Food Allergy DODMERB Process 2022/2023

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NeverSayNever

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Oct 3, 2022
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DODMERB is behind and "doing their best" using cave drawings, stone knives and smoke signals as everyone knows. With DD knowing she will need a waiver for some food allergies she had as a toddler but not since - is there any path to send in food challenge results if we get them done on our own ASAP before requested?

I know the probability of getting a clearance without the food challenge is pretty much nil but even with a good test result I don't think there will be time if we wait for DoDMERB to DQ and then SAs request waiver etc etc with only 4 months left before they close out files.

If anyone has experience with this - will she have to food challenge all things on the iGe panel that she is sensitive to or just the things she experienced a reaction to?
AKA - if she listed "almonds" but iGe panels shows sensitivity to "pine nuts and pistachios" will she have to just eat almonds or a bag of Planters Mixed Nuts in front of the allergist? I expect this to be SA dependent but anyone with insight into USAFA/USNA/USMMA would be appreciated - she has noms to all 3.

Can anyone clone Larry Mullen - he is sorely missed around here.

I've read dozens of food allergy threads on this site - looks like a mixed bag of results but couldn't find anything about sending in results preemptively.
 
I have the same question. We found out yesterday DS was medically disqualified for D271.40 History of systemic allergic reaction to food or additives. He's not allergic anymore and he eats peanut butter everyday so we know he could pass a food challenge. I don't know whether to find an allergist and take the food challenge preemptively or wait and see if USAFA/USNA/NROTC/AFROTC requests a remedial. I'm concerned if he takes it preemptively that the test might not be the same as what DoDMERB would order? Is there any standard that we could tell the doctor "do this x test"? He was also disqualified for asthma but he no longer has it. He has not been offered an appointment yet to either of the SA's he applied to so not sure whether to just be patient and wait or try and get some of these issues cleared up?
 
If my child passed a food challenge at 3 years old (and has eaten eggs and peanuts since without any issues), will he still be disqualified if I bring the medical records with us to the DODMERB exam?
 
My DS was initially DQ'ed for a reaction to seafood he had as a young child. We took him to a local allergist for skin-testing (more to see whether he was allergic or not). He was negative so the allergist authored a letter that we sent to DoDMERB. They were not satisfied with the result so we were sent to an allergist of their choice to repeat the tests. The result from this allergist was also negative. In hindsight, I was glad we went to our local allergist so that we knew his status before he went through the process with the DoDMERB allergist, but it did not help at all with the eventual granting of a waiver. We had never had him tested as a child so we lacked medical records. If DoDMERB wants more information they will ask for it in a remedial. Since we did not have any medical records, he had to be tested again.
 
MccWSB said:
I have the same question. We found out yesterday DS was medically disqualified for D271.40 History of systemic allergic reaction to food or additives. He's not allergic anymore and he eats peanut butter everyday so we know he could pass a food challenge. I don't know whether to find an allergist and take the food challenge preemptively or wait and see if USAFA/USNA/NROTC/AFROTC requests a remedial. I'm concerned if he takes it preemptively that the test might not be the same as what DoDMERB would order? Is there any standard that we could tell the doctor "do this x test"? He was also disqualified for asthma but he no longer has it. He has not been offered an appointment yet to either of the SA's he applied to so not sure whether to just be patient and wait or try and get some of these issues cleared up?
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Looks like you will be the test case to see how long DoDMERB takes this year to handle waivers IF the commissioning source requests it. The ’bring me a rock…no not that rock…a different rock” process is going to take time and hopefully this years cycle will allow it. This comes up every year and one would think that it would save time if they would publish testing standards ahead of time but medical bureaucracy seems to rule the process.
 
NeverSayNever said:
DODMERB is behind and "doing their best" using cave drawings, stone knives and smoke signals as everyone knows. With DD knowing she will need a waiver for some food allergies she had as a toddler but not since - is there any path to send in food challenge results if we get them done on our own ASAP before requested?

I know the probability of getting a clearance without the food challenge is pretty much nil but even with a good test result I don't think there will be time if we wait for DoDMERB to DQ and then SAs request waiver etc etc with only 4 months left before they close out files.

