News at a Glance
New CMS Restraint Rules Put
People with Mental Illnesses at Risk
The following is a statement
by Robert Bernstein, Ph.D., Executive Director of Bazelon Center
for Mental Health Law.
We are deeply concerned about the
rules governing use of restraint and seclusion in hospital settings
recently released by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare (CMS).
These “final” regulations
greatly weaken the protections for people with mental illnesses in
earlier versions, developed with input from professionals, advocates
and hospital administrators.
Most notable among the standards
diluted in the new rules is the “one-hour” requirement,
which calls for a face-to-face patient evaluation by a physician
or independent licensed practitioner within one hour of restraint
and seclusion use. This rule was considered the hallmark of patient
protections, ensuring physical and psychological safety.
The “one-hour” rule was itself a compromise. The very
use of restraint and seclusion is a “Code Blue” situation
that should provoke immediate face-to-face evaluation by a physician.
The lack of such a critical response has led to the injury and death
of thousands of institutionalized children and adults.
At a time when mental health advocates have been working with the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration toward
further reducing the use of restraint and seclusion, we see these
new CMS rules as a marked departure from the reforms taking place
nationwide. Changes to this rule will detrimentally alter the progress
made over recent years in reducing physical harm to people who need
emergency psychiatric care.
These new standards
add convenience and subtract accountability. Coupled with the severe
reduction in monitoring and assessment, they dramatically heighten
the risk of injury to people with mental illnesses. ![]()
[Source:
www.bazelon.org]
AAMR Becomes AAIDD
Effective
January 1, 2007, the American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR)
officially became the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental
Disabilities (AAIDD).
The name change was approved
by AAMR members this last year; AAIDD is currently working to develop
a new look for the organization that matches the new name. With this
change, AAIDD joins other similar organizations who have made the
decision to move away from the term “mental
retardation” (MR) in the organization name, and to replace
it with the term “Intellectual Disability” (ID). One
thing that has not changed is the organization’s mission statement,
which has used the term intellectual disability for several years
now.
Other associations that have made
this change include the former President’s Committee on Mental
Retardation, now the Presidents Committee on Intellectual Disability,
and the International Association for the scientific Study of Intellectual
Disability (IASSID). ![]()
[Source:
AAIDD]
California Ruling Confirms Minnesota
Can Protect Medical Marijuana Patients
Last month’s
ruling rejecting a challenge to California’s
medical marijuana law removes all doubt that Minnesota has the right
to pass similar legislation, according to Rep. Tom Huntley (DFL-Duluth).
Huntley has been the lead sponsor of legislation in the Minnesota
House of Representatives that would allow Minnesota patients suffering
from terminal and chronic illnesses to use marijuana if their physician
has certified that the patient would benefit.
“This ruling removes any doubt that our state can act to protect
medical marijuana patients from arrest under state law, regardless
of federal policy, and there is no reason not to pass this bill promptly,” Huntley
said. Rep. Huntley will be chairman of the Health and Human Services
Finance Committee in the 2007 Legislature. A Ph.D. biochemist, Rep.
Huntley has helped train a generation of Minnesota physicians as
a member of the medical school faculty at the University of Minnesota
- Duluth.
In the California case, San Diego
County sought to overturn the state’s medical marijuana law and a program under which counties
were required to issue ID cards identifying legally qualified medical
marijuana patients, claiming that federal law bars the state from
enacting such a program. Superior Court Judge William R. Nevitt Jr.
flatly rejected the argument, writing, “Requiring the counties
to issue identification cards for the purpose of identifying those
whom California chooses not to arrest and prosecute for certain activities
involving marijuana use does not create a ‘positive conflict’” with
federal law. Nevitt had already issued a tentative ruling in November
rejecting the county’s argument. ![]()
[Source: www.MarijuanaPolicy.org]
Minneapolis Launches New Web Site
The
City of Minneapolis’ new Web site went live last month. The
site not only makes it easier for Web visitors to get information,
but the new site also better reflects the beauty, creativity, and
energy of Minneapolis with vibrant photographs and an enhanced design.
New features on the Web site include:
• Improved accessibility
for visually-impaired visitors, and those who cannot use a traditional
computer mouse. The new Web site is accessible to people who use
a screen-reader program like JAWS.
• Content organized from
the user’s perspective, not based
on city departments and divisions. In other words, you will be
able to find service and information listings even if you don’t
know the department where the information is housed.
• Dynamic
menus that allow users to easily drill down into content categories.
• Prominently
placed information in Spanish, Somali and Hmong.
• Dynamic photographs
that promote the beauty and vibrancy of Minneapolis, and that reflect
changes in season and subject matter.
The new site is now up and
running at www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us, but because the City’s
Web site contains more than 15,000 individual pages, it will take
several months for the transition to be completed. ![]()
[Source: City of Minneapolis]
