Citation Nr: 21042645 Decision Date: 07/13/21 Archive Date: 07/13/21 DOCKET NO. 16-45 394 DATE: July 13, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to a compensable rating for hemorrhoids is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a bilateral eye condition, including a right eye abrasion, is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from June 1980 to December 2001. This appeal to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) is from a September 2015 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In July 2019, the Board remanded these claims back to the RO (Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ)) for further development and consideration. Regrettably, however, the Board must again remand these claims. 1. Entitlement to a compensable rating for hemorrhoids is again remanded. The Veteran alleged in an October 2015 written pleading that his hemorrhoids had worsened. Specifically, he noted that his hemorrhoids bled daily and emerge during bowel movements. He therefore requested to be reexamined to reassess the severity of this service-connected disability. The Board's July 2019 remand of this claim was not to have him reexamined, instead, to try and obtain outstanding treatment records relevant to this claim. But it has now been more than 6 years since he was last examined concerning this disability, so reexamination is needed to assist in determining whether a higher rating is warranted. See Snuffer v. Gober, 10 Vet. App. 400, 403 (1997). 2. Entitlement to service connection for a bilateral eye condition, including a right eye abrasion, also is again remanded. Following the Board's prior remand, the Veteran was granted service connection in July 2020 for several eye disabilities, including for dry eye syndrome, exophthalmos, and bilateral lagophthalmos. The Board also sees that, prior to that grant, he had a VA eye examination in December 2019 during which the examiner indicated that, while the Veteran had a history of cornea abrasions, he did not then currently have a cornea abrasion; therefore, the examiner did not opine on whether this condition was directly or secondarily related to the Veteran's military service. But precedent cases have clarified that the current disability requirement is satisfied if the Veteran has the claimed disability at any time since the filing of the claim, or even preceding the claim if proximate to that, even if the condition since has resolved. See McLain v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 319 (2007); Romanowsky v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 289 (2013). An addendum opinion thus is needed to clarify whether the Veteran has had a bilateral eye condition other than those already determined to be service connected (including especially a right cornea abrasion) at any point during the review period beginning June 26, 2013, even if now resolved. The examiner is also specifically asked to address the Veteran's contention that he has chronic recurrent erosion of his cornea secondary to his service-connected eye conditions (most notably, his dry eye syndrome). Accordingly, these claims are REMANDED for the following still additional development and consideration: 1. Obtain an addendum opinion from an appropriate clinician regarding whether the Veteran has at any point during the review period beginning on June 26, 2013 had an eye disability (other than those already determined to be service connected) that is at least as likely as not related or attributable to his service either directly or secondarily by way his already determined to be service-connected eye disabilities (namely, his dry eye syndrome, exophthalmos, and bilateral lagophthalmos). *In responding, the examiner is specifically asked to consider this possibility since June 26, 2013, even if the disability since has resolved, also address the Veteran's contention that he has chronic recurrent erosion of his cornea secondary to his service-connected eye conditions (most notably, owing to his dry eye syndrome). 2. Also schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician to reassess the severity of his service-connected hemorrhoids. The examiner must provide a full description of this disability and report all signs and symptoms necessary for evaluating it under the applicable rating criteria. KEITH W. ALLEN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board C. B. Kucera 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.