We hope to be back to normal operation within the next 90 days. Have a great summer all!

This tiny puppy may have been born without front legs but there’s no way that is holding her back.

Hope, the appropriately named two-legged Maltese puppy gets around by using a specially-designed device which features wheels from a model aeroplane.

The energetic pup uses her hind legs to boost her body forward onto her chest and operate the wheeled prosthetic limbs.

While still in its prototype phase, the Tensegrity foot is designed to mimic the action of a jointed foot to allow for a more natural and stable gait. Built by inventor and mechanical engineer Jerome Rifkin, the artificial foot bends like a normal foot and ankle, and conforms to the terrain underneath it.

WASHINGTON, June 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — A team of medical professionals from the National Rehabilitation Hospital is calling the U.S. Army’s rehab services in Germany impressive. The NRH team has been in Germany since last weekend to work with the US Army’s Europe Regional Medical Command (ERMC) in assessing their current rehabilitation practices.

NewswireToday - /newswire/ - Indianapolis, IN, United States, 06/18/2008 - The INDATA Project reaches out to Hoosiers with disabilities.

The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration’s (FSSA) Division of Disability and Rehabilitative Services (DDRS) recently contracted with Easter Seals Crossroads to be the statewide provider of the Federal Assistive Technology Act.

An ‘assistive technology device’ refers to any item, piece of equipment or product system (whether acquired commercially, modified, or customized) that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities. Examples of assistive technology include, but are not limited to, screen readers for people who are blind or visually impaired, voice input software, ergonomic and onscreen keyboards, screen magnification software, and augmentative communication devices.

This grant will be facilitated through the new Indiana Assistive Technology Act (INDATA) Project at Easter Seals Crossroads. The INDATA Project is the only statewide assistive technology project serving Hoosiers with disabilities at no charge.

“Our primary purpose is to get assistive technology into the hands of Hoosiers with disabilities through device demonstrations, device loans, computer recycling and alternative financing,” said Assistive Technology Center Director M. Wade Wingler. “Our second goal is for the INDATA Project to provide statewide outreach and educational opportunities regarding assistive technology capabilities, options and resources.”

Project outreach efforts will include quarterly trainings, offered statewide through remote tele-rehabilitation sites, an annual statewide assistive technology conference and localized small group presentations. Currently, the INDATA Project is launching a brand-awareness campaign that includes statewide site and media tours, a new Web-based tool that facilitates the reutilization of previously owned assistive technology and a number of outreach activities throughout Indiana.

Easter Seals Crossroads has been a leader in providing assistive technology clinical services to Hoosiers with disabilities since 1979. Clinical services include evaluation of a person’s functional capabilities and recommendations of appropriate assistive technologies to maximize these capabilities. Individual goals can represent job, school performance or at-home scenarios. In addition, Easter Seals Crossroads staff assist with funding sources, equipment set up and training, as well as 24/7 technical support. The INDATA Project will allow Easter Seals Crossroads to expand the scope of assistive technology services offered while increasing the number of Hoosiers touched by these services.

For more information on the INDATA Project, contact Ewart Solomon at 888-466-1314.

Easter Seals Crossroads is a community resource, working in partnership with children and adults with disabilities or special needs and their families to promote growth, independence and dignity.

The INDATA Project at Easter Seals Crossroads provides information and access to assistive technology, at no charge, for Hoosiers with disabilities. These statewide services are derived through the Indiana Assistive Technology Act (INDATA) Project state/federal grant and include: device demonstrations, device loans, recycled computers, reutilized assistive technology equipment, alternative financing resources, and educational trainings and conferences.

Source

Safeway Eastern Division Raises Over One Million Dollars for People With Disabilities:

After a successful fundraising campaign in April, which raised $692,000 for Easter Seals clients — The Safeway Foundation sponsored the 21st Annual Pro-Am Golf Tournament in June and raised an additional $435,815.00 for a grand total of $1,127,815.00.

As a result, Easter Seals hosted a ‘Thanks a Million’ Tea Party at the new assistive technology center Easter Seals helped build in Silver Spring, MD. Congressman Chris Van Hollen attended.

Disabled cruises are cruise ships that are equipped to accommodate all different types of disabilities, from those with amputated limbs or degenerative diseases, to passengers who need assistance with walking, eating and other activities. A disabled cruise gives handicapped individuals the opportunity to see the world without feeling held back from the things they love.

According to Travour.com, several of the world’s major cruise lines offer packages specifically geared toward cruises for the disabled. Disney Magic, Regent Seven Seas, and Holland America are just a few, and they each provide different levels of care for passengers.

For example, some disabled cruises provide 24-hour emergency care from doctors and nurses who are staffed by the cruise lines. Others have larger suites with handicap access for wheelchairs, wider hallways above and below deck, options for special meal plans, and physical activities that the disabled can enjoy. Furthermore, these cruises aren’t just for the handicapped, and the entire family can have fun.

ARLINGTON, Va., June 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) applauded Congressional efforts to pass a bill introduced last week that will delay for at least 18 months the controversial and flawed Medicare competitive bidding program for home medical equipment and services. The bill, H.R. 6252, is titled the “Medicare DMEPOS Competitive Acquisition Reform Act of 2008.”

The competitive acquisition or “competitive bidding” program for durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) is
scheduled to begin on July 1, 2008 in ten metropolitan areas: Charlotte, NC; Cincinnati, Ohio; Cleveland, Ohio; Dallas - Ft. Worth, Texas; Miami,
Fla.; Orlando, Fla.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Riverside, Calif.; and San Juan, P.R. The bidding program applies to oxygen therapy, mail-order diabetic
supplies, power wheelchairs, CPAP equipment, hospital beds, and several other categories of durable medical equipment and services used by Medicare beneficiaries in their homes. The program is scheduled to expand to 70 additional areas in the U.S. in 2009.

