The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for an effective date earlier than December 19, 2008 for the grant of service connection for Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The earliest effective date permitted by law is December 19, 2008 as this is the date that an informal claim was filed for service connection with a formal claim filed within one year thereafter.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran did not file a valid claim prior to December 19, 2008 and thus no earlier effective date can be granted. The earliest effective date is based on the receipt of an informal claim in December 2008 followed by a formal claim filed in June 2009.
- Claimed conditions
- Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 9, 2017
- Citation
- 1751468
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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 1751468.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma on a presumptive basis under the PACT Act, effective March 2, 2017.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for back pain and neck pain, finding no current disability. The claim for Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is remanded due to inadequate consideration of all potential exposures.,The claim for an acquired psychiatric disability (PTSD) is also remanded due to a lack of development of the Veteran's therapist's records.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's request for an earlier effective date for service connection of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, finding that the claim was filed within one year of separation from active duty and therefore the earliest possible effective date is October 15, 2020.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was granted with an effective date of March 13, 2024. This decision is based on the PACT Act becoming effective and the Veteran's symptoms being consistent with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma since April 14, 2022.
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