I am remodeling a small master bath climate zone 5A (Ohio) and I understand that in non-load bearing walls, you don’t have to frame full headers (R 602.7.4).     

“A single flat 2-inch by 4-inch (51 mm by 102 mm) member shall be permitted to be used as a header in interior or exterior nonbearing walls for openings up to 8 feet (2438 mm) in width if the vertical distance to the parallel nailing surface above is not more than 24 inches (610 mm). For such nonbearing headers, cripples or blocking are not required above the header.”

The attached diagram shows my planned framing. Because the center stud is already in place, I was just going to cut out for the medicine cabinet, and use 2, flat 2x4s for the top and bottom. I think this is okay, and that the 24″ rule is about whether or not you need a cripple, NOT whether or not you can use a single flat 2×4.

Is the attached planned framing okay?  An alternative is to completely remove the middle stud, and just add a full height stud since the medicine cabinet is designed to fit easily between two 16″ OC studs. This places the light switch at around 7″, which is okay, but most of the other switches in the house are at 5.25″ from the jamb. So I would generally prefer the first solution. Would like to hear some opinions, especially if there is a code risk on the first option. I know the electrical and plumbing inspectors, but not the building inspector.

Not sure if this is a code question or an expert question, or something else.