The "Ashley Treatment" Was Illegal

Back in January I posted about a little girl named Ashley, who was severely disabled to the point of being an infant in the body of a 9-year-old. She can’t walk, talk, eat, or in any way interact with her environment or other people other than smiling. But she was still growing, and that would make life difficult. The larger she would grow, the harder she would be to move around.

So what did her family do about it? Most families would prepare for ‘round the clock caretakers and very regular medical checkups for the life of their child. But little Ashley’s parents didn’t stop there. They opted for something FAR more extreme. They convinced a hospital in Washington state to do something they called “growth attenuation therapy.” They gave high doses of estrogen hormones which would forever keep Ashley the size of a young child, so she would be easier to move around, include in family life, and “snuggle.” They had her breast buds surgically removed, just in case she should develop “uncomfortable” large breasts like other family members or the potential of contracting breast cancer. They removed her appendix, just in case it should go bad. And they removed Ashley’s uterus to keep her from “menstrual discomfort,” avoid the off chance of uterine cancer, and to keep her from getting pregnant in case she were raped.

Please note, for those of you who are already incensed by my post, all of the above claims and wording are from the parents’ blog, which you can read HERE. You can also find their email address there. Of course, the parents’ blog only includes statements and reactions of utmost praise for their actions.

Well, a recent finding by the Washington Protection and Advocacy System found that the Seattle Children’s Hospital had broken the law by performing the “Ashley Treatment”:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/05/08/ashley.ruling/index.html

It seems there’s this silly little law that “specifically prohibits the sterilization of minors with developmental disabilities without zealous advocacy on their behalf and court approval” (quote: Mark Stroh, WPAS executive director), and the hospital did not get that court approval. In fact, as far as I can tell, the only oversight was from the hospital ethics board and a family lawyer who apparently gave them wrong advice.

The nerve of those imposing little lawmakers to step in and advocate for a child, when all her parents wanted to do was to sterilize their daughter, stunt her growth, and remove her womanhood! It’s for the child’s own good, right? Right??

I still say it’s nothing short of child abuse. Peter Pan syndrome run amok. Go ahead, disagree. I won’t delete your comments. How could I, a parent who doesn’t have a severely disabled child, possibly know what Ashley’s parents are going through? But since the operations were made public, advocacy groups for children, women, and the disabled, as well as parents of similarly-disabled children, have raised alarms at the extreme nature of the “Ashley Treatment” (ARTICLE), saying it sets a very dangerous precedent and oversteps the line of ethics. And there are plenty of examples of children with comparable severe disabilities who grew up and interacted with their families just fine, overcoming the issues as they came to them.

Too late to change Ashley back. She’ll be her parents’ “pillow angel” for life. As darling as their little girl is, and as easy as it is to care for her, I can only wonder how far the precedent could go. It makes me shiver.

Update (5/10/07): Today Ashley's father placed a video of her on YouTube.com, showing a happy Ashley on the deck of her house and in her room, and narrating it himself. Apparently I was the first one to view it, according to the hit counter. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd8snXy6Lg8. The only mention of the "Ashley Treatment" was a very brief note at the very end. Otherwise it was a simple video of Ashley smiling and babbling. Fairly pleasant. The only thing that freaked me out was the picture of Ashley sitting on the lap of "the Prince of Peace." You'll see what I mean…

Update (5/11/08): A statement was released by the Board of Directors for the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities condemning the use of this growth attenuation “therapy”: http://www.aamr.org/Policies/board_positions/growth.shtml. Here is their concluding paragraph:

“It seems painfully obvious that medical practice for an individual can rapidly degenerate if the anxieties of the parents regarding as yet unclear future issues replace the medical best interest of the child as the primary focus, even with the noblest of intentions of all parties involved. We see an enormous potential for abuse here, and given the well-documented history of mistreatment, neglect and devaluation of this population, we are stunned and outraged by the very fact that the relative merits of growth attenuation could, in 2006, be a topic for serious debate in this forum. As described by Gunther and Diekema, it distorts the concept of treatment and devalues the patient’s personhood. While references to slippery slopes should be made with great care, we believe that this practice, if judged acceptable, will open a doorway leading to great tragedy. This door is better left closed.”

