The Ravages of ALS

Of Baseball Players and Cousins Once Removed

A Big Man for America’s Pass-time: Lou Gehrig? Most sports fans remember the name but can’t quite put their finger on the man or the sport. Lou was a scholar first. He attended Columbia University in downtown New York on a football scholarship while majoring in Engineering. And he was a big student – a whisper over 6 feet tall and weighing in at 200 lbs. The Iron Horse, as he was known, was a native New Yorker, born 105 years ago. He batted and threw left handed and signed with the Yankees as a free agent, batting .423 his first season and .500 his second. Over the next 17 seasons he averaged .340. But Lou got sick. His body was ravaged by Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly referred to as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. During his farewell speech Lou Gehrig was quoted as saying, “…I’m the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” Maybe ALS comes with a positive attitude.

Uncle Pete and Cousin Chipper: One of my uncles, Pete by name, returned from World War II and married a girl from New York. They had a son about my age whom they named Pete also, but instead of calling him Junior or Sonny, they called him Chipper. Chipper is a brilliant businessman who was a childhood prodigy as a pianist but chose the business world as an adult. He had a son whom he named Brian. Brian, like Lou Gehrig, was handsome, smart, and athletic. He chose Virginia Tech for his college, married sweetheart Jameela, and had a couple of kids. Then, like Lou Gehrig, he contracted ALS. And like Lou Gehrig, he considers himself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. He and Jameela have maintained such a positive outlook despite the hand ALS dealt Brian. Brian is receiving the best medical care and he and Jameela write a blog diary at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/hokiebrian# If you’ve never heard of CaringBridge you need to take a look at the blog and their site.

Now is the time to act against ALS: I received an email forward today from Jameela in which she asked me to help with some legislation regarding ALS. The email follows:
Let's Pass the ALS Registry Act

Dear Jameela,

With just a few weeks remaining before Congress adjourns for the fall elections, the time has come for the Senate to vote on S. 3297 and pass the ALS Registry Act. We anticipate that the Senate may hold a series of votes on S. 3297 at any time from now until the end of the month so it is absolutely critical that you reach out to your Senators TODAY. This may be our last chance to pass the ALS Registry Act this year and take the next steps in creating a national ALS patient registry.

Thanks to your continued outreach, we are now just five votes short of the 60 we need to pass S. 3297! So please go to the Advocacy Action Center of our website and tell your Senators not to leave town until they pass this critical legislation. Let them know that people with ALS cannot afford to wait until next year. Let them know that politics should not come before patients' lives and that arguments that it costs too much are just excuses (the bill is an authorization and does not appropriate a single dollar!). And let them know you will be watching how they vote. Let's finish the job and enact the ALS Registry Act this year!

In addition to grassroots efforts, The ALS Association also has engaged in other advocacy efforts here in Washington. We helped to organize a coalition of more than 140 different organizations who recently sent a letter to the Senate in support of S. 3297. Moreover, Oprah Winfrey has helped generate support for S. 3297 during her daytime talk show by requesting viewers urge Congress to support one of the bills included in S. 3297. These combined efforts, along with your grassroots outreach, are sending a loud and clear message that hundreds of organizations representing millions of Americans are in this fight together. We want the Senate to pass S. 3297 this year. So again, please contact the Senate today!

Finally, as you reach out to the Senate, we also want to emphasize how important it is for you to support S. 3297 and not advocate for the ALS Registry Act to be considered as a separate piece of legislation. Our supporters in the Senate have included the ALS Registry Act as part of S. 3297 in order to pass the bill this year. And it likely is the only way this can be accomplished, for there simply is not enough time remaining in this year's session to pass the ALS Registry Act as a stand-alone bill. In fact, if we do not unite behind S. 3297, Senator Tom Coburn will succeed in his more than two year quest to kill the ALS Registry Act. We can't let that happen. People with ALS can't afford to wait any longer.
Contact your Senators TODAY!

If you have any questions or would like assistance reaching out to your Senators, please contact the Advocacy Department at advocacy@alsa-national.org.

I encourage every reader of my blog to contact a senator regarding this legislation.

A little blogging music Maestro... Any song from the album “Faith and Courage” by Sinead O’Conner.

Dr. Forgot

Read me also at http://vegasnews.squarespace.com/dr-forgot-andrew-r-nixon/

Abuse and Exploitation of Immigrants

Still They Come

Las Vegas has grown by the tens of thousands of new residents over the past decade. In 19 out of the past 20 years the Valley of the Dollars has been the fastest growing community in the US. From a sleepy little desert town whose claim to fame was that it served as a pit stop between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles the area has grown to a population of two million. Nearly all the newcomers are from other localities and many are from outside US borders. That's the way its always been. As immigration becomes an issue throughout the country it continues to be an issue locally and statewide.

One group of immigrants has recently become more vocal about immigrant abuse and exploitation. They come here to offer whatever skills they might possess in an effort to make the Valley a better place. They work hard and ask little in return but many find themselves being taken advantage of because of their hard work ethic and their immigration status. Employers often force the immigrants to work many hours beyond what is considered a normal workweek, cheat them out of pay and threaten them with deportation if they dare complain. The immigrants, for the most part suffer in silence and work the long hours in hopes of someday overcoming their immigration status. One day perhaps they could earn a coveted green card or become citizens of the United States and practice their trade without such harsh oversight and conditions.

By now you as a reader should have formed a visual of the hapless immigrants who toil under conditions cited above. What type of work are they doing that is so demanding? There is not a landscaper among them, nor a maid nor a bricklayer nor a construction worker, nor any similar tradesman. The group which I describe does not hail from Latin America for the most part but from India. They are highly educated in the best universities as physicians, surgeons, and other medical personnel. And they have come to America to practice under a federally sponsored immigration program called J-1 Medical Doctor Approval Waiver.

J-1 doctors are subject to a requirement under section 212(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to return to their last country of residence for two years before becoming eligible for the H1B permanent residence (green card). Waivers from the two year residency requirement can be obtained by doctors who agree to work for an employer under a government sponsored program. Doctors must agree to serve in medically undeserved rural and urban areas. A recent investigation by a local newspaper revealed that some doctors were overworked, underpaid and assigned to clinics in areas that were not undeserved - all of which is in violation of state guidelines and federal law.

One doctor who complained said his employer took advantage of his immigration status to financially cheat him then threatened to have the doctor and his family deported if he did not agree to extend his employment contract and guarantee a loan to finance the clinic in which he worked. Information gathered in the investigation resulted in further investigations by state officials.

Of the 55 or so doctors currently in the midst of working toward the J-1 waiver it is difficult to find many who will overtly complain for fear of damaging their immigration status. Such is the power wielded over them by employers. Even doctors who have obtained their green cards and received the J-1 waiver are reluctant to speak, especially in a public forum for fear of professional reprisals.

This country was built by immigrants. Those who accept the lowliest jobs perhaps can find some solace in the fact that some of the same issues they have faced are encountered by the most educated, able, and professional immigrants. Lou Dobbs, where are you when we need you?

Dr. Forgot