Accutane and the application

Spirit mom

5-Year Member
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May 4, 2014
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We are about to put my high school junior on Accutane for acne. Will this hiccup his USAFA application, or require him to get a waiver? The treatment will be complete before summer. Thanks.
 
Definitely have your son check with DoDMERB. I took isotretinoin my 4* year at the Academy, so it's not going to be a show stopper, but I wouldn't be surprised if it makes DoDMERB more of a hassle in the form of a delayed medical clearance until your son has completed the treatment plus whatever prescribed amount of time. But this, of course, is a guess.
 
Placing "Accutane" in forum search box leaving all boxes unchecked yielded 162 results.
 
My DD took acutane. We were told by many it would be DQ'ed but waiveable. We had a great DOD assigned doctor and it never came up. she does currently have a Remedial for a urinalysis so I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it.
 
Started Acutane in May of '16 and finished in November '16. The DoDMERB questionnaire asked if I've taken medication and I answered yes. A few weeks later I received an AMI (Additional Medical Information) request. It is a single page form that needed to complete by treating physician stating whether blood tests resulting in abnormal liver function.

On the Acne Treatment/Isotretinoin Questionnaire (you can goggle it), it states that service academy appointees must be completed or discontinued on March 1st prior to arriving at the academy, and for ROTC at least eight weeks prior to commissioning or field training.

Not sure, but I think severe acne may also be a reason for DQ, so I would ask questions. Personally, I'm very happy I took the treatments because the results are amazing and avoided potential scaring.
 
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