Letter from Department of Defence, MEPS

[Claimsmom]

So last week I wrote that my son fell rollerblading and broke his elbow while visiting family his last weekend.  The doctor told him he estimated 3 months even though it is a small break and he did not cast it as he wants him to use it.  Not that that was not enough bad news, the recruiter gave him a medical dishcarge and told him when he healed, if he still wanted to go into the Navy, to come back and start over.  I was blown away.  Unbelievable.  This is a healthy young man other than an unfortunate mishap and decision on his part.  

He was to fly to GL 9/11/13.  Today in the mail he recieved a letter dated, mind you, 9/11/13, that he was being notified that as a result of his recent military entrance medical exam (done in February) that he was being found medically disqualified because he has a history of sulfa allergy.  Unbelievable.  This absolutely makes no sense to me.  First of all, the incident that makes us and his doctors believe he is allegic to sulfa antibiotics happened when he was 9 months old.  He has never had sulfa since.  Second of all, this letter is dated 9/11/13.  Had he not hurt himself, would they have allowed him to get all the way to GL and then turn him down based on this allergy?  It is no big deal, he just does not get prescribed sulfa antibiotics, he gets something else.  Pretty darn simple.  Is this the way the military operates?  Any thoughts or suggestions?

[Claimsmom]

I would not expect him to go thru boot camp with a broken elbow.  I guess I just thought that they had put this much time and effort into him, why not move his date out instead of releasing him and making him start over?  Seems to me that cost more of our tax $$ than keeping him in the loop, even if he were required to go through a physical again to determine if the elbow would be a liability. 

 

Then it just seemed very odd that yesterday we receive a letter that was dated 9/11/13 (again, he was to be on a plane headed to GL that day) with the sulfa allergy indication.  Why was that not brought up in February when he signed and went through his preliminary medical exam, instead of 8 months later at the time he was to ship?  My son left a job in order to go into the Navy, would they have gotten him up there and then sent him home, now with no job due to the allergy? Just seems like it could have been handled better from the beginning.  Also just trying to understand how the military works.

[lemonelephant]

Yes, it does happen at times that recruits are separated at the RTC due to an allergy that either was not noted before (either unknown to the recruit or not disclosed) or due to a reported allergy that was somehow overlooked prior to shipping and the recruit did not have a medcal waiver for it.

[Angie]

Not bring rude, but not sure why you are blown away, the doctor said he needed to heal for an estimated 3 months, they don't know what will happen or how he will heal so the military can not just keep him on the books waiting to see what happens.

with regards to the allergy, weather he has it or not, if he would have been at bootcamp, he would have been pulled out of training and separated.  where he would have waited anywhere from 2-4 weeks for the separation to happen.

If he still wants to go in after he is healed up and given the go ahead from his doctor, he should get an offical allergy test from his doctor to prove he is not allergic to sulfa than he can try again. He will need at least three extra waivers though to get in, one showing he is not allergic to sulfa, one for his arm, and one for being separated.

The military can be very picky who they take, the economy is down so recruitment is up.  Yes that is how the military is.