Ear Spiders!

Oh . . . my . . . God. A fourth-grade boy in Oregon had an earache and a case of hearing constant “snap, crackle, popping noises like Rice Crispies” in his left ear. He went to the doctor, and the nurse flushed out TWO SPIDERS:

His local paper: http://www.democrat-herald.com/articles/2007/05/07/news/top_story/1aaa01_spiderboy.txt

With video: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/07/spiderboy.ap/index.html

Yes, young 9-year-old Jesse had spiders living in his frickin’ ear! At least one was still alive. They were the size of pencil erasers.

In the news video, Jesse showed the two spiders, pickled in a sample vial, now dead. One was floating on top, the other lying on the bottom, thus he has dubbed them “Floaty” and “Drowny.”

Some years ago a coworker of mine had a beetle fly into his ear. It was very painful for him, and he quickly had it flushed out. He got no end of ribbing for the incident (especially from me!). But this young Jesse is quite proud of his creepy experience, and is happy to be called “Spider Boy,” but he prefers "Spiderman Junior," just in time to have him linked in other kids’ minds with the ultra-cool new Spiderman III movie.

The 9-year-old in me thinks it’s pretty damned cool, too, in my “never grow up” boyish love of creepy-crawling things way.

How did these two little spiders choose this boy’s ear for their get-away cottage? His mom thinks it happened on April 22 when she and her son were weeding and the dirt was flying, but it might have happened while he was sleeping. The poor boy won’t sleep in his bed anymore. By the 25th the earache had become so bad they went to the doctor. That’s when it all went down. Just think, at least three days of being a “host” for a pair of spider lovebirds. After all, it was a nice place for a self-respecting spider to live. Just the right size, with yummy earwax to eat. Warm and moist, with a springy mattress to sleep on (the eardrum). A good view out the door. Sure, I’d live there if I were them. Good place to raise the young-uns (until they eat you!).

Ick. If I were little Jesse, I’d probably be sleeping with earplugs!

100th Post

Yay, me! My last post was number 100. I just wanted to mark it's passing....

Hamster Shredder

Are you afraid of identity thieves, but the enormous electric bill from operating a standard paper shredder gets you down? Do you get a thrill out of making small, furry rodents do your bidding? Wouldn't you love to see your bills get sh*t on? Well now you can shred your blues away with the amazing "Hamster Shredder":

http://www.tomballhatchet.com/hamstershredder.html

See other images HERE and HERE.

No, the Hamster Shredder doesn't shred hamsters. Instead, utilize the endless supply of hamster energy by having your adorable little "honey bear" run in an exercise wheel hooked up to a paper shredder on top of its cage. The wheel engages the shredding mechanism, which in turn turns your hellish tax documents into harmless shredded paper! Look, Ma, no electricity! What's more, in a clever, Flintstones-esque manner, your old bills become the bedding for your enslaved pet. Just in case your documents are so sensitive that someone would actually try to reconstruct them, now you can get your revenge by making them clean off the rodent crap, too!

Amaze your friends! Amuse your kids! Be the envy of corrupt corporations and military leaders everywhere. It's endless fun! Order your Hamster Shredder now!

** Hamster not included. No animals were harmed in the making of this blog post.

UPDATE (5/17/07): Now there's a new and improved design! See the updated Hamster Shredder website! http://www.tomballhatchet.com/hamstershredder1.html

Astronaut Wally Schirra Has Died

Yesterday the world marked the death of Wally Schirra. He was America's fifth astronaut to go into space during the Mercury space program, flew on the Gemini and Apollo programs, flew jets in the Korean war, was a businessman, and worked as an aerospace engineer. He was 84.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/05/03/schirra.obit/index.html

Of course there's a sadness about it. This is the only astronaut to have flown for "the big three" programs: Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo, but I feel a certain gladness that he lived long enough to see SkyLab, the shuttle program, numerous exciting unmanned probe missions to the other planets in the solar system, the Hubble space telescope, the implementation of the International Space Station, the first private space program (SpaceShipOne and Virgin Galactic), and now the (hopefully) creation of a manned mission to Mars.

