Fight Continues for Prosthetic Parity
Following New Jersey’s passage of a prosthetic parity law, amputees and their supporters have been lobbying legislators in Richmond, Va.; Annapolis, Md.; Hartford, Conn. and Salt Lake City to pass similar laws requiring insurance companies in those states to cover prosthetic care without caps and co-pays that restrict access to prescribed devices.

On January 24, 2008, amputees from across Virginia met at the state’s Capitol building to show support for Virginia Senate Bill 645, sponsored by Sen. Patsy Ticer. The Commerce and Labor Committee approved the bill by a vote of 14-1, but the Senate subsequently voted to shelve the proposal pending further study in 2009.

The House Business and Labor Committee in Salt Lake City voted 10-2 to take no action on House Bill 108, sponsored by Rep. David Litvack. Tami Stanley, the Amputee Coalition of America’s Utah advocate, hopes to reintroduce the bill next year.

In spite of these setbacks, two decisions are still pending in other states.

On February 7, a rally and presentation took place in Hartford for a bill introduced by Rep. John Geragosian. And on February 13, the House Health and Government Operations Committee in the Maryland capital heard testimony in support of parity by amputees and by Hanger Orthopedic Group, with the Maryland Chamber of Commerce submitting written testimony in opposition to the bill.    

For more information on the fight for parity, visit www.amputee-coalition.org.

Pistorius Aims for London in 2012
Oscar Pistorius, the 21-year-old South African bilateral amputee sprinter banned from the Beijing Olympics by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), says he now hopes to compete in the 2012 games in London, according to the London Times.

Pistorius and his agent are working with a law firm to appeal the IAAF decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland. Several U.S. institutions have been consulted about the results and have disputed the conclusions submitted to the IAAF by the researchers who tested Pistorius. The IAAF claims that his carbon-fiber prostheses give him a competitive advantage over able-bodied athletes.

Tens of thousands of disabled athletes worldwide compete in college meets associated with the IAAF. To Pistorius, it is important to fight the IAAF decision for the sake of all disabled athletes.

For more information, visit www.timesonline.co.uk.

Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Medical Device Maker
In an 8-1 ruling, the Supreme Court made it tougher for patients and/or their families to sue the makers of medical devices that have been approved by the FDA.

The case before the high court dealt with a balloon catheter that burst and severely injured a patient during an angioplasty. The patient, Charles R. Riegel, sued Medtronic, maker of the catheter, alleging that it was not in compliance with New York state law.

The catheter had been granted pre-market approval by the FDA. Devices that have been granted such approval are then exempt from liability under state law. (In a case where the patient and the manufacturer are based in different states, such suits are tried in federal court.)

The doctor used the catheter on Riegel in spite of the fact that his arteries were calcified. A label on the device warned against use in such cases. This information was brought to light as part of Medtronic’s defense.

The defense also argued that the FDA was better qualified to make safety determinations on medical devices than a jury would be, and that while nothing is risk-free, it would be a disservice to patients to prohibit the manufacture of devices that could save lives.

For more information, visit www.nytimes.com.

Weight-Loss Surgery Can Rid Obese Patients of Diabetes
A study conducted at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia has concluded that the weight-loss surgery known as adjustable gastric banding can cause complete remission of diabetes at a much greater rate than conventional treatments.

According to the New York Times, the study incorporated 60 obese patients with fairly mild cases of Type 2 diabetes diagnosed within the past two years. (It is easier to reverse diabetes with a recent onset than after a patient has had the disease for a long time.)

 Those who had gastric banding surgery—an operation which places a band around the top of the stomach to make it smaller and allow patients to eat less and still feel full—experienced remission in 73 percent of the cases. Of those who treated their diabetes conventionally with only diet, exercise and if needed, diabetes medications, only 13 percent achieved remission.

The patients in the study had an average age of 47 and were assigned at random to have the surgery or conventional treatment. All had a body mass index of 30 to 40, which is considered obese.

Dr. John Dixon, lead author of the study, believes that “diabetes surgery will become common within the next few years.”

Type 2 diabetes afflicts about 19 million people in the United States, and the number of cases is growing by an estimated 8 percent a year.

For more information, visit www.newyorktimes.com.

Take a Walk, Charge Your Cell Phone
A team consisting of researchers from the University of Michigan, the University of Pittsburgh and Simon Fraser University in Canada have developed an energy-capture device that fits like a knee brace and harnesses the energy that would otherwise dissipate while walking, according to the University of Michigan news service.

The prototype is bulky, weighing about 3.5 pounds. However, researchers are excited about the success of the concept. Now that biomechanical energy has been successfully harvested, teams will devote their attention to making the device lighter and less cumbersome.

