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Whole decision: Denied

The Board denied the veteran's claim for an earlier effective date prior to February 3, 2000 for the grant of service connection for multiple sclerosis. The veteran was previously denied in a February 1996 rating decision and did not appeal it. His request to reopen his claim was received on February 3, 2000. Therefore, an effective date prior to February 3, 2000 is not warranted.

The deciding factor: The effective date of service connection based on new and material evidence following an earlier denial is the date of receipt of the new claim or the date entitlement arose, whichever is later. In this case, the first medical evidence was in 1987, and the veteran's request to reopen based on new and material evidence was received on February 3, 2000.

Claimed conditions
Multiple Sclerosis
How they argued it
Direct service connection
Exposure basis
None
Rating
Not verified here — check the original decision
Decision date
September 14, 2006
Citation
0629038

Veterans Law Judge

CHERYL L. MASON

Decisions by this judge: 1,547 · Granted: 20% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed decisions on this site)

Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.

This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0629038.

What this means for you

A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.

What you can do next

Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).

Related decisions

Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.

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