Wally Schirra (pronounced "shuh-rah") was born in 1923 to a father who was a barnstormer and WWI flying ace and a mother who was a wing-walker. Wally was flying his father's plane by the time he was 15. After studying at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Shirra served with the Navy at the end of WWII, then went on to fly jets after the war, the first pilot to log over 1000 hours in jets. When the Korean war broke out, he went "on loan" to the Air Force and flew 90 missions, downing a MiG-15 and damaging two others. After the war, he helped develop the sidewinder missile and worked as a test pilot (where he earned the nickname of "Skyray" after the name of one of the planes).

What he is best known for, of course, is his time at NASA, where he was known to cut the stressful moments with laughter and joking, earning him another nickname ("Jolly Wally"). He used his engineering to develop the environmental systems and spacesuits, then piloted the Mercury 8 spacecraft in October of 1962, orbiting the earth 6 times. In December of 1965, he continued his space experience by flying with Tom Stafford in Gemini 6A, rendezvousing in space with Lovell and Borman in Gemini 7. His last flight into space was onboard Apollo 7, the first manned flight of the program, with Donn Eisele and Walter Cunningham. They docked with their Saturn 1-B launch vehicle and took video of the flight (which, interestingly, earned him an Emmy!).

After his space years, Wally continued as a news consultant to Walter Cronkite and as a spokesman for Actifed (which he had taken to relieve a cold for the Apollo 7 mission).

He went on to be CEO, board president, or director of a number of engineering, energy, and investment corporations.

I highly encourage you tens of readers to visit Schirra's web page: http://www.wallyschirra.com/. There you can find an interesting 30-minute video ("Skyray – the movie) where he tells his own story. The site also has interesting videos by him and written descriptions of his missions and thoughts.

Well, Wally, you are a blaze of glory in the annals of American heroes. Maybe, if your family cremates you, you can join your old pal Gordo up in orbit again.

Thank you, Jolly Wally.


Update (5/21/07): A memorial service was held today for Shirra, with many astronauts showing their respects, including Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter, Gemini astronauth Thomas Stafford, and Apollo astronaut Gene Cernan:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/05/22/schirra.remembered.ap/index.html.

Another Big-Industry Bush Lackey Resigns In Disgrace

Oh yes! Score one for lovers of the environment everywhere! Yet another Bush lackey has been forcefully booted into resignation. This time it is the pro-industry, non-science-literate, anti-scientist, non-lover of endangered species Deputy Secretary of the Interior, Julie A. MacDonald, who oversaw the Department of Fish and Wildlife:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-macdonald2may02,1,7039154.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=1&cset=true

Also here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/29/AR2007032902003.html

Fellow science blogger, GrrlScientist, has a good write-up: HERE.

Ah yes, MacDonald, the person who was in charge of safeguarding much of our natural resources, insuring that endangered species are preserved, and insuring scientific accuracy in the reports of her scientists, has resigned after repeated egregious abuses of her power. It is another glorious day in the turning of the tide, as science and reason are slowly winning back the minds of America against the disinformation spewed forth by the neo-cons and BushCo.

MacDonald repeatedly overrode her scientists, preventing important data about endangered animal populations from reaching policy makers and the public. According to the LATimes article, “In many instances, MacDonald's changes caused scientists to request that their names be removed from documents. The inspector general calculated that in the last six years, 75% of the endangered species reports from the Fish and Wildlife Service's Western offices did not have standard signoffs by scientific staff members.”

Among her abuses, MacDonald has repeatedly passed sensitive FWS and EPA documents to big oil and other industry lobbies, insisted on reduction of habitat for a number of sensitive and endangered species (stating that economic concerns overrode the value for the species), covered up data that would have seemed harmful to big industry, and bullied scientists into changing their conclusions.