While the technology has applications for the general public, such as charging a portable GPS device or an iPod, it could also power a motorized prosthetic joint, pacemaker, or neurotransmitter. This would be easier for patients than the current system of using batteries, which require the patient to have periodic surgery to change the battery.

The group’s paper, entitled “Biomechanical Energy Harvesting: Generating Electricity During Walking with Minimal User Effort,” was published in the Feb. 8 issue of Science.

For more information, visit www.ns.umich.edu.

Navajo Nation Uses Airborne Technology to Monitor Diabetic Patients
Space-age technology will allow the Navajo Nation to experiment with a new way of monitoring diabetic patients in remote areas of its reservation: transceivers borne by high-altitude balloons.

Indian Country Today reports that the helium-fueled packages will be dropped strategically to move with the wind currents in the area. The transceivers will provide wireless communication between patients and Navajo Nation Special Diabetes Project health providers for 12 to 24 hours after the drop.

Patients on the ground, who often live far apart and without telephones, will be given a handheld PDA in which to key their glucose readings. They will then transmit the readings to the transceiver, which will in turn relay the information to the health provider.

If a patient’s glucose levels are too high, the Diabetes Project can send a medical professional, or an emergency vehicle in the case of alarmingly high levels.

The airborne technology is provided by Space Data and has been used by the U.S. Air Force and the energy industry.

For more information, visit www.indiancountry.com or spacedata.net.

Electrical Device Gives Hope for Stroke Paralysis
According to an article in the Daily Mail, a British invention called STIMuGRIP can help stroke victims regain use of their paralyzed hands. The implant, currently in trials at the Functional Electrical Stimulation Centre at Salisbury Hospital in Wiltshire, works by sensing movement in the patient and using an electrical impulse to cause the fingers to open and close.

The patient wears an accelerometer, a computer chip that measures the rate of acceleration in the body, like a wristwatch. A small receiver is implanted in the forearm. When a stroke patient moves his or her arm forward, the accelerometer notices the movement and sends a signal to the receiver, which sends an electrical impulse to open the fingers of the paralyzed hand.

When the arm stops moving, a signal is sent to shut the fingers. The three patients who have already tested the device have been able to use it to hold objects with their paralyzed hands, which were affected by strokes decades earlier.

For more information, visit www.dailymail.co.uk.

Wii Games Liven Up Physical Therapy
Those Nintendo Wii games your kids clamor for may be useful for amputees, too.

The Asheville, N.C. Citizen-Times reports that local physical therapists are using the system with the amputees they work with. The games get patients involved and motivated, taking the focus off the difficulty of the movements they are making.

For example, patients may need to move their bodies and shift their weight from one leg to another in order to score a tennis point or roll a bowling ball in the world of the game.

Dave Beijer, a therapist at CarePartners outpatient clinic in Asheville, has used the system with about 10 percent of his patients, ranging in age from 13 to 70.

The game seems to provide a mental challenge which motivates some patients. One patient of his, Kris Case, says she “got so wrapped up in the competitiveness of it, I actually forgot I had the prosthesis.”

“It’s another tool in our toolkit,” says Beijer. “It’s brought an element of fun.”

People in the News

Ginna Goodenow and Harry Freedman have been recognized by the Amputee Coalition of America (ACA) as “Volunteers of the Year.”

Goodenow is the founder of Kicking for Kids Who Can’t, a charity event that benefits the Limbs for Life Foundation. She and her team have raised almost $80,000 in the last two years for children who need prostheses.

Freedman has been instrumental in the ACA’s parity campaign in Virginia. He also works with the Super H 5K, which benefits programs to help the disabled participate in sports and recreational activities.

George Barnes has joined AOPA as program manager for the Outcomes Initiative project in the government affairs department. He previously worked in research for the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Randall Alley, CP, FAAOP, CEO and chief prosthetist of biodesigns inc., has been named a Touch Bionics Development Partner for its i-LIMB Hand and ProDigits technologies. Alley is certified by the company in the use of its i-LIMB for patient care.

John Kenney, BOCO, and Joe Lawson, CO, BOCO, have been elected to the board of directors at BOC.

Kenney is president of NeuroFlex Orthotics Inc. in Laguna Hills, Calif. For the past eight years, he has also served on Medicare’s Jurisdiction D Advisory Committee for DME, Orthotics & Prosthetics.

Lawson is a managing partner in Lawson Medical LLC in Virginia Beach, Va. He has spent more than 15 years in sales and marketing with O&P.

John F. Schulte, CPO, FAAOP, has joined Fillauer Companies LLC as clinical educator. Schulte has over 34 years of clinical experience and was honored in 1999 as one of the first Academy Fellows. He will assist Fillauer’s vice president of education and product development on those topics, as well as customer service and clinical consultation.

