Posted on May 27, 2015
SSG Jason Neumann
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Looking to get more information on a waiver for prescribed medication that is considered "non-deployable" status. Currently on Ambien for insomnia, never has it effected my daily duties or had any side effect besides the obvious. On orders to PCS/deploy and when going through SRP, the provider stated I would have to get a waiver.

Never before have I had to get a waiver, so now I have gone to my PA and requested the waiver be done to continue on with my PCS. Have been told by the provider at the SRP site that it could take a couple days to a few weeks. Now, from my CoC (1SG) stated it could take 60 days. (Currently Clearing installation, so right now putting a kink in the process, report in JUL).

Has anyone or Medical personnel ***preferred*** been in this situation and what was the process in which it has to be approved or disapproved. Thanks much in advance for any kind of information.
Edited 9 y ago
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MAJ Officer Accession Policy Integrator
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From past experience, anytime I had a Soldier start a new medication prior to a deployment, it did impact a Soldier's deployability status. I can't give you a specific timeframe and am not qualified to give medical advice. As I recall, certain medications could take from 30-90 days prior to a Soldier being cleared for deployment. Other factors include the deployed AO, the availability/viability of the medication in the field (can it be stored / sufficient supply on hand), and of course effects on Soldier performance (both with and without supply to the medication).
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SSG Jason Neumann
SSG Jason Neumann
9 y
Understandable on those points sir. If I would have known about this earlier, I would have been on it, however, being on assignment and actually having orders in hand might make a difference when requesting this action. Since I got my orders in mid-April I still might be in the same boat, when being told it needs to be initiated 6 months out. Right now, it's a waiting game on how long it will be. Just curious about the actual process and what needed to be done, for future reference of other Soldiers. Thanks much for the input sir.
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SFC Clark Adams
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What does your S-1 Shop tell you?
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SSG Jason Neumann
SSG Jason Neumann
9 y
SFC Clark Adams Heading to S1 tomorrow, due to training being conducted they have been thinned out. I am expecting to hear that I would be needing a 4187 in order for Commander to defer 30 days and continue to monitor situation, but I will hopefully get a hard answer tomorrow.
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CPT Deputy Surgeon
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This comes down to MOD13 which is part of the CENTCOM guidance for PCSing and deploying soldiers to CENTCOM. There are pretty significant restriction for many different medical conditions and Ambien is one that is specifically listed as requiring a waiver. With that being the case don't take needed a waiver as you cannot deploy. I have worked the medical portion of 3 different units going out the door and they each had somewhere between 30 and 50 waivers. I can only think of about 3 or 4 instances of the waivers being kicked back and those were all for behavioral health reasons.
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