T88.7 vs T88.8
T88.7 and T88.8 can never be reported together. ICD-10-CM declares them mutually exclusive with an Excludes1 note, meaning the two conditions cannot occur in the same patient — so exactly one of them is correct for any given encounter.
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 › chemotherapyNEC (s) (from) (of)
- Complication › drug NEC (s) (from) (of)
- Damage › medication
- Effect, adverse › drugs and medicaments
- Hypersensitive, hypersensitiveness, hypersensitivity › drug
T88.8
Other specified complications of surgical and medical care, not elsewhere classified
Not billable
- Chapter 19
- Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes
- Section
- T80-T88
Indexed under
- Paraffinoma
- Misadventure › specified NEC (of) (prophylactic) (therapeutic)
- Complication › electroshock therapy › specified NEC (s) (from) (of)
- Complication › phototherapy › specified NEC (s) (from) (of)
- Effect, adverse › medical care › specified NEC
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