Arc study: doctors are reluctant to treat adult patients with disabilities

‘Left out in the cold’ says MDs’ attitudes pose barrier to health care access

An excerpt from this article in yesterday's Boston Globe:

The incidence of adult disabled patients staying with their pediatricians long after their 18th birthday is one of many issues raised in a report released today by The Arc of Massachusetts, an advocacy group for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The study, "Left Out in the Cold: Health Care Experiences of Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in Massachusetts," found that many disabled adults face longer waits than most people finding good internists, and that prevents them from get ting the best care for common adult conditions such as hypertension, heart disease, or thyroid disorders.

The report found that, among other reasons, many internists avoid disabled patients because of uneasiness with them.

Also, many doctors feel that insurers do not pay enough to compensate them for the longer time it often takes to listen to - and care for - these patients.

The full article is here.

Amputees fight caps in coverage for prosthetics

The following is an excerpt from USA Today (thanks to What Sorts of People for the link)

BURLINGTON, Vt. — After bone cancer forced the amputation of her right leg below the knee, Eileen Casey got even more bad news: Her insurer told her that she had spent her $10,000 lifetime coverage limit on her temporary limb and that the company wouldn't pay for a permanent one.

"It was shocking to find out I was going to have to take out a loan to buy myself a leg so I could keep working and living independently," Casey said. At the bank, she said, she burst into tears when they asked what the loan was for.

Since then, Casey has joined a nationwide fight by amputees and the prosthetics industry to get the states and Congress to require fuller coverage for artificial limbs. The insurance industry is fighting the effort, saying such mandates drive up costs and reduce the flexibility customers want.

"Shoving us off the lifeboat in a pandemic"

That's the title of Steve Drake's (Not Dead Yet) response to this story by the Associated Press yesterday which reports on a list of recommendations/guidelines that a panel have drafted for which patients doctors shouldn't treat (should let die) in the event of a pandemic or other disaster.

If hospitals were to follow the recommendations to a tee, those patients that wouldn't be treated during a pandemic include:

- people older than 85
- those with severe trauma, which could include critical injuries from car crashes and shootings.
- severely burned patients older than 60.
- those with severe mental impairment, which could include advanced Alzheimer's disease.
- those with a severe chronic disease, such as advanced heart failure, lung disease or poorly controlled diabetes.

Here is a link to the AP story. And here is a link to Steve Drake's response.

Sex abuse of patient ignored, mom says

Janice Ambrose is trying to get her 20-year-old daughter, who has autism, out of the Delaware Psychiatric Center. Ambrose says that her daughter was sexually assaulted by another patient. Staff of the DPC have not responded to her concerns; the use of excessive force against patients has been reported by some nurses and other staff at the center.

Ambrose initially struggled to have her daughter civilly committed to the center last year; she is now working to get her out as the hospital deals with new allegations of patient abuse and mistreatment.

On a recent visit home, Ambrose noted that her daughter "was so drugged, she couldn’t chew her food," and when she visited her daughter last week at the DPC, she found that her head had been shaved. "

Yesterday's News Journal notes that reports of patient abuse, neglect or mistreatment at DPC have increased from 35 in 2001 to 119 last year. The increase, said DPC Director Susan Watson Robinson, is proof that her administration is keeping better track of such incidents. So far this year, 84 incidents have been reported.

But now that the hopsital is identifying abuse and mistreatment, what steps will it take to ensure that Ambrose’s daughter and other patients are provided with real care and treatment?

Link to full story here.