Before her appointment to the position in 2001, MacDonald was a civil engineer, with no formal training or experience in the biological sciences. Of course, is it any surprise that she got the position, given that she was appointed by former Interior Secretary, Gale Norton, another Bush appointee who resigned in disgrace for abuses of power (with the Jack Abramoff / Indian Casino scandal and uncollected royalties from oil drillers, she had been a litigator beforehand for mining-, cattle-, and oil-interests).

It’s getting harder and harder for the pro-industry Republicans to get their way these days. How many have left in disgrace in the last 7 years? I’ve lost count. And let us not forget that the times are changing. All those dreams of the hippies are slowly but surely coming true (see Mark Medford’s article: “The Hippies Were Right”). Even the steak-chewin’ crowd who think raw vegetables are a “yuppie thing” are coming around to buying organic and recycled goods at Wal-Mart (of all places!) and finding a twinge of pride when they drop some money on that new hybrid to chauffer their soccer-playing kids.

Doubtless the White House (which fuels its heating system with the still-twitching corpses of environmentalists and oil taken from Alaska) will attempt to put another MacDonald in her place. Let us hope that America’s newly-restored Democratic Congress can insure an appointee who has at least a little bit of green in his “ring around the collar”.


UPDATE (5/9/07): Though MacDonald has resigned, controversy still rages over the long-term consequences of her meddling and the role her assistants played. Congress has conducted an inquiry (ARTICLE).

Touchy Issues In Space

So what do you do with a dead body in space? No one has yet had to deal with that issue, but NASA is finally, after all these decades, formulating a policy:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/05/01/death.in.space.ap/index.html

When you’re in orbit, it’s a matter of returning the body, right? It’s just a question of the best way. Sure, you could take the boring route of putting the body in a capsule and flying it down to the surface for a proper funeral, but I would personally opt for the “human bottle rocket” approach. Send the body back down, sans capsule. Have a cremation and fireworks show all in one. But what if you’re halfway to Mars? Do you wrap up the body and prop it in the corner? Even in space capsules, bodies decay. Do you attach a tether and drag it along, hoping the jets don’t fry your pal? Or do you send it out an airlock and hope it doesn’t float alongside the craft all the way to Mars, hovering around the portholes and such? None of these options sound particularly attractive to me. At least if you are already on Mars you could go for a Martian burial. Personally, if I were an astronaut traveling to Mars and knew I might die, I wouldn’t mind being the first to be buried there. How cool is that? Beats being propped in the capsule all the way back to Earth.

Actually, there has been one death in space: Laika, the space dog. This was the first living organism launched into space, by the Soviet Union in 1957. Laika was one of three strays caught in Moscow and used for the early space program. According to this BBC report, Laika had only lived a few stressful hours in space, then remained in his “space coffin” until atmospheric re-entry less than a year later. The Soviets never intended on returning Laika back to earth.

This NASA report is supposed to address other “touchy” topics. What happens if you get seriously ill on the way to Mars and require more resources than available? Condemn the guy to death? Lets hope a couple medical personnel are included. Should astronauts be genetically screened to help insure such illnesses won’t happen? Echoes of GATTACA here.

My favorite part of the article cited above is that NASA still won’t touch the issue of sex in space. Isn’t it just like America to be afraid of sexuality? I don’t have a problem with astronauts doing the nasty. What else are healthy, young men and women on a multi-month trip going to do? I say let ‘em go at it, as long as they’re all free of diseases and use condoms. You wouldn’t want to go and get pregnant on such a trip, for sure! Gasp, does this mean the United States, home of the neo-conservative “abstinence education” Republican agenda, would endorse condom usage? Tell me it isn’t so, Bush! Reagon would roll in his grave. We’d better just castrate those astronauts now! If NASA forbids sex, who the hell would go? Do we really want our first astronauts to Mars to be prudes?