The U.S. Access Board's Medical Diagnostic Equipment (MDE) Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee has issued its report on accessibility standards for medical diagnostic equipment. The committee's report provides detailed recommendations on how MDE accessibility standards that the Board previously issued for public comment should be finalized. Once finalized by the Board, the standards will cover access to examination tables and chairs, weight scales, x-ray machines, mammography equipment, and other types of diagnostic equipment.

Genesis HealthCare, LLC, the owner of Holly Manor Center nursing facility in Mendham, N.J., violated federal law when it refused to hire an applicant for its food service department because of his disability, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed. According to the EEOC lawsuit, Genesis HealthCare and 84 Cold Hill Road Operations, both doing business as Holly Manor Center, refused to hire Stefan P. Denisiuk after initially offering him two part-time positions because he was deaf.

Founders Pavilion, Inc., a former Corning, N.Y. nursing and rehabilitation center, will pay $370,000 to settle a discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC charged that Founders Pavilion requested family medical history as part of its post-offer, pre-employment medical exams of applicants. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) prohibits employers from requesting genetic information or making employment decisions based on genetic information.

The Justice Department has published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) intended to revise the Department's Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) title II and title III regulations to implement the requirements of the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. The comment period for the proposed rule closes on March 31, 2014. Congress passed the ADA Amendments Act in order to clarify the scope of the definition of disability under the ADA and to ensure that it would be easier for individuals seeking the protection of the ADA to establish that they have a disability that falls within the meaning of the statute.

The Justice Department announced that it has published two new technical assistance documents to assist the public in understanding how the ADA applies to their unique circumstances. "Wheelchairs, Mobility Aids, and Other Power-Driven Mobility Devices" provides guidance on the Department's 2010 regulations regarding the use of wheelchairs and mobility aids, as well as other types of less-traditional powered mobility devices. "Effective Communication" provides guidance on the 2010 regulations provisions relating to communicating effectively with people who have vision, hearing, or speech disabilities. Both are part of the Department's "ADA Requirements" publication series.

The Justice Department announced that, as part of its Barrier-Free Health Care Initiative, it has reached a settlement with Rite Aid of Michigan to resolve claims that Rite Aid violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The Justice Department found that a Rite Aid store pharmacist in Okemos, Michigan, discriminated against a customer with HIV by refusing to administer a flu shot to the customer in violation of the ADA.

United States District Court Judge Steven J. McAuliffe approved a comprehensive settlement agreement that requires the State of New Hampshire to significantly expand and enhance mental health service capacity in integrated community settings throughout the state. The agreement is between the Justice Department, a coalition of mental health advocacy organizations, and the State of New Hampshire.

youthful offenders with disabilities are often subjected to solitary confinement because of their disabilities and are denied special education and related services when they are locked in their cells for 22 hours or more.The Justice Department announced that, along with the Department of Education, it has filed a Statement of Interest in private litigation pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, G.F. v. Contra Costa County (PDF). In that case, plaintiffs have alleged that youthful offenders with disabilities are often subjected to solitary confinement because of their disabilities and are denied special education and related services when they are locked in their cells for 22 hours or more.

On February 5, 2014, the Department filed a Statement of Interest in Disability Rights Mississippi v. Mississippi Children's Home Services, a case in which the defendants have denied monitoring access to the local protection and advocacy organization. Three statutes provide protection and advocacy organizations around the country with the authority to monitor and investigate covered facilities serving people with disabilities. These statutes were crafted by Congress to protect vulnerable people with disabilities by establishing broad access rights for protection and advocacy organizations. The Statement of Interest expresses the United States' view that regular monitoring visits, including unaccompanied access to residents of a facility, are a critical aspect of protection and advocacy organizations' work and are authorized by the Protection and Advocacy Acts. Whether the individuals with disabilities at a covered facility are children or adults, the law clearly affords monitoring and investigatory access. Moreover, access to covered facilities does not require a court order.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires businesses to allow persons with disabilities to be accompanied by a service animal where ever the general public is allowed to go. A service animal under the ADA is defined as:

A dog individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability

Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with PTSD during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties. Service animals are working animals, not pets. The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person's disability. Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA

In general a patient or visitor should be allowed to be accompanied by a service animal in a hospital. There may be certain areas, such as surgery rooms and infectious disease areas, where the hospital could prohibit service animals.

The hospital staff would not be required to provide care or food for your brother's service animal. The care and supervision of the service animal are the responsibility of the person with the disability.Additionally, the service animal must be under the handler's control at all times.

For additional information about what questions a hospital may ask someone with a service animal or situations when a service animal may be excluded contact the Great Lakes ADA Center by calling (800) 949-4232 (V/TTY) or by completing the >online contact form= http://adagreatlakes.com/WebForms/ContactUs/>

For more information please call 800-949-4232 (Voice/TTY) or Online via Contact Us form.