Could Any of These Cause a Real Problem

Mr. Mullen,

My son has applied for a Navy ROTC scholarship for 2009. I foresee there could be three issues that DODMERB will want information about and I wanted to get your take on whether any could be a real problem.

1. He was diagnosed approximately four or five years ago with the inattentive form of ADD. While the doctor wrote us a prescription for medication, she indicated that whether we used it was totally up to us as he was doing extremely well in school and, based on test scores, was considered gifted and talented. We never used the prescription. He has never taken any medication for the condition and has never sought nor received any accommodations for the condition.

2. He used to get migraine headaches as a child. We tried some different medications but there came a time several years ago when he was no longer getting them. He played football while he was going through his issues with migraines and still played afterward and also took up lacrosse throughout high school. As I said, he has not experienced migraines for approximately four years.

3. He has allergies to dust mites, certain grasses and trees, cat dander, shellfish, etc. The shellfish allergy is interesting because various shellfish are among his favorite foods and he has never stopped eating them and has never experienced any reaction that we are aware of. He was diagnosed by an Allergist approximately a year and a half ago and was prescribed Nasonex and Allegra. He had previously taken Flonase. Since his prescription was changed to Nasonex and Allegra, he has been fine and has not had to have any follow-up visits to the Allergist.

Assuming I provide all necessary documentation to DODMERB about his medical situation do you see any of these issues as a real problem?

Thank you for any assistance and/or advice.

1. Folks with this diagnosis would be determined by DoDMERB to NOT MEET medical accession standards UNLESS there is demonstrated passing academic performance; no use of medication within the last 12 months; and no recommendations and/or utilization of academic or work accommodations. Meeting all three of those requirements will result in a DoDMERB determination of “MEETS medical accession standards.”
2. Given what you described here, he would MEET medical accession standards.
3. The information provided here is NOT sufficient enough to provide a valuable opinion. Allergic to shellfish, but has never experienced a reaction? What is the allergy? What are the symptoms? Regarding the other allergies, the standard applied is “current allergic rhinitis due to pollen or due to other allergen or cause unspecified if not controlled by oral medication or topical corticosteroid medication is disqualifying.”
4. The documentation would certainly be required and may be sent to me @ Larry.Mullen@dodmerb.tma.osd.mil using this posting and adding your son’s full name and Last 4 of his SSN. You may send those to me immediately. “If “ found to NOT meet medical accession standards, this documentation would be required by the waiver authority for their deliberations.
5. I hope this helps and thx for the opportunity to assist.

Thank you so much for your assistance, sir. I am actually on business out of town this week but will return in the middle of next week and will get you everything we have. This is all so helpful!

I forgot to discuss the shellfish issue. During the visit to the allergist, he conducted one of those skin tests to determine allergies. The strongest reactions were to the dust mites and certain grasses and pollens. However, he did have someskin reaction during the test to shellfish. I explained to the doctor that he eats shellfish all the time and had never experienced any reaction. He didn't seem too worried about it and did not suggest that my son stop or even limit the amount of shellfish he consumed. We routinely have seafood pastas and other seafood dishes at home using shrimp. One of his favorite appetizers when we go out to dinner is mussels. Again, we have never seen anything nor has he ever suggested that there was any problem when he was eating these foods.

OK to both postings

follow up

MullenLE said:

1. Folks with this diagnosis would be determined by DoDMERB to NOT MEET medical accession standards UNLESS there is demonstrated passing academic performance; no use of medication within the last 12 months; and no recommendations and/or utilization of academic or work accommodations. Meeting all three of those requirements will result in a DoDMERB determination of “MEETS medical accession standards.”
2. Given what you described here, he would MEET medical accession standards.
3. The information provided here is NOT sufficient enough to provide a valuable opinion. Allergic to shellfish, but has never experienced a reaction? What is the allergy? What are the symptoms? Regarding the other allergies, the standard applied is “current allergic rhinitis due to pollen or due to other allergen or cause unspecified if not controlled by oral medication or topical corticosteroid medication is disqualifying.”
4. The documentation would certainly be required and may be sent to me @ Larry.Mullen@dodmerb.tma.osd.mil using this posting and adding your son’s full name and Last 4 of his SSN. You may send those to me immediately. “If “ found to NOT meet medical accession standards, this documentation would be required by the waiver authority for their deliberations.
5. I hope this helps and thx for the opportunity to assist.

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MullenLE,

Would you mind following up with a description of what exactly academic/work accommodations are or a link that I could check out? Also, when you say, "use of medication," does that correlate to for example filling a prescription, or is it the physical use of the medication (I realize however the difficulty in making a distinction between the two).

Thankyou for your time and knowledge!

Untimed tests; note takers; test takers; any other type of accomodations that are authorized for an individual that are outside the normal conditions (e.g. SATs for the majority of folks are timed tests; students normally are required to take their own notes and tests; etc).

"Usually," "use of medication" means the diagnosis and prescription of the meds, regardless of actual use.