|
COCHLEAR IMPLANTS |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Disability Rights |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Sitemap |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
June 10, 2010: The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announces that Cochlear Americas will pay $950,000 ($880,000 in penalties plus $70,000 in legal fees) to avoid prosecution for violating the Federal Anti-Kickback statute. See DOJ press release. Former Chief Financial Officer Brenda March had brought a 2004 whistleblower lawsuit against Cochlear Americas documenting that it paid illegal renumeration to physicians in exchange for referring only company devices. November 9, 2009: Swiss hearing aid company Sonova Holding AG expands into cochlear implants by purchasing Advanced Bionics Corporation for US$489 million. September 14, 2008: Added webpage for ADA Restoration Act announcing Congressional passage of S.3406 restoring provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act that were largely gutted by recent US Supreme Court decisions. This bill means that disability must now be assesed without regard to any mitigating drugs, devices, or other measures (such as cochlear implants.) March 1, 2008: The latter half of this website was destroyed by the web hosting service in January 2008 and unrecoverable. We are in the process of switching web hosters and rebuilding the site as various domains. This process may take several weeks. December 14, 2007: Added decision by Nova Scotia Department of Health to begin covering bilateral cochlear implants. November 12, 2007: Added unsealed whistleblower complaint filed against Cochlear Americas by former CFO Brenda March for illegal kickbacks that controlled the referral patterns of physicians and kept the price of cochlear implants so artifically high that many deafened candidates are forced to remain in a world of silence. November 12, 2007: Added legal challenge to Cochlear Limited's policy of requiring that only English be spoken within the workplace to Cochlear Americas webpage. October 27, 2007: Added Aetna policy including coverage for bilateral cochlear implants effective October 19, 2007. October 6, 2007: U.S. Attorney General designate Michael Mukasey added to Disability Hall of Shame for issuing judicial decisions inserting his own narrow definition of disability in place of that established by Congress under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). September 21, 2007: Added US Airways to Disability Hall of Shame for claiming a wheelchair-bound passenger was "too disabled to fly" despite the fact he has always flown without incident. August 17, 2007: The The Help Me Hear Foundation announces new cochlear implant donation program. See Frequent Questions. August 15, 2007: Cochlear Limited announces record profit of over A$100 million (US$85 million) for fiscal year 2007 and 70 percent share of the cochlear implant market while RAND documents that hospitals continue to lose over $6,000 on every device implanted. August 10, 2007: Boston Scientific dumps cochlear implant manufacturer Advanced Bionics Corporation after two device recalls. August 1, 2007: Cochlear Americas terminates funding for the Let Them Hear Foundation Insurance Advocacy Program, which provides assistance with insurance appeals. June 15, 2007: Oregon becomes the first state to mandate coverage of bilateral cochlear implants by any insurer in the state that covers cochlear implants. May 29, 2007: Added Associated Press article showing how the lack of skills and training by rent-a-cops at Federal buildings greatly threatens the safety of employees and visitors, especially persons with disabilities. May 2, 2007: Added April 2007 ruling requiring coverage of bilateral cochlear implants for children under Medicaid managed care plans in Florida. April 22, 2007: Added Consumer Guides for Health Insurance in each state. April 17, 2007: Added FDA Warning Letter issued to Cochlear Americas regarding their procedures for clinical trials. March 30, 2007: Added link to Associated Press news release on rumored takeover bid of Cochlear Limited by pacemaker giant Medtronic. March 12, 2007: Added information on Advanced Bionics' third device recall in four years. March 10, 2007: U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon added to Disability Hall of Shame for his incredibly bigoted decision that disabled persons have no right to equal access of Federal buildings under the Constitution or the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). January 27, 2007: Added contact information to oppose the reappointment of U.S. Magistrate Beth Gesner, whose bigoted insistence that she can determine whether a person is disabled better than five licensed medical professionals demonstrates she lacks the basic level of competence and integrity necessary to serve on the Federal bench. January 25, 2007: Added information on new Oklahoma Medicaid coverage policy for bilateral cochlear implants. October 25, 2006: Cochlear implant user and drug addict Rush Limbaugh added to Disability Hall of Shame