Asthma

S

sgoodwill12

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Jul 10, 2024
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Has anyone had a child diagnosed with Asthma and been able to get a successful waiver through DoDMERB?
 
Hard if you have symptoms or need meds after age 13. Easy if you have neither after age 13. Nothing is impossible, so definitely move ahead.
 
DS was diagnosed with exercise induced asthma in 9th or 10th grade after coughing post track race. He did try inhaler, so that RX was on record.
DoDMERB correctly DQ'd him as per standard. It was then up to SA or ROTC program to deem competitive and request waiver.

USNA and NROTC both waived following MCT test that was stellar. But, that is one person. Any other situation could change verdict.
 
DoDMERB evaluates the candidate against the military medical accession standard and find they either meet or do not meet the standards. The standard is the same, regardless of commissioning program. DoDMERB serves as the info clearinghouse but does not render a waiver decision.

It is up to the commissioning program to decide if they want to request a waiver. Each commissioning program has its own waiver authority within its service. Waiver authorities examine each case on its individual merit, as well as policy and precedent. The only way to know is to go through the process

The standard:

If your son hasn’t read through the left-side menu in the DoDMERB website, every page, link and drop-down menu item, recommend he do that to help him understand the process:

 
Yes, my daughter received AFROTC and AFA waivers, but the conclusion of the MD's was that she did not have asthma. She did have an inhaler after the age of 13.
 
As a veteran poster pointed out a while back, there are many, many SA attendees who have gone through the waiver process successfully. Follow the DoDMERB procedures, there's no other way around it. Many, many kids are prescribed (over-prescribed?) for inhalers, mine included. She got tested, got the waiver and is now enjoying PROTRAMID in San Diego.
 
Sealion II said:
As a veteran poster pointed out a while back, there are many, many SA attendees who have gone through the waiver process successfully. Follow the DoDMERB procedures, there's no other way around it. Many, many kids are prescribed (over-prescribed?) for inhalers, mine included. She got tested, got the waiver and is now enjoying PROTRAMID in San Diego.
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Thanks for your reply!!
 
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Our daughter developed a taste for Lactose Free milk through one of her childhood friends who is allergic to lactose …. So DW bought it for DD to drink at home, even though she ate whole ice cream, and any and all other dairy products.

She is out in SD getting her SWO training right now …. I asked her if she stocked her fridge with Lactaid …. She laughed and told me to shut up …
.
 
sgoodwill12 said:
Thanks for your reply. Conclusion for DoDMERB doctor's or your own?
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Well, kind of both. We saw a local pulmonologist, who then referred her to a well-known medical center for the specialized pulmonary testing DoDMERB wanted. Both pulmonologists reached the same conclusion in their reports to DoDMERB, but it's the MD's at DoDMERB that look at the data/reports and grant the waiver, obviously. That conclusion was confirmed with the military pulmonologist at Wright Pat AFB for her pre-UPT flight evaluation (and the AF MD's who evaluate the results from the Wright Pat testing). She had one value that was borderline, hence all of the testing. She has been tested and retested and tested again...

Interestingly, she was told by the Wright Pat pulmonologist that there are a good # of active duty pilots with asthma serving. We were under the impression that if you had the scarlet letter A label, it was a no go. I don't know if these pilots got their diagnosis after winging, though.
 
HawkeyeMom said:
Well, kind of both. We saw a local pulmonologist, who then referred her to a well-known medical center for the specialized pulmonary testing DoDMERB wanted. Both pulmonologists reached the same conclusion in their reports to DoDMERB, but it's the MD's at DoDMERB that look at the data/reports and grant the waiver, obviously. That conclusion was confirmed with the military pulmonologist at Wright Pat AFB for her pre-UPT flight evaluation (and the AF MD's who evaluate the results from the Wright Pat testing). She had one value that was borderline, hence all of the testing. She has been tested and retested and tested again...

Interestingly, she was told by the Wright Pat pulmonologist that there are a good # of active duty pilots with asthma serving. We were under the impression that if you had the scarlet letter A label, it was a no go. I don't know if these pilots got their diagnosis after winging, though.
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Good anecdotal experience shared, but offering a bit of clarification - as noted in my earlier post, DoDMERB does not grant waivers.

They do the initial evaluation of meets/does not meet standards (Q/DQ) and may request remedial or additional medical information. They hang on to all this info as the central info clearinghouse for any SAs or ROTC programs requesting a DoDMERB evaluation. There is one military medical accession standard (link in my post), so the Q/DQ decision is the same for all. If the commissioning program decides to ask its own waiver authority to review the case and make a recommendation on a waiver, that waiver authority works through DoDMERB to obtain case info and request additional info if they want to see more. DoDMERB tracks and preserves all this, as DoDMERB exams are good for 2 years, and with the frequency of reapplicants, it is important to retain a full record of decisions and information.

Scouring the DoDMERB website (link in my earlier post) is helpful in understanding the process.

Military members who acquire medical illness and injuries after accession into the military are evaluated for continued fitness for duty using the sister standard to the military medical accession standard, the military medical retention standard. I developed adult onset asthma late in my career. I was evaluated to determine if I was still deployable, based on the severity assessed and whether it was deemed to be well-controlled. Humans naturally acquire conditions along the way that would probably have DQed them before accession, but given their value to the service later on, the retention standard is more flexible. They key is ability to perform the mission and deploy.
 
Capt MJ said:
Good anecdotal experience shared, but offering a bit of clarification - as noted in my earlier post, DoDMERB does not grant waivers.

They do the initial evaluation of meets/does not meet standards (Q/DQ) and may request remedial or additional medical information. They hang on to all this info as the central info clearinghouse for any SAs or ROTC programs requesting a DoDMERB evaluation. There is one military medical accession standard (link in my post), so the Q/DQ decision is the same for all. If the commissioning program decides to ask its own waiver authority to review the case and make a recommendation on a waiver, that waiver authority works through DoDMERB to obtain case info and request additional info if they want to see more. DoDMERB tracks and preserves all this, as DoDMERB exams are good for 2 years, and with the frequency of reapplicants, it is important to retain a full record of decisions and information.

Scouring the DoDMERB website (link in my earlier post) is helpful in understanding the process.

Military members who acquire medical illness and injuries after accession into the military are evaluated for continued fitness for duty using the sister standard to the military medical accession standard, the military medical retention standard. I developed adult onset asthma late in my career. I was evaluated to determine if I was still deployable, based on the severity assessed and whether it was deemed to be well-controlled. Humans naturally acquire conditions along the way that would probably have DQed them before accession, but given their value to the service later on, the retention standard is more flexible. They key is ability to perform the mission and deploy.
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Thank you for the clarification. I'm just a mom speaking about our experience gathering documents, seeing MD's, and sending it "somewhere." 😂 Thankful for those with more knowledge.
 
HawkeyeMom said:
Thank you for the clarification. I'm just a mom speaking about our experience gathering documents, seeing MD's, and sending it "somewhere." 😂 Thankful for those with more knowledge.
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Never say “just a mom.” Never “just.”

Your experience is useful and informative. When I see things that need a bit of clarification, I add my two cents, for all the readers out there who don’t post.
 
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