If anyone has experience with this - will she have to food challenge all things on the iGe panel that she is sensitive to or just the things she experienced a reaction to?
AKA - if she listed "almonds" but iGe panels shows sensitivity to "pine nuts and pistachios" will she have to just eat almonds or a bag of Planters Mixed Nuts in front of the allergist? I expect this to be SA dependent but anyone with insight into USAFA/USNA/USMMA would be appreciated - she has noms to all 3.

Can anyone clone Larry Mullen - he is sorely missed around here.

I've read dozens of food allergy threads on this site - looks like a mixed bag of results but couldn't find anything about sending in results preemptively.
Click to expand...
Have you gotten any answers on this? We are in the same situation and unsure of how to proceed.
 
COFalcon said:
Have you gotten any answers on this? We are in the same situation and unsure of how to proceed.
Click to expand...
No. The only thing we know is that at some point we are going to get notified of a DQ. The academies will then decide if she's good enough for a waiver and if there is enough time. I suspect that they will have AMI required and the gold standard for clearing an allergy is an oral food challenge. We are awaiting the iGe panel to come back for the things she reacted to as a toddler and then will pursue a food challenge. I'm not sure if the SAs will accept those results or not or even IF they will request a waiver. What I do know is that that time is not on our side and we have done everything that we can up to this point that is within our control. (Insert shrugging emoji here)
 
So similar situation here..... my DS had reaction to peanut butter as a toddler. Blood tests revealed elevated antibodies for peanuts and hazelnuts. He just avoided nuts his entire life. Knowing this would DQ him from service academy we decided to be proactive and see an allergist for more testing. He visited allergist in Sept and based on the component blood panel test the Dr. suggested a food challenge for hazelnuts and peanuts. He passed both without incident. He had his Dodmerb appointment beginning of Nov. (He checked off previous hx of nut allergy but he had noted that he passed food challenge with allergist). He was DQ's beginning of Jan. but CGA automatically requested waiver. Yesterday he was asked for AMI specifically medical notes from allergist who conducted food challenge. We submitted that so now we are waiting to hear back. I will report back when we hear back.

But for others who have hx of food allergy be proactive and see an allergist before you are asked by dodmerb it will save time.
 
#14mom said:
So similar situation here..... my DS had reaction to peanut butter as a toddler. Blood tests revealed elevated antibodies for peanuts and hazelnuts. He just avoided nuts his entire life. Knowing this would DQ him from service academy we decided to be proactive and see an allergist for more testing. He visited allergist in Sept and based on the component blood panel test the Dr. suggested a food challenge for hazelnuts and peanuts. He passed both without incident. He had his Dodmerb appointment beginning of Nov. (He checked off previous hx of nut allergy but he had noted that he passed food challenge with allergist). He was DQ's beginning of Jan. but CGA automatically requested waiver. Yesterday he was asked for AMI specifically medical notes from allergist who conducted food challenge. We submitted that so now we are waiting to hear back. I will report back when we hear back.

But for others who have hx of food allergy be proactive and see an allergist before you are asked by dodmerb it will save time.
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Thank you. We have allergist appointment lined up already in anticipation of AMI being requested but we have lost confidence in the DoDMERB "process". Initial exams were in Dec and early Jan. Somehow DoDMETS gets two records in the system with different SSNs. No change in DoDMETS status so DD initiates contact. Duplicate candidates with different SSNs so that requires sending in info. One week later we get a call from the clinic where she was "examined". (This clinic was in a strip mall by a grocery store!) Clerk at the clinic says the "ROTC exam people" are missing pages from the exam and claim that we didn't bring them to the clinic. They say they have every page we gave them but are missing pages 1,3,5. They accepted digital copies but have not confirmed receipt. So - with hard deadlines coming up - it is hard to expect SAs to request a waiver when DoDMERB review team hasn't even had a chance to initiate the process because they don't have the exams a month after they were done!

This system is broken. In an era of instantaneous information there should be a portal where EVERYONE in the process can see individual status and workflow. Candidates should be able to upload information into the system for review and confirmation rather than trusting someone in a strip mall clinic.

I hope other peoples experiences have been better. Rant complete.
 
Out of curiosity does anyone know the burden of proof for a medical waiver for D271.40. Does a candidate have to pass a test like an oral or skin test with no reaction present. Or is their a cutoff where a small reaction can be present and still grant a waiver?
 
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