TLDR; I was never placed on LIMDU for referred conditions, am I screwed on getting out because of this?
In June of 2023 I received orders to the USS Abraham Lincoln. After submitting my operational duty screening/suitability screening, the Lincoln rejected my orders stating “The subject named patient was found medically unsuitable for transfer to the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) ICD-10 Code: R06.02 (shortness of breath), R13.1(dysphagia), F32.9 (major depressive disorder). The decision includes a thorough evaluation of the capabilities and limitations of CVN-72 and with respect to the inherent risks in the patient’s current and projected medical treatment needs.” In August of 2023, I found out that my orders were voided and received no explanation or elaboration of what the next step would be and was under the assumption that my detailer was going to assign me different orders. It wasn’t until September when I received the official message traffic that I was being sent to the PEB. I was pissed to say the least and read up on every regulation I could think of. I was so confused how I could be referred to the MEB when I had never been on LIMDU or anything like that. On 18 September 2023, I got the official message from PERS-454, stating that a “deployability assessment officer has reviewed MBR’s health information and MBR is directed to be referred to physical evaluation board (PEB) for disability evaluation per ref b for ICD-10 codes R13.1(dysphagia), K21.9 (GERD), R06.02 (shortness of breath), F32.9 (major depressive disorder), and I10 (hypertension).” After that it was radio silent until 20 December 2023 when my contact representative contacted me. They let me know that it took so long for someone to reach out because apparently the referring doctor had tried to fight the MEB due to me never being placed on LIMDU for any of the referring conditions. They were told that the MEB was non negotiable due to it being PERS directed. So, I was officially referred to the MEB on on 20 December 2023. I received my NARSUM on 5 April 2024, the only referring conditions on my NARSUM were ICD-10 Codes K20.0 (eosinophilic esophagitis) and R13.10 (dysphagia VA DIAGNOSIS ONLY). There’s a lot I don’t agree with on my NARSUM, for example they said I wasn’t compliant with my EoE treatment when I was and luckily I have been able to prove that. I also felt that my mental health diagnosis were extremely downplayed, especially since at my most recent appointment my psychiatrist noted “psychologically fit for full duty, no.” With the help of my Navy DES attorney we submitted an IMR request. I had the IMR appointment today, and was disappointed to say the least. The conversation was not even 5 minutes long, I could hardly get a word in, and all she did was reference OPNAVIST 1300.20A and said “per OPNAVIST 1300.20A, unless your provider placed you on LIMDU then my hands are tied. There is nothing I can do.”
This has left me feeling extremely discouraged, my end goal is to get out at the end of all of this but I feel like if everything is going to be looked at black and white the way the independent reviewer looked at my IMR request, then there is no way I’m going to get the outcome I want. I feel like everyone is missing the part where this PEB was directed by PERS and not by my PCM or an MTF.
My biggest concern and reasoning for wanting to get out is that none of my conditions are going to improve, I just reenlisted (October 2023) and am up for sea duty. Everyone has told me that it is likely if I receive another set of sea duty orders that I will also be denied transfer and find myself in the same boat in another few months. I am in intel and while my conditions don’t prevent me from doing my job (there’s not much that can prevent anyone from sitting in front of a computer), they do prevent me from being deployable, which can obviously affect my career. So, if you made it this far, am I screwed because I was never placed on LIMDU?
In June of 2023 I received orders to the USS Abraham Lincoln. After submitting my operational duty screening/suitability screening, the Lincoln rejected my orders stating “The subject named patient was found medically unsuitable for transfer to the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) ICD-10 Code: R06.02 (shortness of breath), R13.1(dysphagia), F32.9 (major depressive disorder). The decision includes a thorough evaluation of the capabilities and limitations of CVN-72 and with respect to the inherent risks in the patient’s current and projected medical treatment needs.” In August of 2023, I found out that my orders were voided and received no explanation or elaboration of what the next step would be and was under the assumption that my detailer was going to assign me different orders. It wasn’t until September when I received the official message traffic that I was being sent to the PEB. I was pissed to say the least and read up on every regulation I could think of. I was so confused how I could be referred to the MEB when I had never been on LIMDU or anything like that. On 18 September 2023, I got the official message from PERS-454, stating that a “deployability assessment officer has reviewed MBR’s health information and MBR is directed to be referred to physical evaluation board (PEB) for disability evaluation per ref b for ICD-10 codes R13.1(dysphagia), K21.9 (GERD), R06.02 (shortness of breath), F32.9 (major depressive disorder), and I10 (hypertension).” After that it was radio silent until 20 December 2023 when my contact representative contacted me. They let me know that it took so long for someone to reach out because apparently the referring doctor had tried to fight the MEB due to me never being placed on LIMDU for any of the referring conditions. They were told that the MEB was non negotiable due to it being PERS directed. So, I was officially referred to the MEB on on 20 December 2023. I received my NARSUM on 5 April 2024, the only referring conditions on my NARSUM were ICD-10 Codes K20.0 (eosinophilic esophagitis) and R13.10 (dysphagia VA DIAGNOSIS ONLY). There’s a lot I don’t agree with on my NARSUM, for example they said I wasn’t compliant with my EoE treatment when I was and luckily I have been able to prove that. I also felt that my mental health diagnosis were extremely downplayed, especially since at my most recent appointment my psychiatrist noted “psychologically fit for full duty, no.” With the help of my Navy DES attorney we submitted an IMR request. I had the IMR appointment today, and was disappointed to say the least. The conversation was not even 5 minutes long, I could hardly get a word in, and all she did was reference OPNAVIST 1300.20A and said “per OPNAVIST 1300.20A, unless your provider placed you on LIMDU then my hands are tied. There is nothing I can do.”
This has left me feeling extremely discouraged, my end goal is to get out at the end of all of this but I feel like if everything is going to be looked at black and white the way the independent reviewer looked at my IMR request, then there is no way I’m going to get the outcome I want. I feel like everyone is missing the part where this PEB was directed by PERS and not by my PCM or an MTF.
My biggest concern and reasoning for wanting to get out is that none of my conditions are going to improve, I just reenlisted (October 2023) and am up for sea duty. Everyone has told me that it is likely if I receive another set of sea duty orders that I will also be denied transfer and find myself in the same boat in another few months. I am in intel and while my conditions don’t prevent me from doing my job (there’s not much that can prevent anyone from sitting in front of a computer), they do prevent me from being deployable, which can obviously affect my career. So, if you made it this far, am I screwed because I was never placed on LIMDU?
