Camp Lejeune Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Lawsuit: Settlements and VA Benefits

If you developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma after living or working at Camp Lejeune, the Camp Lejeune Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma lawsuit process treats your illness as a Tier 1 qualifying injury, the highest category the government recognizes. That places potential settlements between $150,000 and $550,000 under the Department of Justice’s Elective Option, with the possibility of more through litigation in federal court. The path you can take depends on when you were at the base, how long you were there, when you were diagnosed, and whether you filed an administrative claim before the August 10, 2024 deadline.¹

Who Qualifies to Bring a Claim

The Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 lets anyone who lived, worked, or was otherwise exposed to water at Camp Lejeune for at least 30 days between August 1, 1953, and December 31, 1987, sue the federal government. Veterans, civilian employees, family members in base housing, and people exposed in utero are all covered.²

The law waives the government’s sovereign immunity and sends every case to a single court: the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. To win, a claimant has to show that the water exposure is “at least as likely as not” a cause of their illness. That is a lower bar than an ordinary tort case. Punitive damages are off the table.²

One boundary is important. The Navy stopped accepting new administrative claims on August 10, 2024. If you did not file by then, you cannot start a claim now.¹

Why Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Is a Tier 1 Illness

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has found “sufficient evidence for causation” linking both trichloroethylene and benzene to non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Both chemicals were in the Camp Lejeune water. For tetrachloroethylene, the ATSDR found “equipoise and above” evidence, meaning the research supports a connection but does not meet the threshold for a definitive causal finding.³

A 2021 meta-analysis in The Lancet Planetary Health covering nearly 9,600 patients found that highly exposed individuals had a 33% increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma from benzene exposure alone, rising to 51% above baseline among the most heavily exposed. The authors concluded the findings met the Hill criteria for a causal relationship.⁴ A separate ATSDR study of more than 154,000 Marines and Navy personnel found an increased risk of certain leukemias and lymphomas among those who served at Camp Lejeune compared to Camp Pendleton.⁵

The strength of that evidence is what put non-Hodgkin lymphoma in Tier 1 of the government’s Elective Option grid.

Elective Option Settlement Amounts

The Department of Justice rolled out the Elective Option in September 2023 as a voluntary track for resolving qualifying claims quickly. For a Tier 1 illness like non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the base offer depends on how long the claimant was at Camp Lejeune:

30 to 364 days of exposure: $150,000
1 to 5 years of exposure: $300,000
More than 5 years of exposure: $450,000

An extra $100,000 is added if the illness caused the claimant’s death, making $550,000 the top offer. Payment generally arrives within 60 days of acceptance, and Elective Option settlements are not reduced dollar-for-dollar by VA disability, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits.⁶⁷

Accepting an offer permanently waives the right to sue.⁸

The Latency Cap

The Elective Option adds a timing requirement that keeps some claimants out. The earliest diagnosis must come no sooner than two years after first exposure and no later than 35 years after last exposure.⁶ Because the contamination period ended in 1987, someone whose last day at Camp Lejeune was before 1988 and who was first diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma after roughly 2022 falls outside the window. Claimants who miss the cap can still pursue their case through litigation, but they will have to prove causation with expert testimony.⁹

The Litigation Path

Claimants who do not qualify for the Elective Option, or who believe their case is worth more than the grid offers, can move to litigation. The right to sue opens once the administrative claim has been denied or has sat unresolved for six months.⁷

The scale of the litigation is unusual. More than 3,700 lawsuits have been filed in the Eastern District of North Carolina, consolidated as In re: Camp Lejeune Water Litigation, No. 7:23-cv-897, before four federal judges.¹⁰¹¹¹²

Litigation also brings the government’s benefit-offset argument into play. Any court award must be reduced by related VA disability payments, Medicare, or Medicaid the claimant has received. The Plaintiffs’ Leadership Group has asked the court to limit these offsets, arguing they should not apply to future benefits, should not be subtracted from pain-and-suffering awards, and cannot be practically calculated for past VA medical bills. The court had not ruled on the issue as of early 2026.¹³

In a June 2026 order, the judges also held that while the “at least as likely as not” causation standard favors plaintiffs, it does not loosen the ordinary rules for expert scientific testimony. Epidemiological evidence and the Bradford Hill framework were endorsed as acceptable tools for proving general causation.¹⁴ For a non-Hodgkin lymphoma claimant, that ruling is favorable ground: the epidemiology linking the disease to TCE and benzene is among the strongest in the litigation.

