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Y35.001A ICD-10-CM Code: Legal intervention involving unspecified firearm discharge, law enforcement official injured, initial encounter

Billing Status: YES. This is a valid, specific, and billable ICD-10-CM reference.

Coding at a Glance

7th character
Required — see the character table on this page
Tabular directives
1 inclusion term

Coding instructions

Official Tabular Instructional Notes: the inclusion, exclusion and sequencing notes published for Y35.001A in the official ICD-10-CM tabular list, quoted as published.

Notes without a marker are published on Y35.001A itself; “inherited from” names the category or block whose note applies here.

Includes

Conditions the official ICD-10-CM tabular list includes under this code.

  • any injury sustained as a result of an encounter with any law enforcement official, serving in any capacity at the time of the encounter, whether on-duty or off-duty. Includes: injury to law enforcement official, suspect and bystander

Source: inherited from Y35

7th Character Guide

"The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category Y35"

  • A — initial encounter (this page’s code)
  • D — subsequent encounter
  • S — sequela

How the encounter character is assigned. “Initial encounter” means the patient is receiving active treatment for the condition — it is not limited to the first visit, and a different or new provider giving active treatment still assigns it. “Subsequent encounter” covers care during the healing or recovery phase after active treatment. “Sequela” is for complications or conditions that arise as a direct result of the original condition.

ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting, Section I.C.19.a (paraphrased by MedCoder).

Variant codes in this family

Y35.001A, Y35.001D, Y35.001S

Character meanings are CMS's official 7th-character extensions for this family, as carried in each variant code's official description; variant codes are registry rows. The explanation of how the encounter character is assigned is MedCoder editorial, distinct from the official content above it.

Coder workflow for Y35.001A

MedCoder structured workflow — derived from this code’s own official record

Before you code Y35.001A

  1. Unspecified does not mean incorrect. When the record gives no greater specificity, Y35.001A may be the appropriate code. Check the record for detail that supports a more specific sibling. An unspecified code is for records that do not provide the detail a more specific code needs; a query, not an assumption, is the route to specificity (Guidelines I.A.9.b, I.B.18).

    See the relationships section · Guide: Other vs unspecified (NEC vs NOS) →

  2. A 7th character is required in this family. Confirm the documented encounter: initial (active treatment), subsequent (healing or recovery phase), or sequela. This page’s code carries “A”. “Initial” means active treatment, not the first visit (Guidelines I.C.19.a).

    See the 7th Character Guide · Guide: 7th characters: initial, subsequent, sequela →

  3. An external cause code is reported in addition to the code for the injury or condition, never as the principal or first-listed diagnosis. Confirm the cause, intent, place of occurrence, activity and status where the record documents them, and assign the 7th character that matches the injury code. External cause coding guidelines (Guidelines I.C.20.a).

Choose the right path

  1. Does the record document the detail a more specific sibling code needs?
    Yes → Review the specific siblings in this subcategory.
    No → Continue — Y35.001A is appropriate when the documentation goes no further.
  2. Is the encounter phase documented — active treatment, healing or recovery, or a sequela?
    Yes → Assign the matching 7th character; the variant codes are in the 7th Character Guide.
    No → The code is invalid without its 7th character — query for the missing element.

Consider Y35.001A. Then confirm the code is valid for the date of service in the Verify section.

Documentation check

The provider’s diagnostic statement
Codes are assigned from the provider’s documented diagnosis, not from clinical criteria, test values or a medication list (Guidelines I.A.19).
Encounter type
Active treatment, healing or recovery phase, or sequela — the basis of the 7th character (Guidelines I.C.19.a).
Any detail beyond this code’s title
What the record states that a more specific sibling code would capture — or its absence, which itself supports the unspecified code.

Coding decision scenarios

Pattern scenarios for this code’s structure — decision rules, not clinical cases

Documentation: The provider documents the condition in the terms of this code’s title and records no further detail.

Coding question: Is a more specific sibling code supportable?

Path: Review the subcategory for a sibling that names the missing detail.

Reason: A more specific code needs documentation of the distinguishing element; without it the unspecified code is appropriate, and a provider query is the route to specificity (Guidelines I.A.9.b, I.B.18).

