Archive for August, 2009
Special Olympics founder dies
The disabled community lost a good friend when Eunice Kennedy Shriver died at the age of 88. Ms. Shriver decided to help her disabled sister which suffered from Down’s Syndrome by creating a sporting event that helps everyone. That sporting event turned into what is now well known as Special Olympics.
Two hospitals decide to upgrade disability accessibility
In an amazing agreement, two Boston hospitals have agreed to make it easier to gain access to the hospitals and would train workers that have been either indifferent or openly hostile to the disabled. They also agreed to remove physical barriers that made it impossible to get into some of the hospital wards or bathrooms [...]
New housing bill in congress needs our help
Under current law, when federal financial assistance is used to create new single family houses or town houses, only 5% are required to meet accessibility standards that allow individuals with physical disabilities to visit or live in these houses. The remaining 95 percent of government-assisted new homes can be built with unnecessary architectural barriers. As [...]
HUD offering housing assistance
Agency seeking comment on how to allocate vouchers to support independent living
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today joined President Obama’s commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision by announcing that it will offer rental assistance to 4,000 non-elderly families with disabilities, including 1,000 vouchers specifically targeted [...]
FDA takes away powerful pain killer
In a move that has baffled pain management doctors, the FDA has decided to restrict distribution of a newly approved pain killer. The drug called Onsolis is a short acting but powerful fentanyl pain killer. The drug was originally to be used for acute pain management and end of life pain control.
UK patients live in agony so government saves money
While the United States decides whether to allow the government to control medical care, we see yet another potential disaster come from the UK. The drug rationing watchdog has arbitrarily forced doctors to stop giving patients steroids to stop pain in patients where their pain cause is unknown. Drugs such as cortisone have been widely [...]
Certain spinal surgery found to have no real effect
In a strange story that has run for the last 19 years, spinal surgeries for fractures appear to have no more effect than a placebo. Researchers from across the globe have been creating studies to determine if vertebroplasty has any real benefit to patients. The reasoning behind the studies is that virtually all patients who [...]
Los Angeles buses refuse to pick up disabled
KABC in Los Angeles has a story about public buses refusing to stop for and bring on board people in wheelchairs. Complaining that it was "too difficult" or the disabled did not "want to help" most bus drivers just blow by people in wheelchairs waiting for a ride. Note that the buses are set up [...]
Disability claims going through the roof
Social Security is reporting that the number of people asking for benefits has increased dramatically this year. Last year 3.3 million people received new disability claims where for 2009 we are already at 3 million people and we still have five months left to go. No one is quite sure why the dramatic increase in [...]
Breakthrough in spinal cord reconstruction
Researchers at the University of California @ San Diego have discovered a chemical that can rewire the spinal cord after injury. With over 40,000 victims of neck and spinal damage in the United States, this work could dramatically change their lives. The research work done at San Diego has found a way to regenerate synapses [...]
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