Attorney fees are capped at 20% for administrative settlements and 25% for cases that go to court.⁷

VA Benefits and How They Interact With a Claim

Separate from the lawsuit, the VA treats non-Hodgkin lymphoma as a presumptive service-connected condition for veterans who served at Camp Lejeune or Marine Corps Air Station New River for at least 30 days during the contamination period. Presumptive status means the veteran does not have to prove the disease was caused by service. A qualifying diagnosis is enough for monthly disability compensation and no-copay VA health care for treatment of the condition.¹⁵

Family members who lived on base during the contamination period can seek reimbursement of health care costs for 15 covered conditions, including non-Hodgkin lymphoma, through the Camp Lejeune Family Member Program.¹⁵

Filing under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act does not affect existing VA disability compensation or health care. The offset only comes into play if the claimant wins money through litigation, where the court award is reduced by related VA benefits already received. Elective Option settlements are not offset the same way.¹⁵

Where Things Stand and What Could Change

By the August 2024 filing deadline, 408,860 administrative claims had been submitted to the Navy. As of February 2026, 2,353 Elective Option settlements had been approved and 1,554 accepted, totaling roughly $691 million.¹⁰ The gap between claims filed and claims resolved is the practical reality most claimants face.

Two developments could reshape the picture. Court-appointed settlement masters and the Plaintiffs’ Leadership Group are working on a broader settlement matrix that would use a point-based system tied to exposure length, on-base location, illness type, and extent of treatment. A draft could go to the court sometime in 2026, but the Department of Justice would need to agree, and the matrix is not expected to cover every claim.¹¹

In Congress, Rep. Richard Hudson introduced H.R. 4145, the Ensuring Justice for Camp Lejeune Victims Act, in July 2025, with a Senate companion from Sen. Thom Tillis. The bill would guarantee the right to jury trials, lower the causation standard to “general causation,” expand the venue to any federal court in North or South Carolina, and cap attorney fees at 20% for settlements and 25% for trials. Neither bill had cleared its Judiciary Committee as of early 2026.¹⁶¹⁷

For someone with a non-Hodgkin lymphoma claim already on file, the near-term choice is between accepting an Elective Option offer if one is available and pressing forward toward a trial that could still be months or years away. Both paths remain open. Neither is fast.

1
U.S. Navy. Camp Lejeune Justice Act Claims
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022
3
ATSDR. Health Effects Linked With TCE, PCE, Benzene, and Vinyl Chloride Exposure
4
PMC. Benzene and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Meta-Analysis
5
ATSDR. Health Study Activities Frequently Asked Questions
6
U.S. Navy. Public Guidance on Elective Option for CLJA Claims
7
Department of Justice. Camp Lejeune Justice Act Claims
8
Triage Cancer. Camp Lejeune Act Quick Guide
9
Department of Justice. Public Guidance on Elective Option for CLJA Claims
10
Roll Call. Victims of Camp Lejeune’s Tainted Water Inch Closer to Amends
11
Call FOB. Camp Lejeune Lawsuit Updates
12
U.S. House of Representatives. Rep. Hudson Introduces the Bipartisan Ensuring Justice for Camp Lejeune Victims Act
13
Public Radio East. Lawyers for Camp Lejeune Toxic Water Victims Ask Judge to Limit Government Reduction in Damage Awards
14
Carlson Attorneys. Camp Lejeune Litigation Expert Testimony and Damages Rulings
15
Department of Veterans Affairs. Camp Lejeune Water Contamination
16
U.S. Congress. H.R. 4145, Ensuring Justice for Camp Lejeune Victims Act of 2025
17
Rep. Richard Hudson. Rep. Hudson Introduces the Bipartisan Ensuring Justice for Camp Lejeune Victims Act