Sadly, many amputees end up on the wrong side of a decision making process when undergoing “elective” amputation, such as the type of elective surgery a person with cancer may choose to make. The decision isn’t whether or not to go ahead with the surgery, but the decision of the beancounters at your typical insurance company. Read on.

SOUTH 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.

CNN reports:

Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua Bleill lost both his legs above the knees when a bomb exploded under his Humvee while on patrol in Iraq on October 15, 2006. He has 32 pins in his hip and a 6-inch screw holding his pelvis together.

Now, he’s starting to walk again with the help of prosthetic legs outfitted with Bluetooth technology more commonly associated with hands-free cell phones.

Bleill, 30, is one of two Iraq war veterans, both double leg amputees, to use the Bluetooth prosthetics. Computer chips in each leg send signals to motors in the artificial joints so the knees and ankles move in a coordinated fashion.

Bleill’s set of prosthetics have Bluetooth receivers strapped to the ankle area. The Bluetooth device on each leg tells the other leg what it’s doing, how it’s moving, whether walking, standing or climbing steps, for example.

“They mimic each other, so for stride length, for amount of force coming up, going uphill, downhill and such, they can vary speed and then to stop them again,” Bleill told CNN from Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he’s undergoing rehab.

A horse with a prosthetic leg? It’s not exactly news, but if you have a child who’s an amputee, perhaps sharing this story with them will be heartwarming. It certainly did wonders for the children who surrounded Molly through her journey as the world’s first (only?) horse amputee.

MSNBC has a fabulous article up about the many advances being made in prosthetic and assistive technology. From simple advances, such as more comfortable materials, to the more bizarre advances such as miniature ‘free-thinking’ assistive technology devices powered by moth brains, it becomes more and more obvious each day that the human body itself may become obsolete in the no longer invisible future, as long as the brain remains well fed and cared for.

The need for better prosthetics, driven in part by the hundreds of amputees returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, has spurred a host of innovations enabling unprecedented control over artificial arms and legs. Already, researchers have begun unveiling sensor and microprocessor-packed “intelligent” knees, thought-controlled mechanical arms, and artificial hands with fingers able to pinch and grab.

While this can arguably be blamed on higher incidences of complications from diabetes and vascular issues, there is not a corresponding ratio of disease prevalence says a new study based in Illinois. Health insurance policies, medical care centers, and local medical staff should be carefully scrutinized.

The overall amputation rate in northern Illinois is declining due to improved care for diabetes and peripheral vascular disease, new research shows.

But not everyone is reaping the benefits.

A new study from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine has found people in African American communities on Chicago’s South and West Side have a five times higher rate of lower limb amputations than people in the predominantly white suburbs and exurbs.

“Amputations are the canary in the coal mine for quality of care,” said Joe Feinglass, lead author and research professor of medicine at the Feinberg School. “Many amputations are preventable. This means the primary care for minority people may not be very good. ”

Feinglass said the high rate of amputations means people are not being closely monitored. “They come in with gangrene or a skin ulcer that comes to the attention of a doctor really late and nothing can be done,” he said. “They have to take their leg off.”

Oscar Pistorius competes in the British 400m!

These Nova Scotian children never give up. Through the use of assistive technology, the War Amp program encourages disabled children to continue to participate, and even compete, in sports and the arts.

This was the message of encouragement the War Amps presented Friday during the first session of this year’s Atlantic child amputee seminar at the Westin Nova Scotian Hotel in Halifax.

“It’s really important to have that positive outlook and be able to share experiences like we’re doing here at the seminar this weekend,” said Annelise Petlock, a War Amps public awareness official.

“It makes all the difference in the world.”

Ms. Petlock, a 21-year-old graduate of the group’s child amputee, or Champ, program and recent University of Ottawa graduate, hosted the session.

The Champ program aims to reach amputees at a young age and provide them with the necessary encouragement and resources to lead a happy and healthy life.

A cornerstone of the program is the Winner’s Circle. This concept encourages young amputees to develop confidence and further their rehabilitation through sports and other recreational activities.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Teams of university scientists backed by U.S. government funds hope to grow new skin, ears, muscles and other body tissue for troops injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Defense Department said on Thursday.

The $250 million effort aims to address the Pentagon’s unprecedented challenge of caring for troops returning from the war zones with multiple traumatic injuries, many of which would have been fatal years ago.

“We’ve had just over 900 people, men, some women with amputations of some kind or another since the start of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq,” said Ward Casscells, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. Many have also suffered burns, spinal cord injuries and vision loss.

“Getting these people up to where they are functioning and reintegrated, employed, able to help their families and be fully participating members of society, this is our task,” he said.

Under the initiative, the Pentagon launched the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine made up of two teams — the first led by Wake Forest University in North Carolina and the University of Pittsburgh and the second led by Rutgers University in New Jersey and the Cleveland Clinic.

Medical News Today has an interesting article on the discovery of armed forces surgeons who have discovered that mobility limitations in soldiers who have required amputations can prevent formation of scar tissue and can inhibit the development of stiffness and mobility challenges.

A procedure currently performed all over the world for cosmetic purposes might also improve wound healing and limb function for soldiers who are severely hurt and scarred during combat. Dr. Adam Katz, plastic surgeon and researcher at the University of Virginia Health System, will conduct research in this area under the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine (AFIRM). White House officials announced the formation of AFIRM, which has received more than $80 million for research.