BVA9508305 
DOCKET NO.  93-11 438     )       DATE
          )
          )

On appeal from the decision of the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in St. Petersburg,
Florida

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

Jeanne Schlegel, Associate Counsel

REMAND

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (the
Board) from a December 1991 rating determination by the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) which
denied entitlement to service connection for the cause of the
veteran's death.

The veteran, who served from November 1940 to February 1947, was
wounded in action in August 1943, July 1944, and again in August
1944.  The August 1944 wounds included a severe head wound which,
according to initial VA examination in June 1947, resulted in a
skull defect with residual headaches and dizziness.

The veteran died on November [redacted] 1991, at the age of 79.  The
death certificate lists the immediate cause of death as
cerebrovascular accident due to arthrosclerosis.  Alzheimer's
disease was listed as a significant condition contributing to
death.

The veteran, in a statement prepared just days before his death,
claimed that his Alzheimer's disease was directly related to his
service-connected head wound.  The veteran mentioned that he was
"currently a patient in Bartow Memorial Hospital."  The death
certificate reflects that the veteran died days after this
statement was prepared while still a patient at Bartow Memorial
Hospital.  There are no medical records on file for the veteran's
terminal period of hospitalization at this facility.  Moreover,
the only medical records in the file from the time of a VA
examination in 1966 until the time of the veteran's death in
November 1991 are records of emergency room treatment at Bartow
Hospital in March 1991.

In March 1992 the appellant stated that her late husband's
attending physician was in the process of preparing a medical
statement in support of her claim.  At this time, no such medical
statement has been associated with the file.

It is argued that medications that the veteran was taking for his
service-connected disabilities may have affected his Alzheimer's
disease which was noted as a contributing cause of his death.

The Board is of the opinion that a request for additional records
may yield relevant facts and prove helpful in the deliberation of
the case.  Accordingly, the case is REMANDED to the RO for the
following additional development:

1.  The RO should contact the appellant and
request that she identify to the best of
her ability the all medical providers who
may have records pertinent to her claim.
Thereafter, the RO should secure copies of
medical records from all sources identified
by the appellant.  A specific request
should be made for records from Bartow
Memorial Hospital in Bartow, Florida, for
records of the veteran's hospitalization at
that facility in November 1991, as well as
complete records of all previous treatment
of the veteran.

2.  The RO should request that the
appellant provide a list of medications
which her late husband was taking for his
service-connected disabilities, both
prescription and over-the-counter, or to
have the attending physician provide a list
of the medications the veteran was taking
for his service-connected disabilities and
an opinion as to whether the service-
connected disabilities or the effects of
the medications for these disabilities
contributed to the cause of the veteran's
death.

Thereafter, the case should be reviewed by the RO.  If the
benefits sought are not granted, a supplemental statement of the
case should be issued to the appellant and her representative and
they should be provided an opportunity  to respond.  Subse-
quently, the claims folder should be returned to the Board for
further review, if necessary.  By this action, the Board
intimates no opinion legal or factual, as to the ultimate
disposition warranted as to this specific issue.

          GARY L. GICK
          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 deter-
mination.  This proceeding has been assigned to an individual
member of the Board.

Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 1991), only a decision of the
Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States
Court of Veterans Appeals.  This remand is in the nature of a
preliminary order and does not constitute a decision of the Board
on the merits of your appeal.  38 C.F.R. § 20.1100(b) (1994).