Citation Nr: 21003658 Decision Date: 01/22/21 Archive Date: 01/22/21 DOCKET NO. 15-34 970A DATE: January 22, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to an increased rating for hemorrhoids, currently rated as 10 percent disabling, is denied. FINDING OF FACT The preponderance of the evidence is against finding that the Veteran’s hemorrhoids has manifested with persistent bleeding, secondary anemia, or fissures. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to an increased rating for hemorrhoids have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1155, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 4.1, 4.3, 4.7, 4.114, Diagnostic Code 7336. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from March 1997 to December 2002. This appeal to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) arose from a September 2012 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). See January 2013 Notice of Disagreement (NOD); September 2015 Statement of the Case (SOC); October 2015 Substantive Appeal (VA Form 9). The Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in an October 2018 hearing. See October 2018 Hearing transcript. In February 2019, the Board remanded the claim for further development. February 2019 Board decision. The Agency of Original Jurisdiction developed the evidence and continued the denial of the Veteran’s claim. September 2020 Supplemental Statement of the Case. The case is now back before the Board. Entitlement to an increased rating for hemorrhoids, currently rated as 10 percent disabling. As an initial matter, the Board finds that there has been substantial compliance with the remand directives in the February 2019 Board decision. The Veteran asserts entitlement to a 20 percent rating for her hemorrhoids. October 2015 VA Form 9. The Veteran testified that her hemorrhoids are aggravated when she goes to the bathroom. October 2018 Hearing transcript. The Veteran’s hemorrhoids are currently evaluated under Diagnostic Code 7336 and rated as 10 percent disabling. September 2012 Rating decision. Under Diagnostic Code 7336, a 10 percent rating is warranted for hemorrhoids that are large or thrombotic, irreducible, with excessive redundant tissue, evidencing frequent recurrences. 38 C.F.R. § 4.114. The next higher rating of 20 percent is warranted for hemorrhoids with persistent bleeding and with secondary anemia, or with fissures. Id. After careful and thorough review of the evidence, the Board finds that the Veteran’s hemorrhoids have manifested with symptoms that more closely approximates the criteria for a 10 percent rating. The Veteran was afforded two VA examinations to evaluate her hemorrhoids during the period on appeal. The March 2016 VA examiner found the Veteran to have mild to moderate hemorrhoids based on the Veteran’s report of thrombosed hemorrhoids once every two weeks, lasting 2-3 days, with bleeding at least once a year. March 2016 VA examination for rectum and anus conditions. The August 2020 VA examiner also found the Veteran to have mild to moderate hemorrhoids with occasional bright red bleeding but based on an examination showing irreducible external hemorrhoids. August 2020 VA examination for rectum and anus conditions. Neither VA examiner found evidence of persistent bleeding, secondary anemia, or fissures. The March 2016 and August 2020 VA examiners are medical professionals qualified to evaluate the Veteran’s hemorrhoid symptoms, who provided detailed reports of their findings. The Board finds the VA examiners’ findings and opinions to be probative and that they support no more than a 10 percent rating for the Veteran’s hemorrhoid disability. The Board also considered the medical treatment evidence. The Veteran treatment providers found occasional hematochezia, but no reported evidence of persistent bleeding, secondary anemia, or fissures due to her hemorrhoids, which is consistent the finding by the VA examiners. See, e.g., May 2012 VA treatment evidence; June 2016 VA treatment evidence. The Board also considered the Veteran’s lay statements about her hemorrhoid symptoms. October 2015 VA Form 9; October 2018 Hearing transcript. While the Veteran is competent to report hemorrhoid symptoms, she is not competent to state whether her symptoms warrant a specific rating under the schedule for rating disabilities. See Buchanan v. Nicholson, 451 F.3d 1331, 1337 (Fed Cir. 2006); Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372, 1376-77 (Fed. Cir. 2007). In this case, the Veteran’s lay statements, including those to the VA examiners, support that her hemorrhoids are aggravated when she uses the bathroom and cause occasional bleeding. The Veteran’s statements about her symptoms to be probative, but the Board finds they do not support that her hemorrhoids have manifested with persistent bleeding, secondary anemia, or fissures. Based on the medical and lay evidence of record, the preponderance of the evidence is against finding that the Veteran’s hemorrhoids have manifested with persistent bleeding, secondary anemia, or fissures. Accordingly, the Board finds that a 20 percent or higher rating for the Veteran’s hemorrhoids is not warranted. R. FEINBERG Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Lin, Mao Ching The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.