thats long gone in todays society.
--- Susan Moskowitz <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> Medically Induced dwarfism based on parental
> fear and inconvenience?
> Whatever happened to the medical/ethical premise of
> "first do no harm'?
> Susan
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Pam Dahl" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Friday, November 10, 2006 11:11 PM
> Subject: Fw: [berkeley-disabled] Article: Should
> severely disabled kids be
> kept small?
>
>
> > MSNBC.com
> >
> > Should severely disabled kids be kept small?
> > 6-year-old given hormones to stunt growth so
> parents can care for her
> > Reuters
> >
> > Updated: 3:23 p.m. AKT Nov 1, 2006
> >
> > NEW YORK - In a report published in a medical
> journal this month, two
> > doctors describe a 6-year-old girl with profound,
> irreversible =
> > developmental
> > disability who was given high doses of estrogen to
> permanently halt her
> > growth so that her parents could continue to care
> for her at home.
> >
> > The controversial growth-attenuation treatment,
> which included =
> > hysterectomy,
> > was requested by the child's parents and initiated
> after careful
> > consultation and review by an ethics committee.
> >
> > In their report in the Archives of Pediatrics and
> Adolescent Medicine, =
> > Drs.
> > Daniel F. Gunther and Douglas S. Diekema, both at
> the University of
> > Washington in Seattle, explain the reasoning
> behind what they hope will
> > generate a healthy debate. Gunther is at the
> Division of Pediatric
> > Endocrinology, and Diekema is at the Center for
> Pediatric Bioethics.
> >
> > Caring for children with profound developmental
> disabilities can be
> > difficult and demanding, they note. For children
> with severe combined
> > neurologic and cognitive impairment who are unable
> to move without
> > assistance, all the necessities of life <
> dressing, bathing, =
> > transporting <
> > must be provided by caregivers, usually parents,
> and these tasks become
> > increasing difficult, if not impossible, as the
> child increases in size.
> >
> > "Achieving permanent growth attenuation while the
> child is still young =
> > and
> > of manageable size would remove one of the major
> obstacles to family =
> > care
> > and might extend the time that parents with the
> ability, resources, and
> > inclination to care for their child at home might
> be able to do so," =
> > Gunther
> > and Diekema write.
> >
> > The parents of the 6-year-old, both of whom were
> college-educated
> > professionals, indicated a strong desire to
> continue caring for their
> > daughter. Despite having the neurologic
> development no greater than that =
> > of
> > an infant, the 6-year-old responds to her parents
> and two healthy =
> > siblings <
> > vocalizing and smiling in response to care and
> affection < and "clearly =
> > is
> > an integral, and much loved, member of the
> family," the authors note.
> >
> > After extensive evaluation, the combined opinion
> of a team of =
> > specialists is
> > that the child will have no significant neurologic
> or cognitive
> > improvements.
> >
> > The onset of puberty and continued growth caused
> concern in the parents
> > about how they would care for their daughter
> long-term, which they =
> > clearly
> > wanted to do. They were concerned about having to
> turn over care to
> > "strangers" and also about the complications that
> would arise when the =
> > child
> > started menstruating.
> >
> > The child is now a little more than a year into
> growth-attenuating =
> > therapy
> > and approaching the end of her growth, Gunther and
> Diekema report. "As =
> > of
> > yet, there have been no treatment complications."
> >
> > The authors feel that growth arresting therapy can
> be "both ethical and
> > feasible and should be an option available to
> parents."
> >
> > The authors of a commentary applaud Gunther and
> Diekema for publishing =
> > this
> > case report, although they believe that attempts
> to attenuate growth are
> > "ill advised."
> >
> > Nonetheless, Dr. Jeffrey P. Brosco from the
> University of Miami and Dr.
> > Chris Feudtner from the University of
> Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, say =
> > that
> > by beginning the debate, this paper helps to
> "advance our ethical =
> > dialogue
> > as we struggle to define our core values in words,
> laws, and deeds. Only
> > with further research and public discussion will
> we learn whether =
> > attempts
> > to attenuate growth run with or against our
> fundamental values in caring =
> > for
> > children with profound developmental
> disabilities."
> >
> > Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights
> reserved. Republication or
> > redistribution of Reuters content is expressly
> prohibited without the =
> > prior
> > written consent of Reuters.(c) Reuters 2006. All
> rights reserved.
> > Republication or redistribution of Reuters
> content, including by =
> > caching,
> > framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited
> without the prior =
> > written
> > consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere
> logo are registered
> > trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of
> companies around the
> > world.
> >
> > URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15517226/from/ET/
> > <http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15517226/from/ET/>
> >
> >
> >
> > __._,_.___=20
> > Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) |
> Start a new topic=20
> > Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Database |
> Polls | Calendar=20
> > =20
> > Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID
> required)=20
> > Change settings via email: Switch delivery to
> Daily Digest | Switch =
> > format to Traditional=20
> > Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use |
> Unsubscribe Recent =
> > Activity
> > a.. 4New Members
> > Visit Your Group=20
> > SPONSORED LINKS
> > a.. Berkeley home=20
> > b.. Berkeley real estate=20
> > c.. Berkeley ca real estate=20
> > d.. Berkeley realtor=20
> > e.. Disabled travel=20
> > Yahoo! 360=B0
> > Blog Now
>
=== message truncated ===
____________________________________________________________________________________
Yahoo! Music Unlimited
Access over 1 million songs.
http://music.yahoo.com/unlimited
-----------------------
To change your mail settings or leave the C-PALSY list, go here:
http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?SUBED1=c-palsy
|