Documentation: The patient returns during the healing or recovery phase after active treatment of the same condition.

Coding question: Which 7th character applies?

Path: Review the official 7th-character definitions for this family in the 7th Character Guide.

Reason: “Initial encounter” means active treatment, not the first visit; care during recovery takes “subsequent encounter”, and a complication arising from the original condition takes “sequela” (Guidelines I.C.19.a).

Every row is derived from this code’s own record — its title, tabular notes, 7th-character family and same-category siblings — with fixed MedCoder wording; nothing is inferred about a patient. The official notes and guideline text are in the sections each row links to, and they control.

Code Overview

Legal intervention involving unspecified firearm discharge, law enforcement official injured, initial encounter is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (Y35.001A).

MedCoder summary Summary composed by MedCoder from this code's official ICD-10-CM record. The tabular instructional notes themselves appear verbatim below.

Indexed As (2)

Official source data — entries quoted as published, in the Index’s own lookup phrasing

Circumstance phrases from the official ICD-10-CM External Cause of Injuries Index that map to this code.

  • Discharge (accidental), firearm (accidental), legal intervention, injuring, law enforcement personnel
  • Legal, intervention (by), firearm (s) (discharge), injuring, law enforcement personnel

Verify Before Coding

  • Principal-diagnosis restriction. External cause of morbidity codes (V, W, X and Y) describe the circumstance that caused an injury, not the condition treated. The Medicare Code Editor rejects them as a principal diagnosis; sequence the injury or condition first and report this code as secondary.

From the code registry, the Medicare Code Editor, and the MS-DRG Definitions Manual. Check it against a full claim in Claim Check.

Relationships & Classification

MedCoder structured relationships — computed from published CMS and AHRQ datasets

Other codes that name Y35.001A or its code family, from the CMS ICD-10-CM tabular instructional notes. Tabular-note edges are stored at the code family level that carries each note.

Referenced by 19 Excludes1 notes: W32 — Accidental handgun discharge and malfunction (via Y35.0.-), W33 — Accidental rifle, shotgun and larger firearm discharge and malfunction (via Y35.0.-), X92 — Assault by drowning and submersion (via Y35.-), X92-Y09 — Assault (X92-Y09) (via Y35.-), X93 — Assault by handgun discharge (via Y35.-), X94 — Assault by rifle, shotgun and larger firearm discharge (via Y35.-), X95 — Assault by other and unspecified firearm and gun discharge (via Y35.-), X96 — Assault by explosive material (via Y35.-), X97 — Assault by smoke, fire and flames (via Y35.-), X98 — Assault by steam, hot vapors and hot objects (via Y35.-), X99 — Assault by sharp object (via Y35.-), Y00 — Assault by blunt object (via Y35.-), Y01 — Assault by pushing from high place (via Y35.-), Y02 — Assault by pushing or placing victim in front of moving object (via Y35.-), Y03 — Assault by crashing of motor vehicle (via Y35.-), Y04 — Assault by bodily force (via Y35.-), Y07 — Perpetrator of assault, maltreatment and neglect (via Y35.-), Y08 — Assault by other specified means (via Y35.-), Y09 — Assault by unspecified means (via Y35.-).

These codes’ tabular lists mark this diagnosis as mutually exclusive — not reported together unless the conditions are documented as unrelated.

Clinical classification (AHRQ CCSR):EXT005 — External cause codes: firearm; initial encounter; EXT024 — External cause codes: intent of injury, legal intervention/war.

Clinical Classifications Software Refined (CCSR) for ICD-10-CM Diagnoses. Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Related Codes

Same clinical category (CCSR)

AHRQ's Clinical Classifications Software groups these diagnoses under the same clinical categories (External cause codes: firearm; initial encounter, External cause codes: intent of injury, legal intervention/war).

