BVA9500104 
DOCKET NO.  92-07 399     )       DATE
          )
          )

On appeal from the decision of the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Columbia, South
Carolina

THE ISSUE

Entitlement to service connection for the cause of the veteran's
death on a radiation basis.

REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by: The American Legion

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

James L. March, Associate Counsel

INTRODUCTION

The veteran had active service from April 1941 to May 1946 and
from April 1947 to September 1962.  He was a prisoner of war of
the Japanese government from April 1942 to September 1945.  This
appeal arises from a May 1991 rating decision of the Department
of Veterans' Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Columbia, South
Carolina.  In July 1994, the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board)
remanded the case for further development.

REMAND

The appellant and her representative contend that the veteran's
death from oropharyngeal cancer was caused by radiation exposure
during his period of internment in Japan.  As noted above, the
veteran was a prisoner of war of the Japanese government from
April 9, 1942, to September 15, 1945.

As indicated in the previous remand, service connection may be
established for cancer of the pharynx if it becomes manifest in a
veteran who participated in a radiation risk activity.
38 U.S.C.A. 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(d).  Radiation risk activities
include internment as a prisoner of war during the period August
6, 1945, to July 1, 1946, within 75 miles of the city limits of
Hiroshima or within 150 miles of the city limits of Nagasaki.  It
also includes working within the above areas and repatriation
through the port of Nagasaki.  Id.

There are service medical records which indicate that the veteran
was interned in Japan from April 1944 to September 1945.  One
record, a clinical brief dated in September 1945, indicates that
the veteran was captured in Bataan, and interned in Fukuoka,
Japan.  The record reflects that the RO has not been successful
in its attempt to verify the veteran's participation in a
"radiation-risk activity."  However, the RO has not completed all
indicated development with respect to this matter.

The veteran's death certificate indicates that he died on March
[redacted] 1991, at the VA Medical Center in Columbia, South Carolina,
of metastatic carcinoma of the oropharynx.  No other medical
evidence pertaining to the fatal cancer is of record.

In light of the foregoing, the Board is REMANDING this case for
the following actions:

1.  The RO should contact the appellant and
request that she identify the names,
addresses, and approximate dates of
treatment for all VA and non-VA health care
providers who treated the veteran for the
fatal cancer.  With any necessary
authorization from the appellant, the RO
should attempt to obtain copies of pertinent
treatment records identified by the
appellant, as well as all available
pathology materials pertaining to the fatal
cancer.

2.  In any event, the RO should request the
VA Medical Center in Columbia, South
Carolina, to provide all medical records
concerning the veteran's cancer treatment
including the terminal hospitalization
records and any pathological materials
pertaining to the veteran's cancer.

3.  If the primary site of the fatal cancer
is not adequately established by the
evidence received pursuant to the above
development, the RO should arrange for a
board-certified pathologist, if available,
to review the claims folder, to include the
records and pathology materials obtained
pursuant to the above development, and
express an opinion as to the primary site of
the fatal cancer, to include an opinion as
to whether it is at least as likely as not
that the cancer originated in the pharynx.
The rationale for the opinion should be
explained.

4.  The RO should request the Defense
Nuclear Agency (DNA) to attempt to verify
that the veteran was interned or performed
work within 75 miles of Hiroshima or 150
miles of Nagasaki during the period from
August 6, 1945, to July 1, 1946.  DNA should
also be requested to attempt to verify that
the veteran was repatriated through the port
of Nagasaki.  Finally, it should be
requested to provide a dose estimate of any
radiation exposure sustained by the veteran
during his service in Japan.

5.  Thereafter, the RO should undertake any
other indicated development, and should
readjudicate the appellant's claim of
entitlement to service connection for the
cause of the veteran's death.

If the benefits sought on appeal are not granted to the
appellant's satisfaction, she and her representative should be
issued a supplemental statement of the case and be afforded a
reasonable opportunity to reply.  Thereafter, the case should be
returned to the Board for further appellate consideration, if
otherwise in order.

In taking this action, the Board implies no conclusion as to any
ultimate outcome warranted.  No action is required of the
appellant until she is notified by the RO.

          SHANE A. DURKIN
          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.

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) (1993).