Bill.Baughn@f10.n130.z1.fidonet.org (Bill Baughn) (08/21/90)
Index Number: 9909
The current issue, August 14, 1990, issue of GLOBE the supermarket
tabloid, contains an article titled: "TOTS GET NEW GRIP ON LIFE".
Subtitled: "Amazing artificial arms work just like the real
thing." It gets even worse. The first paragraph reads: "Even
though Carmen Thomas was born without arms and part of her legs, a
miracle of medical science is giving the brave little baby amazing
artificial limbs that work just like the ones Mother Nature forgot
to provide."
And the sixth paragraph: "Thanks to researcher Thomas Haslam,
babies as young as EIGHT WEEKS can now be fitted with artificial
limbs that work like the real thing." Haslam is also quoted as
saying: "The children respond with a 99 percent success rate, and
we've recently developed an artificial arm complete with the sense
of touch."
Every statement in quotes above is totally and demonstrably false!
To publish such statements is cruel and irresponsible in the
extreme. Either the Globe is using Mr. Haslam's name in an
unauthorized article or he is feeding these false statements to
them in a dishonest, contemptible effort to lure patients to his
practice. At the low figure given a below elbow arm will cost
somebody 186 thousand dollars by the time the child is fourteen
years old.
No medical studies have ever been done to determine if the one
child out of ten who continue to use an arm prosthesis as an adult
benefits in any way over the amputee child who abandons the
device. Infants are fit with arm prosthesis in an effort to make
them feel disabled without one, to create a need where none
exists.
If this article was published without Mr. Haslam's consent he and
his professional organizations should file suit against the Globe.
If it was published with his cooperation he should be banned from
any further contact with amputees. I realize that the tabloids are
morally bankrupt but expect higher standards from medical
professionals.
Mr. Haslam is a certified prosthetists, certified by the America
Board for Certification, 717 Pendleton St., Alexandria, VA 22314.
He goes under various business names, Medical Center Prosthetics,
Myoelectric Institute of America, Limbs of Love, Loving Arms, A
touch of Love, In Step Again. All are located at 6955 Almeda Rd.,
Houston, TX 77021.
This false advertising, masquerading as news is damaging to all
persons with disabilities. It leads the public to believe that
people who don't use this technology are not fully functional. It
leads the disabled and their families to spend much money and time
chasing miracles that don't exist and thereby delay the development
of the skills that will allow them to become functional.
--
Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!130!10!Bill.Baughn
Internet: Bill.Baughn@f10.n130.z1.fidonet.org