The reform bill, H.R. 6252, would delay the program for at least 18 months in order to improve the program. The lead cosponsors are House Ways and Means Committee health subcommittee chair Pete Stark (D-Calif.) and subcommittee ranking member David Camp (R-Mich.). View the text at http://www.aahomecare.org.

According to a press release issued by Congressmen Stark and Camp, the bill would require the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to “improve the program for both beneficiaries and suppliers. The cost of the delay and accompanying reforms is fully paid for within the DME sector by reducing payment rates for covered items by 9.5 percent nationwide starting in 2009, but provides for an additional increase of 2 percent in 2014.”

Congressman Stark stated in the release, “I’m pleased to introduce this bipartisan bill and look forward to working with my colleagues for its
swift passage so that the program can be redesigned to meet the needs of patients, providers and taxpayers.” He added, “This is no free lunch. This bill requires the DME industry to finance the cost of delaying the program.”

In the same press release, Congressman Camp states, “The implementation of this necessary program has been flawed and needed to be fixed. This bill provides us with the time to get the program right and ensure we are reducing costs while protecting beneficiaries in the long run.”

In addition to Stark and Camp, other cosponsors of the bill include Ways and Means Chair Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), Republican Minority Leader
John Boehner (R-Ohio), Energy and Commerce Committee Chair John Dingell (D-Mich.), Energy and Commerce subcommittee chair Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and two dozen other Representatives.

American Association for Homecare President Tyler J. Wilson added, “We are grateful for the leadership of Congressmen Stark and Camp on this issue of immense importance to the homecare community. This bill is critical to making important improvements to Medicare policy that will protect
America’s seniors and people with disabilities who depend on home medical equipment and services in their homes. If allowed to go forward, the
bidding program will put thousands of qualified homecare providers out of business and reduce patients’ access to quality home medical equipment and services. Homecare is cost-effective and represents the smallest and slowest-growing sector of Medicare. We applaud efforts to preserve quality care in the home.”

Organizations supporting H.R. 6252 were listed in the press release issued by Congressmen Stark and Camp. They include:

— American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
— American Association for Homecare
— American Podiatric Medical Association
— American Society of Transplantation
— Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Health Task Force
— Health Industry Distributors of America
— Independence Through Enhancement of Medicare and Medicaid (ITEM) Coalition
— National Coalition for Assistive and Rehab Technology
— National Community Pharmacists Association
— Orthotic and Prosthetic Alliance
— Pedorthic Footwear Association
— The Endocrine Society
— Vision Council of America
— Wound Ostomy Continence Nurses Society

Contacts: Michael Reinemer, 703-535-1881; michaelr@aahomecare.org; Tilly Gambill, 703-535-1896; tillyg@aahomecare.org

The American Association for Homecare represents providers, equipment manufacturers, and other organizations in the homecare community. Members serve the medical needs of millions of Americans who require oxygen equipment and therapy, mobility assistive technologies, medical supplies, inhalation drug therapy, home infusion, and other medical equipment and services in their homes. Membership includes providers of all sizes operating approximately 3,000 locations in all 50 states. See http://www.aahomecare.org.

A short-term, very-high dose regimen of the immune-suppressing drug cyclophosphamide seems to slow progression of multiple sclerosis (MS) in most of a small group of patients studied and may even restore neurological function lost to the disease, Johns Hopkins researchers report. The findings in nine people, most of whom had failed all other treatments, suggest new ways to treat a disease that tends to progress relentlessly.

“We didn’t expect such a dramatic return of function,” says Douglas Kerr, M.D., Ph.D, associate professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “Although we’re very early in the game, we think this approach could be the linchpin of a significant advance for MS treatment.”

Researchers have used the so called HiCy treatments with some success at Johns Hopkins for a variety of other immune system disorders, including aplastic anemia, lupus and myasthenia gravis.

Cyclophosphamide kills immune-system cells but spares the bone marrow stem cells that make them. The usual method of delivering it in pulsed, small doses, however, can cause the drug to build up to toxic concentrations in patients’ bodies, causing a variety of side effects, including a greatly increased risk of infection.

Seeking an alternative way to use the drug, Kerr and his colleagues reasoned that HiCy might clear out the majority of a patient’s immune system in one fell swoop, then allow it to ‘reboot,’ giving nerve cells a fresh start and an opportunity to repair themselves. In the current study, nine MS patients got a total single infusion of 200 milligrams per kilogram of cyclophosphamide intravenously over four days, a dose several times higher than that given in pulsed regimens but significantly lower than the total amount usually given patients over time.

Before treatment, Kerr says, the study participants were “the worst of the worst” among MS patients. Eight of the nine patients had failed conventional MS treatments, and several of them were wheelchair-bound.

President Bush has asked Congress for sweeping changes to the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) designed to improve educational, employment and social opportunities for over 54 million disabled Americans.

Signed into law eleven years ago by President George Bush, the ADA represented the first major piece of civil rights legislation since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and opened many of the real and virtual doors of society closed for years to the disabled.

“Because of that law, millions of Americans can now compete for jobs once denied them; enter buildings once closed to them; travel on buses and trains once unequipped for them,” stated President Bush in a Feb. 1, 2001 announcement.

# Lower cost and improve access to “assistive” technologies (text telephones, adaptive computer equipment, lightweight and powered wheelchairs, modern artificial limbs, etc.)
# Expand employment opportunities for the disabled, including opportunities for the disabled to work from home.
# Offer new transportation solutions for the disabled.
# Improve access to places of worship.