X95.9XXA — Assault by unspecified firearm discharge, initial encounter, Y22.XXXA — Handgun discharge, undetermined intent, initial encounter, Y23.0XXA — Shotgun discharge, undetermined intent, initial encounter, Y23.1XXA — Hunting rifle discharge, undetermined intent, initial encounter, Y23.2XXA — Military firearm discharge, undetermined intent, initial encounter, Y23.3XXA — Machine gun discharge, undetermined intent, initial encounter, Y23.8XXA — Other larger firearm discharge, undetermined intent, initial encounter, Y23.9XXA — Unspecified larger firearm discharge, undetermined intent, initial encounter, Y24.8XXA — Other firearm discharge, undetermined intent, initial encounter, Y24.9XXA — Unspecified firearm discharge, undetermined intent, initial encounter, Y35.002A — Legal intervention involving unspecified firearm discharge, bystander injured, initial encounter, Y35.003A — Legal intervention involving unspecified firearm discharge, suspect injured, initial encounter, Y35.009A — Legal intervention involving unspecified firearm discharge, unspecified person injured, initial encounter, Y35.011A — Legal intervention involving injury by machine gun, law enforcement official injured, initial encounter, Y35.012A — Legal intervention involving injury by machine gun, bystander injured, initial encounter, Y35.013A — Legal intervention involving injury by machine gun, suspect injured, initial encounter, Y35.019A — Legal intervention involving injury by machine gun, unspecified person injured, initial encounter, Y35.021A — Legal intervention involving injury by handgun, law enforcement official injured, initial encounter, Y35.022A — Legal intervention involving injury by handgun, bystander injured, initial encounter, Y35.023A — Legal intervention involving injury by handgun, suspect injured, initial encounter, +307 more

Contextual Map

Every relationship of Y35.001A in one view: hierarchy, official tabular instructions in both directions, clinical classification, risk adjustment, MS-DRG participation, index terms and change history — each edge carrying the CMS source it derives from.

Run Y35.001A with these 8 related codes in Claim Check

Hierarchy

Referenced by Excludes1 notes (19)

Clinical classification (CCSR)

External cause index

  • Discharge (accidental), firearm (accidental), legal intervention, injuring, law enforcement personnel[External cause term]— CMS External Cause of Injuries Index · icd10cm-fy2026
  • Legal, intervention (by), firearm (s) (discharge), injuring, law enforcement personnel[External cause term]— CMS External Cause of Injuries Index · icd10cm-fy2026

Nearest codes (40)

Change history

  • FY2016 — In the code set at ICD-10-CM adoption [Change history]— CMS release files (code change ledger) · icd10cm-fy2016

Common coding questions

Does Y35.001A require a 7th character?

Yes. The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category Y35.

Sources for this page

Codes, titles, notes, index terms and mappings on this page are transcribed from the datasets below. Relationships MedCoder computed and text MedCoder wrote are labelled where they appear.

Code, title, tabular notes and index terms Official source data
CMS/CDC ICD-10-CM FY2026 tabular list, index and tables, effective October 1, 2025 Release, file and checksum · Publisher’s page
Claim edits Official source data
CMS Definitions of Medicare Code Edits — v43.1 (April 2026) Release, file and checksum · Publisher’s page
Change history and date-of-service validity Official source data
CMS ICD-10-CM release addenda, ingested release by release into the change ledger Release, file and checksum · Publisher’s page
Comparisons, relationships and the contextual map MedCoder structured relationship
Computed by MedCoder from the tabular notes and tables above; every derived relationship is marked as derived where it appears
Summary and FAQ answers MedCoder explanation
Written by MedCoder to explain the sources above: drafted with AI assistance, checked by a person against the release files, and labelled as MedCoder text where it appears. Not official text.

Labels on this page: Official source data · MedCoder structured relationship · MedCoder explanation. How to read the labels · All data sources and release dates

Change history

  • FY2016 — October 1, 2015
    In the code set at ICD-10-CM adoption
    Legal intervention involving unspecified firearm discharge, law enforcement official injured, initial encounter

No changes since FY2016 — additions, deletions, description changes and billable-status changes are tracked through FY2027 (effective October 1, 2026), and none are recorded for this code. Note changes are tracked from FY2027 only.

Nearest Codes in This Family

Official ICD-10-CM classifications closest to Y35.001A in its code family, with their registry titles.

View all codes in the Y35 family