DODMERB inhaler prescription

ledblack

ledblack

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May 10, 2023
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I am an NROTC prep scholarship recipient and I already did my dodmerb questionnaire and physical. I was prescribed an inhaler up until age 16 because my mom kept getting prescriptions filled, but I never used it. I clearly stated on my application that I only used it once when I was 10 and that was because I went over to my grandmothers house and she smoked a lot of cigarettes. I stated on my questionnaire that I was never diagnosed with asthma and answered no to that question.

I am not sure if this is a DQ condition or not, I am waiting to hear back, but if it is then what are my chances at a waiver? I am still attending New Student Indoctrination this summer which is 2.5 weeks long. If I complete this will it help my chances at a waiver down the road? I also will be in NROTC no matter what as a prep student so if I can complete this with ease should that be good enough for a waiver?

Any answers would be super helpful
 
There had to be a medical diagnosis for the doctor to prescribe the inhaler in the first place. That is what the DQ authority is going to look at for the waiver. They will ask “What was the original diagnosis and has that condition changed since the first time the inhaler was prescribed?”. You should review your medical records to see what that diagnosis was, and prepare to show why you don’t have it anymore.

Stealth_81
 
I, obviously, can't speak to your chances. I can tell you my daughter was prescribed an inhaler as a young teen. She was given instructions to go to a specific clinic. They tested her, gave her the all clear. Medical was checked in her portal. Appointment received. 49 days to I-Day.
 
We were in the same situation. You will more than likely need a waiver with a full pulmonologist exam. Have your Family doctor write a letter to include in your AMI Waiver paperwork explaining the situation.
 
Sealion II said:
I, obviously, can't speak to your chances. I can tell you my daughter was prescribed an inhaler as a young teen. She was given instructions to go to a specific clinic. They tested her, gave her the all clear. Medical was checked in her portal. Appointment received. 49 days to I-Day.
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Did they ever ask her for her full medical record?
 
ledblack said:
Did they ever ask her for her full medical record?
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My son was only asked to provide treatment records regarding Asthma, not the full medical record. Similar situation, inhaler was used on a few rare occasions, but not used for several years, and was never diagnosed with Asthma. He did have to have Pulmonary Tests and a Pulmonologist Consult which helped clear him. Waiver was granted by Army ROTC.
 
EJF said:
My son was only asked to provide treatment records regarding Asthma, not the full medical record. Similar situation, inhaler was used on a few rare occasions, but not used for several years, and was never diagnosed with Asthma. He did have to have Pulmonary Tests and a Pulmonologist Consult which helped clear him. Waiver was granted by Army ROTC.
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I just received a remedial for requesting AMI from DODMERB. Is this a good sign that I am not disqualified yet? Or is this just the norm before disqualification.
 
We had her doctor write a letter stating the last time she had used an inhaler, which was basically when she was 7 and after the AMI was processed, that was removed because it didn't require a waiver based on AMI I sent. The other DQ was for a headache issue & that went Under Waiver Review & about 5 weeks later came back with Waiver Granted.
 
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ledblack said:
I just received a remedial for requesting AMI from DODMERB. Is this a good sign that I am not disqualified yet? Or is this just the norm before disqualification.
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What does your Dodmerb portal say? I’m not really sure about your status, but I do believe they sometimes ask for more information before a DQ. If that information clears things up then it may not move to the DQ. In my son’s case he was DQ’d and then the request came for AMI and Remedials.
 
EJF said:
What does your Dodmerb portal say? I’m not really sure about your status, but I do believe they sometimes ask for more information before a DQ. If that information clears things up then it may not move to the DQ. In my son’s case he was DQ’d and then the request came for AMI and Remedials.
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They are asking for my medical history pertaining to asthma as well as my pharmaceutical records as well.
 
ledblack said:
They are asking for my medical history pertaining to asthma as well as my pharmaceutical records as well.
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A remedial means they need more info (AMI) before they can issue a Qual/DQ disposition. In your case, they need more info on your asthma history and your medication history. What they will probably look at it is how symptomatic you've been and how long you've had your inhaler Rx filled. It appears in your initial post that you were never diagnosed with asthma. If that is true, they are probably trying to see what, if any, respiratory issues are present and if there is a pharmacological dependency.
 
Usnavy2019 said:
A remedial means they need more info (AMI) before they can issue a Qual/DQ disposition. In your case, they need more info on your asthma history and your medication history. What they will probably look at it is how symptomatic you've been and how long you've had your inhaler Rx filled. It appears in your initial post that you were never diagnosed with asthma. If that is true, they are probably trying to see what, if any, respiratory issues are present and if there is a pharmacological dependency.
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I just finished at the doctors to request my medical records and it seems they actually did diagnose me with asthma a few years back. Will this now Trump everything or is there still a slight chance? Also if I get a pulmonary function test and claim I don’t have the problem anymore could that help my case too?
 
If you can have your doctor write a letter stating the rarity of your symptoms and / or why they prescribed it in the first place (mine prescribed it just because it had been prescribed before). This helped me a lot.
 
ledblack said:
I just finished at the doctors to request my medical records and it seems they actually did diagnose me with asthma a few years back. Will this now Trump everything or is there still a slight chance? Also if I get a pulmonary function test and claim I don’t have the problem anymore could that help my case too?
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It would probably DQ you, but that is merely a speculation. DoDMERB won't really buy a candidate saying they don't have something anymore. If they did, everyone would be claiming that X DQ condition doesn't affect them. Additionally, I'd advise (again providing non-medical or DoDMERB advice, jsut my own personal advice based off what I went through) to get a Methacholine Challenge Test (MCT) and your immunologist's/pulomologist's comments on your condition with respect to military service. The MCT is pretty much a battery of consecutive of maximum effort pulmonary function tests while being administered increasing concentrations of methacholine (a brochoconstricting drug). If your FEV1 (Forced Expiratory Volume over 1 second or more generically how much air you breathe out in a second) drops below 15-20% (most use 20% but I have seen 15%) below baseline, then that is indicative of airway hyperresponsiveness. In sentence, the test keeps trying to give you an asthma attack. The battery is usually 5 step-wise doses after the baseline, but again, it can vary. MCTs have a very high negative predicative value. In other words, if you pass the MCT, you pretty much can rule out asthma. That is why they are anecdotally considered to be the gold standard for DoDMERB.

So TLDR, be prepared for a DQ and take an MCT and get a letter from your asthma doc about your condition. Send your doc a copy of the asthma standard so they can speak directly to it.
 
ledblack said:
I just finished at the doctors to request my medical records and it seems they actually did diagnose me with asthma a few years back. Will this now Trump everything or is there still a slight chance? Also if I get a pulmonary function test and claim I don’t have the problem anymore could that help my case too?
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You will likely need to go through the waiver process. Don't get discouraged, just do everything they ask you for and as promptly as possible. If you do well on your Pulmonary function tests and haven't used an inhaler for several years things will be in your favor for a waiver. I would strong suggest you use the provider recommended and paid for by Dodmets rather than try and find your own providers.
 
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