From the Associated Press in Mancester, England (March 26) - Natalie du Toit, the first female amputee swimmer to qualify for the Olympics, will compete in the Paralympic World Cup and against able-bodied swimmers at the World Championships.
From the Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio (March 26) - A 41-year-old man and his 65-year-old mother are under investigation for attempted murder for allegedly trying to remove life support (turning off the oxygen and removed the oxygen tubing) from an 89-year-old Cleveland Clinic patient who is the grandma and mother of the suspects. (h/t Medical Futility)
From the [UK] Guardian (March 25) - A UK investigation into six deaths has found that the national health system failed to protect patients with intellectual disabilities and left families who complained about the health care “drained and demoralized.”Among those who died was Martin Ryan, a 43-year-old man with Down syndrome, who was admitted to a hospital following a stroke and went without food for 26 days. By the time the mistake was recognized, he was too weak to be helped. According to the report, Ryan’s death could have been avoided had “the care and treatment provided not fallen so far below the relevant standard.”
From the AP/Houston Chronicle (March 24) - The family of Hasib Chishty is seeking permission to sue the state of Texas for a 2002 attack at the Denton State School that left the 34-year-old developmentally disabled man paralyzed. Chishty’s attacker went to prison and his family has been seeking to sue the state for years, but has been blocked by the Texas sovereign immunity statute. (h/t PatriciaEBauer)
From the Associated Press/Houston Chronicle (March 23) - Nine more employees at Corpus Christi State School are under investigation for allegedly failing to intervene in new fights between residents last Wednesday and Thursday. As noted in an earlier post, authorities had issued six arrest warrants earlier this month for current and former state workers accused of staging “flight-club” style brawls among residents with intellectual disabilities.
From DiversityInc. Magazine (March 23) - Internationally recognized disability-rights leader Kathy Martinez was nominated for assistant secretary for the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) by President Barack Obama on March 20. Martinez, who has been blind since birth, specializes in employment, asset building, independent living, international development, and diversity and gender issues from her work as executive director of the World Institute on Disability (WID). (h/t Media dis&dat)
From the Sacramento Bee in California (March 22) - A former Davis resident has been convicted of stealing from her disabled adult daughter and using the funds to buy antiques.
From the New York Times, Boston Globe (March 20) - Melvin D. Levine, a pediatrician and best-selling author of books about learning disabilities, has surrendered his medical license amid charges of sexually abusing as many as 50 boys in his care. Levine signed an agreement with the medical board of North Carolina that bars him from ever again practicing medicine anywhere in the world.
