Excludes1 pair

R94- vs T88.7-

R94 and T88.7 are not coded together. ICD-10-CM declares them mutually exclusive with an Excludes1 note — the two conditions are not expected to occur together, so exactly one of them is normally correct for a given encounter. The Official Guidelines carve out one exception: if the two conditions are clearly unrelated to each other, both may be reported.

The official note, declared on T88.7
specified adverse effects of drugs and medicaments (A00-R94 and T80-T88.6, T88.8)
R94

Abnormal results of function studies

Not billable
Chapter 18
Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified
Section
R90-R94
Use when the record says
  • abnormal results of radionuclide [radioisotope] uptake studies
  • abnormal results of scintigraphy
T88.7

Unspecified adverse effect of drug or medicament

Not billable
Chapter 19
Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes
Section
T80-T88
Use when the record says
  • Drug hypersensitivity NOS
  • Drug reaction NOS
Indexed under
  • Complication › chemotherapy NEC (antineoplastic)
  • Complication › drug NEC
  • Damage › medication
  • Effect, adverse › drugs and medicaments
  • Hypersensitive, hypersensitiveness, hypersensitivity › drug

These two codes sit in different chapters of the Tabular List, which is usually the clearest signal that they describe different underlying processes rather than different degrees of the same one.

Excludes1 is not always absolute: where two conditions covered by the note are genuinely unrelated, CMS guidance permits reporting both. Document the reasoning rather than assuming it. More on Excludes1 vs Excludes2 · FY2027