Thomas F. Kirk has succeeded Ivan R. Sabel as CEO of Hanger Orthopedic Group in Bethesda, Md. Kirk, who is also a board member at AOPA, previously held the positions of president and COO at Hanger, and will retain the title of president with his change in duties.
   
Tiffany Straub, CO, joined OrPro’s clinical practice in Piqua, Ohio. Straub will be completing her NCOPE residency in prosthetics under the direction of residency director Amy Yates, CPO, and manager Carrie Melton, CPO.

Touch Bionics added several professionals to its U.S. sales, marketing and design teams in February 2008.
Bill Graham joined the company as U.S. sales manager for the eastern division of Touch Bionics. Tim Stevens will fill that role for the western division. Gaurav Mishra joined as director of international business development, while Fiona Macintyre has been appointed marketing manager. Derek Smith joined as senior mechanical engineer, and Fred Tatlow as a mechanical engineer.


Correction: In our February 2008 issue, we incorrectly stated in an “In Memoriam” item that Theron Hogue made the lightweight prostheses for the top three runners in the Special Olympics. Hogue actually made the prostheses for the top three runners in the Paralympics. The O&P Almanac regrets the error.

Businesses in the News

ABC is seeking nominations for two positions on its board of directors. Each position will require a four-year commitment beginning December 1, 2008. The directors will be voting members of the board and will participate in overseeing policy development, governance and budgetary matters. Nominees must be ABC-certified orthotists, prosthetists or pedorthists with a record of volunteer involvement through ABC or the former Board for Certification in Pedorthics (BCP).

The deadline for submission of nominations is June 1, 2008. For more information, or to submit a nomination, contact Tom Derrick at tderrick@abcop.org or (703) 836-7114, ext. 224.   

The New England Chapter of the Academy will be holding its 2008 Annual Continuing Education Seminar and Symposium October 22-24, 2008 in Mount Snow, Vt. Attendance fees are reduced by 30 to 40 percent this year, and more than 50 exhibitors will be present.

For more information, visit www.oandp.org/membership/chapters/new_england.

Alltech O&P Services announces the opening of its patient care facilities in Cleburne and Granbury, Texas. Owners Joel DeLeon, CP, and Jory DeLeon, CP, will work with Pete Pellegrini, CO and J. Seth Martin, ROF. Alltech’s central fabrication center in Cleburne has been in operation since 2000.

Five AOPA members have won complimentary registrations for the 2008 National Assembly at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, September 10-13, for participating in the member survey. Of the 297 members participating in the survey, 120 mailed in the postcard or sent an e-mail indicating their participation. This made them eligible for the drawing, which was conducted by Industry Insights. The winners are: Cascade DAFO Inc., Ferndale, Wash.; Colburn Orthopedics, Inc., Franklin, Penn.; Ingrid Frank Prosthetics, Inc., Natick, Mass.; Motion Medical, Pelham, Ala.; and Artisan Prosthetics, Phoenix, Ariz.

CMS awarded the contract for the DME Common Electronic Data Interchange (CEDI) process to National Government Services Inc. CMS intends that a single contractor handling the front-end edit process on electronic claims will ensure consistent acceptance of “clean” claims regardless of which DME MAC adjudicates the claim.

College Park Industries donated about 40 Tres feet last fall to an O&P volunteer team headed to Querataro, Mexico to work with the Integral Rehabilitation Center for the Disabled of the Musculoskeletal System. As part of an ongoing humanitarian effort, the team provides training to regional prosthetists and care to children and adults from all over Mexico.

Crocs Inc. was featured on the television show “The Celebrity Apprentice” on January 31, 2008. Crocs’ Soles United recycled footwear donation program appeared as a task on the charity edition of the show. More than one million pairs of donated shoes have been distributed to disaster victims and others in need. For more information on donating used Crocs shoes, visit www.solesunited.com.

The Georgia Society of Orthotists and Prosthetists will hold its 2008 meeting April 23-26, 2008 in Atlanta. The program includes several speakers, a golf tournament, Texas Hold ‘Em poker and a vendor-sponsored cocktail party. For more information, visit www.GSOP.net.

OTS Corporation has donated $5,000 in orthotic components to Mercy Ships, a medical charity that provides services to underprivileged patients around the world. Its current effort will assist polio patients in Sierra Leone. OTS hopes to match this gift again later in 2008 for Mercy Ships’ next project.

Sampson’s Prosthetic & Orthotic Laboratory, a full-service provider of custom-fit and fabricated O&P devices, has relocated its Glen Falls, N.Y. office to Queensbury, N.Y. The office will be housed at Adirondack Rehabilitation Medicine.

The University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences is adding a new master’s program in O&P. Graduates of the program will earn a Master of Science in health and rehabilitation science with a concentration in prosthetics and orthotics. The program is currently accepting applications.