterans' Appeals.