Hiatial Hernia/ged And Eosinophilic Esophagitis

[silver25u]

I am currently rated at 0% SCD for hiatal hernia/GERD. My condition has worsened so I filed a claim for increase in my rating. Since then I have been diagnosed with Eosinophilic Esophagitis. It seems a good percentage of my issues are due to the EE. My claim has been updated to seek an initial rating for the EE.

After looking around the the forum and online my question is from a rating perspective is it in my interest to pursue these as separate connected issues with a single rating (i.e. EE secondary to existing hiatal herna/GERD) or to press for two ratings? Looking at 38 CFR I'm dealing with § 4.114 7203 and 7346.

Thanks for your thoughts. I'd hate to shoot myself in the foot my not pressing the issues in the most favorable way.

[Scott D]

I hope I can help you out in regards to this topic. I was diagnosed with EE in service as well as hiatal hernia and GERD. My EE is rated under diagnostic code 7203 Stricture of the esophagus. It is currently rated at 30% with an appeal in process. Gerd is rated under code 7346 Hiatal Hernia. Since both conditions can present similar symptoms, everything was rated under one diagnostic code for EE. I had to go through multiple years of appeals to get the ratings separated. Code 7203 is not one of the digestive conditions that requires to be lumped together per the

§4.114 Schedule of ratings—digestive system.

I would recommend that you do what it takes to ensure they are rated separately. When the VA did separate the ratings they rated EE at 30% but assigned a 0% for the rest of the digestive diseases (GERD/HH/ and even IBS). I received a letter yesterday from by Service Officer saying the VA has assigned a 30% rating for GERD/HH/IBS going back to 2011. I had made mistake by thinking this was under appeal to the BVA, when in fact the VA had never filed my form 9. So the 2011 date is the date I had to reopen the claim based on new evidence. Original separation was 2005.

Hope this helps and learn from my mistake.

Edited September 14, 2012 by Scott D

[silver25u]

I submitted a statement in support of claim, discussing my diagnosis of EE and requested that it be rated separately using the same service-connected nexus. This showed up on eBenefits for a few weeks, but now EE has disappeared as a contention - leaving just my GERD w/ Hiatal Hernia for increase. I'm doing another statement requesting again that it be rated separately.

I'm just hoping that getting them rated separately doesn't leave me in a worse shape than having it all rated together. I can see them saying its not service connects since I got my GERD w/HH in 2004/5 and didn't claim it back then. It appears my not at the stage that I have stricture.