Free Republic

n a recent opinion piece in The New York Times, geriatrician Louise Aronson advocated for a new type of building, one designed with an aging population in mind, which, she suggests, might be dubbed “silver” architecture. The idea came to her after taking her father to a top-notch, “green” medical center that was surprisingly unaccommodating for older patients. Sure, sustainability is important, but a building needs to do more than perform efficiently and attract millennials. Aronson notes: Such approaches once may have made sense from a business perspective, but current demographic realities are creating financial and practical reasons to build...

OCALA, Fla. -- A new lawsuit accuses Ocala Regional Medical Center of harassing a quadriplegic employee. Switchboard operator David Eric Darley, who is a quadriplegic, is suing the hospital and his immediate supervisor, claiming intentional infliction of emotional distress. The hospital says his claims have no merit and it will fight the accusations in court. Darley claims his supervisor repeatedly requested he work five consecutive days even when Darley told her that he could only work two consecutive days due to medical implications to his neck and jaw muscles. He uses a mouth stick to push buttons and keys in...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A wheelchair-bound Los Angeles woman, who has repeatedly filed lawsuits over access for the disabled, got up and ran after police arrested her for fraud, authorities said on Thursday. Laura Lee Medley, 35, had sued in at least four California cities over injuries she claimed she sustained while trying to navigate her wheelchair before she was suspected of fraud. Medley, who claimed to be paralyzed from a drunk driving accident, was tracked to Las Vegas where police there took her into custody and then, when she complained of medical issues, to a local hospital, Long Beach...

Earlier this year, a poll was conducted on Ouch!, a BBC-sponsored Web-zine (www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/) devoted to disability issues. Users were invited to vote for "The Greatest Disabled TV Character," and for fans of "South Park," the results offered a pleasant surprise: By a considerable margin, the winner was ... Timmy! It's impressive that the BBC has the foresight to offer such a Web site and fascinating to discover a variety of disabled characters on British TV. But what's equally interesting from the Ouch! poll is that the all-American Timmy was even more popular among disabled voters than nondisabled, with telling differences...