The Veteran's claim for service connection for Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma was received on September 30, 2015. The Board granted an earlier effective date of September 30, 2015, based on the presumption that exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune caused his cancer.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's claim was submitted more than one year after discharge from service and thus the effective date is set as the date of receipt of the claim (September 30, 2015).
- Claimed conditions
- Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Camp Lejeune water
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 21, 2020
- Citation
- 20004405
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran was awarded a TDIU effective March 1, 2015 due to his service-connected disabilities. The Board found the evidence in equipoise as to whether he was unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation prior to January 14, 2016.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma due to herbicide agent exposure, finding that there was no evidence of herbicide exposure during his service in Panama and that the disease did not have its onset during or within one year after service. The Board also found that the Veteran had not been exposed to herbicides at any time.
- Dismissed
The appeal regarding non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is dismissed. Initial ratings of 40 percent are granted for peripheral neuropathy of the right and left lower extremities, but no higher. The appeal regarding a biopsy scar is remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that additional development is needed for the claims of service connection for left lower extremity neuropathy, right ear hearing loss disability, and prostate cancer. The Veteran's LLE neuropathy claim will be remanded to allow for a new VA examination.
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