What is the VA rating for Respiratory Neoplasms?

DC 6819's own Note requires a mandatory VA examination six months after treatment ends, to determine the appropriate rating for whatever residual condition remains under an appropriate diagnostic code for that residual. RatingScope does not compute or guess which diagnostic code or percentage that would be.

• DC 6819's Note, verbatim: "A rating of 100 percent shall continue beyond the cessation of any surgical, X-ray, antineoplastic chemotherapy or other therapeutic procedure. Six months after discontinuance of such treatment, the appropriate disability rating shall be determined by mandatory VA examination."
• This is the same open 'rate on residuals' dispatch pattern already used elsewhere in this repository for other malignant-neoplasm and post-treatment codes (for example DC 5012, DC 6014, DC 6208, DC 7343, DC 7528, DC 7627/7630, DC 7914, DC 8540, DC 9918, and Hiatal Hernia's DC 7346), all disclosed as a limitation rather than computed.
• This hub computes only the 100 percent rating that applies during active treatment and within the six-month window after treatment ends. It does not compute, estimate, or guess at the residual rating a mandatory VA examination would produce after that window closes.

Records to review: Oncology treatment and follow-up records documenting treatment cessation date; Mandatory VA examination findings, once performed.

DC 6820's own text carries no rating table. It directs evaluators to rate a benign respiratory neoplasm by analogy under whichever respiratory diagnostic code best fits the actual residuals -- an open dispatch RatingScope discloses but does not compute.

• DC 6820's text, verbatim, in full: "Neoplasms, benign, any specified part of respiratory system. Evaluate using an appropriate respiratory analogy."
• Because no fixed percentage or criterion is stated, this code cannot be independently computed. RatingScope does not attempt to guess which respiratory analogy code would apply or what rating it would produce.
• This is the same disclosure-only treatment already used for Hiatal Hernia's DC 7346 in this repository: no registry row, no evaluator, and no intake wiring exist for DC 6820's own rating.

Records to review: Records documenting the benign neoplasm diagnosis and its functional residuals; Pulmonary function testing or imaging documenting the specific residual condition, if any.

38 CFR 4.96(a) states that where there is lung or pleural involvement, ratings under DC 6819 and DC 6820 will not be combined with each other or with diagnostic codes 6600 through 6817 or 6822 through 6847. A single rating is assigned under the code reflecting the predominant disability, with elevation to the next higher evaluation where overall severity warrants it.

• Section 4.96(a), sentence 1: "Ratings under diagnostic codes 6600 through 6817 and 6822 through 6847 will not be combined with each other."
• Section 4.96(a), sentence 2: "Where there is lung or pleural involvement, ratings under diagnostic codes 6819 and 6820 will not be combined with each other or with diagnostic codes 6600 through 6817 or 6822 through 6847."
• Section 4.96(a), sentence 3: "A single rating will be assigned under the diagnostic code which reflects the predominant disability with elevation to the next higher evaluation where the severity of the overall disability warrants such elevation."
• This means a veteran with documented findings under DC 6819 or DC 6820 and also under another respiratory diagnostic code in the 6600-6817 or 6822-6847 ranges cannot have both ratings combined through the standard combined-ratings table -- a single predominant-disability rating applies instead, possibly elevated one step.
• Section 4.96(a) also carries a fourth sentence limited to protected inactive-tuberculosis ratings under Pub. L. 90-493, which does not apply to DC 6819 or DC 6820.
• RatingScope discloses this rule but does not automate the predominant-disability determination or the elevation decision -- the same treatment already used for the Trachea and Bronchi, Tuberculosis, Interstitial Lung Disease, Mycotic Lung Disease, Restrictive Lung Disease, and Sleep Apnea hubs, all of which share this same section 4.96(a) bar.

Records to review: Treatment records documenting each respiratory diagnostic code finding; Clinician assessment of predominant disability.

VA has proposed, but not finalized, moving DC 6819 and DC 6820 to a new 'Lung Neoplasms' subheading and rating both under a new General Rating Formula for Respiratory Conditions. This hub is built on the current, in-force text.

• The proposed rule's own text: "VA next proposes to reorganize DCs 6819, 'Neoplasms, malignant, any specified part of respiratory system exclusive of skin growths,' and 6820, 'Neoplasms, benign, any specified part of respiratory system,' under the proposed subheading 'Lung Neoplasms.' DCs 6819 and 6820 are currently listed under 'Nontuberculous Diseases.'"
• For DC 6819: "VA also proposes to modify the note for DC 6819, which currently instructs rating personnel to evaluate residuals six months after the cessation of all forms of active treatment. VA intends to refer rating personnel to the General Rating Formula because this evaluation tool provides the most appropriate criteria for assessing residual impairment from a malignant lung neoplasm."
• For DC 6820: "Similarly, VA proposes that DC 6820, benign neoplasms of the respiratory system, be rated under the General Rating Formula."
• This proposal has not been finalized as of this hub's build date. No final rule has published. RatingScope builds and rates on the current, in-force regulatory text and will update this hub in a future work order if and when this rule finalizes.
• This is the same pending-rulemaking watch item already tracked for the Trachea and Bronchi, Tuberculosis, Interstitial Lung Disease, Mycotic Lung Disease, and Restrictive Lung Disease hubs, all part of the same broader RIN 2900-AQ72 respiratory-schedule proposal.

Records to review: .