Veterans Crisis Line Call 988, Press 1 · Text 838255 · Chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net
Loading C&P exam preparation guides…
Free tool · 282 guides · DBQ-aligned
The VA orders this exam to verify your diagnosis and measure how severe it is right now. It can shape your rating and your monthly compensation — but it does not decide your claim. A rating specialist weighs it against your full record, and if the exam does not reflect your condition, you can say so and ask the VA to correct it.
When is your exam?
Set the date and this page becomes a plan — the preparation steps get paced across the days you have left. It stays in this browser; no account, nothing sent anywhere.
A slow-growing blood cancer where your bone marrow makes too many red blood cells, making your blood thicker than normal. This increases the risk of blood clots, stroke, and heart attack. DC 7704 counts how many phlebotomies you need in a 12-month period and what medication is required — the number of treatments per year is literally the criterion, so a log of every phlebotomy is the single most valuable thing in the file. The lowest level the code itself prints is 10%; § 4.31 supplies a 0% below it.
The percentages this diagnostic code can be rated at. Which one applies depends on the findings — no tool here can tell you in advance.
Rated under 38 CFR 4.117, DC 7704. The examiner records findings on the DBQ; a rating specialist makes the decision.
| Rating | Rating criteria | What that means for you |
|---|---|---|
| 0% | In every instance where the schedule does not provide a zero percent evaluation for a diagnostic code, a zero percent evaluation shall be assigned when the requirements for a compensable evaluation are not met. | Your polycythemia vera is service connected but across a 12-month period it has needed no phlebotomy at all, and no biologic therapy or interferon — the picture when counts sit at reference range on their own. That misses the 10 percent criteria, which are the lowest DC 7704 prints. This code prints no 0 percent rung of its own; § 4.31 supplies it: no monthly payment, but the condition is on record and a later increase runs from it. The lowest compensable level under this code is 10 percent. |
What supports this level
| ||
| 10% | Requiring phlebotomy 3 or fewer times per 12-month period or if requiring biologic therapy or interferon on an intermittent basis as needed to maintain all blood values at reference range levels | Over a 12-month period you needed phlebotomy three times or fewer; or you needed biologic therapy or interferon on an intermittent, as-needed basis to keep all your blood values at reference range levels. Count the phlebotomies over the year — that number is the criterion. |
What supports this level
| ||
| 30% | Requiring phlebotomy 4-5 times per 12-month period, or if requiring continuous biologic therapy or myelosuppressive agents, to include interferon, to maintain platelets <200,000 or white blood cells (WBC) <12,000 | Over a 12-month period you needed phlebotomy four or five times; or you needed continuous biologic therapy or a myelosuppressive agent, interferon included, to hold your platelets below 200,000 or your white blood cells below 12,000. Either route reaches this level on its own. |
What supports this level
| ||
| 60% | Requiring phlebotomy 6 or more times per 12-month period or molecularly targeted therapy for the purpose of controlling RBC count | Over a 12-month period you needed phlebotomy six or more times; or you needed molecularly targeted therapy to control your red blood cell count. The count of phlebotomies over the year is what separates this level from the 30 percent one, so the dates matter as much as the fact of the treatment. |
What supports this level
| ||
| 100% | Requiring peripheral blood or bone marrow stem-cell transplant or chemotherapy (including myelosuppressants) for the purpose of ameliorating the symptom burden | You require a peripheral blood or bone marrow stem-cell transplant, or chemotherapy including myelosuppressants given to ease your symptom burden. Note (3) to DC 7704 provides that the 100 percent is assigned from the date of hospital admission for the transplant, or across the chemotherapy treatment period, with a mandatory VA examination six months after discharge or six months after treatment ends; any reduction after that is subject to 38 CFR 3.105(e). |
What supports this level
| ||
The middle column is our transcription of the criteria at 38 CFR 4.117, DC 7704, condensed for reading. Read the section itself on eCFR before relying on the exact wording. The items under each level are the kinds of evidence that document it — not a VA checklist, and not a prediction of which level applies to you.
Not keeping a dated log of every phlebotomy. The boundaries between 10, 30 and 60 percent are literally 3 or fewer, 4 to 5, and 6 or more treatments per 12-month period — a missing visit can cost a whole rating level, and nobody else is counting them for you.
Assuming symptoms carry the rating. Aquagenic pruritus, night sweats, fatigue and splenomegaly are real and worth reporting, but DC 7704 names none of them: every rung is phlebotomy count or medication type. Report the symptoms, but submit the treatment record.
Not filing separately for thrombotic and metabolic complications. Note (1) to DC 7704 directs that complications such as hypertension, gout, stroke, or thrombotic disease be rated separately — those ratings combine under 38 CFR 4.25 rather than being folded into this one.
Letting a leukemic transformation stay rated here. Note (2) to DC 7704 directs that if the condition undergoes leukemic transformation it be evaluated as leukemia under DC 7703.
Not connecting polycythemia vera to ionizing radiation or chemical exposures during military service.
These apply to every C&P exam, whatever the condition.