The Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to July 3, 2025 for service connection of MCL on a direct basis is granted. The claims for earlier effective dates for the grant of SMC and evaluation of 100 percent for MCL are remanded.
The deciding factor: The Veteran has continuously pursued his claim since May 7, 2019, and service connection was established on a direct basis with an effective date of July 3, 2025. The effectiveness of the SMC and evaluation of 100 percent for MCL prior to July 3, 2025 is unclear due to lack of medical clarity.
- Claimed conditions
- stage IV mantle cell lymphoma (MCL)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- April 22, 2026
- Citation
- A26037816
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 A26037816.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for stage IV mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) under the PACT Act, effective August 10, 2022.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's service connection claim for stage IV mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is remanded due to a duty to assist error regarding radiation exposure during military service. The Board finds that the Under Secretary for Health should prepare a dose estimate based on available methodologies, given the Veteran's assignment at Crailsheim, Germany from December 1986 to September 1991, in the fallout zone of the Chernobyl event.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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