after physically and verbally mocking the Parkinson's Disease with which actor Michael J. Fox is afflicted and hypocritically criticizing his advocacy on behalf of persons with disabilities. October 24, 2006: U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issues landmark decision holding that employee health plans are not entitled to ERISA protection from lawsuits when they arbitrarily deny cochlear implant coverage without medical justification. The Court specifically found that an employee health plan did not have discretion to include cochlear implants under coverage exclusions for hearing aids. October 18, 2006: FOX Network added to Disability Hall of Shame after sports producers allowed announcers Thom Brennaman and Steve Lyons to openly mock a baseball fan's obvious vision disability for 53 seconds on a national television broadcast. August 17, 2006: Added In Memoriam to Charlie Diggs, ASHA. July 19, 2006: Former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Thomas Scully, found to have committed numerous ethics violations, including embezelling nearly $10,000 for personal use and stock speculating in companies CMS regulated. July 1, 2006: The webpage regarding the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association been voluntarily removed pending ASHA compliance with its settlement agreement tentatively agreed to in August 2005 and finalized in June 2006. ASHA had filed a nuisance action alleging the use of the ASHA acronym violated a trademark,a remarkable claim given that at least 12 other non-profit or commercial entities currently use the identical acronym. The parties agreed simply not to criticize the other and neither received compensation of any kind. May 27, 2006: Added Courthouse Forum to Links webpage, which allows readers to document the failure of specific judges like Benson Everett Legg. Beth Gesner, and Richard Leon to preserve and respect the civil rights of persons with disabilities. March 18, 2006: Added webpage detailing grossly erroneous and malicious statements published about Mark Hobratschk. February 28, 2006: Added FDA Public Health Notice on continued risks of meningitis in children implanted with certain Advanced Bionics cochlear implant devices. February 2, 2006: Added new coverage policy for cochlear implants by South Dakota Department of Rehabilitative Services December 12, 2005: Added new Medicare coverage policy for auditory brainstem implants and osseointegrated auditory devices. November 28, 2005: Added updated cochlear implant payment rates for Kentucky Medicaid and Louisiana Medicaid. September 12, 2005: Special Agent Charles H. Jackson and Officer Peter Taoy of the Federal Protective Service sentenced to 12-14 month Federal prison terms for fabricating criminal charges against motorist who complained of mistreatment.. June 22, 2005: Added new Medicare codes for billing of replacement cochlear implant batteries to Billing Codes and Medicare webpages. May 26, 2005: Steven H. Jackson, Special Agent for the Federal Protective Service, convicted of writing a false report to cover up misconduct of fellow officers. His conviction represents a humiliation for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) who insisted FPS officers such as Louis Mount did not fabricate reports to cover-up for the misconduct of contract rent-a-cops in three separate incidents, including failure to provide reasonable accommodation to a disabled visitor. April 20, 2005: Added National Coverage Decision 50.3 showing that Medicare expanded coverage for cochlear implants to persons with moderate hearing loss, effective July 25, 2005. April 12, 2005: Denver Police Department (DPD) agrees to financial settlement of lawsuit by disabled pedestrian. Officers Kenneth Glen and Jamie Svalberg refused to assist the pedestrian after he was injured by a passing motorist with a suspended license and record of violent assaults, citing the pedestrian's public complaints about the murder of two disabled teenagers by DPD officer James Turney. The Disability Hall of Shame has been updated to reflect this settlement. April 2, 2005: Added latest information about retinal implant technology. March 17, 2005: Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Leotta admits Federal Protective Service officer Louis Mount had no basis to threaten owners of this website with "harassment" charges in retaliation for publicly exposing their criminal fabrications to reporters. Leotta refused to file any charges stating "that's not what the statute is for." March 5, 2005: Cochlear Americas makes first attempt at diversification by purchasing Entific, the Swedish manufacturer of the BAHA bone conduction device. February 17, 2005: Added FDA notice blocking imports of Med El cochlear implant devices due to numerous health and safety violations. February 4, 2005: Added updated information on Epic Biosonics provided by their President and Chief Executive Officer. January 12, 2005: Updated information on the first specialty certification program for cochlear implant audiologists created by the American Academy of Audiology. |
|
||
