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Bloggers on 'Ashley Treatment' (both open in a new page) Newspaper Articles
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_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Disabled girl's parents defend growth-stunting treatment By Amy Burkholder
CNNNEW YORK (CNN) -- It's been a year since the parents of a severely disabled child made public their decision to submit their daughter to a hysterectomy, breast surgery and drugs to keep the girl forever small. Today, the couple tell CNN, they believe they made the right decision -- one that could have a profound impact on the care of disabled children worldwide.
"The 'Ashley treatment' has been successful in every expected way," Ashley's parents told CNN exclusively in a lengthy e-mail interview. "It has potential to help many others like it helped our precious daughter."
Read the full article here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/03/12/pillow.angel/index.html
ASHLEY X ACTION - PLEASE do the following......
First and most importantly, contact Dr. Nancy A. Murphy in Utah to let her know that you think the medical intervention in the case of Ashley X was WRONG. Tell her that instead of Ashley's parents changing her body, they should have sought out community supports and assistive technology. People with disabilities around the world agree that society should change to us---we should not have to be "fixed" for society. Dr. Murphy is the chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Children with Disabilities and she plans to talk about the Ashley X case with the committee at the AAP conference in October. We must help Dr. Murphy understand the disability rights position on this issue. Contact her and explain what you think---she seems to be trying to stay objective and get the issue resolved in the medical community, but it will help if she hears from us. If we do not, who will? In 2007, over 90 disability rights groups expressed opposition to what happened to Ashley! You can contact Dr. Murphy at nancy.murphy@hsc.utah.edu or 801-581-9978. You can also call her assistant, Erin Wachs at (801) 581-9978. Dr. Murphy's bio is at http://www.ped.med.utah.edu/GenPeds/biosketches/nmurphy_biosketch.html.
Please contact Art Caplan in Philadelphia and thank him for supporting community choice options in the CNN Ashley X article. His e-mail is caplan@mail.med.upenn.edu and his phone is (215) 898-7136. Philly ADAPT had to chase Dr. Caplan down in a hallway to get him to commit to supporting community choice. He is keeping that promise. He is on CNN quite often as their expert on bioethics.
Finally, please comment on the story at the CNN website at http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/03/12/pillow.angel/index.html by scrolling down to the bottom. Let CNN know what you think! We need disability rights perspectives on there! There are a LOT of comments supporting the parents' decision to intervene on their daughter's body.
To the disability community nationwide:
As many of you know, the Washington Protection and Advocacy System (soon to be Disability Rights Washington - DRW), opened an investigation in January 2007 into the "Ashley Treatment" interventions and the role of Seattle's Children's Hospital. Today, we are releasing the findings of that investigation.
The view the full report, complete with appendix items, see links below.
You should know:
1. Children's Hospital violated Washington state law in performing the hysterectomy portion of the "Ashley Treatment " which resulted in the violation of Ashley's constitutional and common law rights;
2. The Hospital has acknowledged the violation and accepted full responsibility;
3. The Hospital has entered into an enforceable, written five (5) year agreement with WPAS to take corrective action and other proactive steps; and
4. We have included a list of next steps in the Executive Summary that we hope will be a part of a nationwide collaborative effort of the disability community that will result in Ashley being the last person to receive "treatment" named for her.
Seattle Children's Hospital acknowledged the following in our five (5) year, enforceable agreement:
"Children’s has received and reviewed the WPAS report on Ashley and the treatment she received. In general, Children’s accepts the WPAS report. Specifically, Children’s agrees with the finding in the report that Ashley’s sterilization proceeded without a court order in violation of Washington State law, resulting in violation of Ashley’s constitutional and common law rights. Children’s deeply regrets its failure to assure court review and a court order prior to allowing performance of the sterilization and is dedicated to assuring full compliance with the law in any future case."
Some of you may think having a court order is a procedural matter easily overcome. That is not the case. We encourage you to carefully read the legal requirements section of our report to gain a full understanding of this critical safeguard of the rights of children for whom this treatment may be proposed.
If you are wondering about the applicable law in your state the first appendix section includes contacts from many states who have agreed to share their knowledge of the law in their states.
Let us know if you have any questions.
Mark Stroh, Executive Director
Washington Protection & Advocacy SystemWPAS Investigative Report Regarding the “Ashley Treatment”
To the visitors to:http://www.ashleyx.info,
I would like to personally thank everyone who has contributed to this powerful, educational website. As Executive Director of the protection and advocacy agency that has been investigating what happened with the Ashley Treatment over the last few months, I have visited this site often and found it to be a tremendous resource for gaining knowledge and viewpoints on what happened here in Seattle. I know the two attorneys who have been most active in the investigation, David Carlson and Debbie Dorfman, have also benefitted from information linked to this website. The website has provided a great service to people around the world. On Tuesday, May 8, 2007 we will be releasing our report with the findings and details of our investigation. I am hoping it will be posted here. Stay tuned. We will be able to say more after Tuesday.Mark Stroh, Executive Director
Washington Protection & Advocacy System*
315 - 5th Ave South, Suite 850
Seattle, WA 98104
mstroh@wpas-rights.org
ph: (206) 324-1521 / 800-562-2702
tty: (206) 957-0728
fax: (206) 957-0729Advertisement: Affected by mesothelioma and looking for an attorney that will protect your rights? Are you living with cancer caused by something that was out of your hands and looking for legal representation? If you are looking for a mesothelioma attorney or feel your medical rights have been violated like Ashleys were? We can help!
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A Statement
of Solidarity for the Dignity of People With Disabilities |
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Beginning January 17, 2007
Accessibility statement, including a list of pages with links for screen reader users
Disclaimer
Copyright @ 2007, 2008 by Susan Fitzmaurice
All Rights Reserved
Last updated: March 15, 2008 1:50 PM
