BVA9502108 DOCKET NO. 93-10 232 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Atlanta, Georgia THE ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for the cause of the veteran's death. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Georgia Department of Veterans Service ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD N. W. Fabian, Associate Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran had active service from January 1946 to May 1947 and from July 1952 to May 1971. CONTENTION OF APPELLANT ON APPEAL The veteran's widow, the appellant, contends that diverticulum of the esophagus, for which the veteran was service-connected, slowly developed into a tumor that resulted in the veteran's death. DECISION OF THE BOARD The Board of Veterans' Appeals (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's claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death is not well-grounded. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The veteran died in June 1990, at the age of 63. 2. The cause of the veteran's death was listed on the death certificate as respiratory failure with electro-mechanical dissociation, due to intrapulmonary hemorrhage, due to squamous cell cancer of the esophagus of unknown duration. 3. At the time of the veteran's death, service connection was in effect for hypertension and diverticulum of the esophagus. 4. No competent evidence has been submitted that links the veteran's cause of death to his active service or to his service- connected disabilities. 5. No competent evidence has been submitted that shows that hypertension or diverticulum of the esophagus played any material role in causing or contributing to cause the death of the veteran. 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. §§ 1310, 5107(a) (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. § 3.312 (1993). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The threshold question that must be resolved is whether the appellant has presented evidence that the claim is well-grounded. See 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(a) (West 1991); Murphy v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 78, 81 (1990). A well grounded claim is a plausible claim, meaning a claim that appears to be meritorious. See Murphy, 1 Vet.App. at 81. An allegation that the cause of death is service-connected is not sufficient; the appellant must submit evidence in support of the claim that would "justify a belief by a fair and impartial individual that the claim is plausible." See 38 U.S.C.A. 5107(a); Tirpak v. Derwinski, 2 Vet.App. 609, 611 (1992). A claim that is not well grounded must be dismissed because it does not present a question of fact or law over which the Board has jurisdiction. See 38 U.S.C.A. § 7105(d)(5); see also Boeck v. Brown, 6 Vet.App. 14, 17 (1993). A lay person is not competent to make a medical diagnosis or to relate a medical disorder to a specific cause. See Espiritu v. Derwinski, 2 Vet.App. 492, 494 (1992). Therefore, lay statements regarding a medical diagnosis or causation cannot constitute evidence to make a claim well grounded under 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(a). See Grottveit v. Brown, 5 Vet.App. 91, 93 (1993). In order to establish service connection for the cause of the veteran's death, the evidence must show that a disability incurred in or aggravated by active service was the principal or contributory cause of death. See 38 U.S.C.A. § 1310; 38 C.F.R. § 3.312(a). In order to constitute the principal cause of death the service-connected disability must be one of the immediate or underlying causes of death, or be etiologically related to the cause of death. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.312(b). In order to be a contributory cause of death, it must be shown that the service- connected disability contributed substantially or materially to cause death, or that there was a causal relationship between the service-connected disability and the veteran's death. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.312(c)(1). If the service-connected disability affected a vital organ, consideration must be given to whether the debilitating effects of the service-connected disability rendered the veteran less capable of resisting the effects of other diseases. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.312(c)(2). The veteran's death certificate shows that death was caused by respiratory failure with electro-mechanical dissociation, noted to be of 40 minutes' duration, due to intrapulmonary hemorrhage of 60 minutes' duration, as the result of squamous cell cancer of the esophagus, of which the approximate interval between onset and death was noted to be unknown. No autopsy was performed. No reference is made to hypertension or diverticulum of the esophagus as causing or contributing to the death of the veteran. The medical evidence in file shows that the veteran was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus in April 1990. On June 18, 1990, the veteran developed a massive gastro-intestinal hemorrhage as a result of the necrosis of the esophageal tumor and died as a consequence. There is no evidence in the veteran's service medical records or post-service treatment records of any symptoms or clinical findings of cancer prior to the diagnosis made in April 1990. In a rating determination issued in May 1972, the veteran was granted service connection for hypertension with a 20 percent disability evaluation and for diverticulum of the esophagus with a noncompensable evaluation. An August 1978 rating decision subsequently reduced the rating for hypertension to 10 percent, and the rating for diverticulum of the esophagus remained noncompensable. There is no probative evidence in file of a causal relationship between hypertension or diverticulum of the esophagus and cancer of the esophagus. The appellant has not submitted any competent evidence to support her contention that diverticulum of the esophagus developed into cancer. The appellant is not competent to make the medical determination that diverticulum of the esophagus developed into cancer and therefore caused the veteran's death. See Grottveit v. Brown, 5 Vet.App. 91, 93 (1993). Because the appellant has submitted no medical evidence to support her contentions, the appellant's claim is not well grounded. Accordingly, the claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death must be dismissed. ORDER The claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death is dismissed. M. SABULSKY 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.