http://www.notdeadyet.org

For Immediate Release:
January 6, 2007

Contacts: Diane Coleman or Stephen Drake
708-209-1500, exts. 11 & 29; 708-420-0539 (cell)

Not Dead Yet Statement on "Growth Attenuation" Experimentation

Not Dead Yet, a national disability rights group dealing with medical and bioethics issues involving euthanasia, reacted today to the public debate about the so-called "growth attenuation" invasive medical experimentation performed on a young girl in Washington State. These procedures rendered her sterile, prevented any sort of puberty and will keep the girl the size she is now for the rest of her life.

"We are saddened but not surprised by the fact that this was publicized and met with a great deal of public approval," said Diane Coleman, founder of Not Dead Yet. "The public is willing to sanction the murders of disabled children by their parents, so it's hardly surprising they would rush to the support of parents and their medical partners in a matter like this."

Coleman points out that the series of surgeries and drug regimens would never have been given to a nondisabled female for any reason.

But more of these practices are threatened. When a report of the Washington case was published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, some so-called critics of the procedures said the only way we can "evaluate" the outcome is to do more "research," which we presume to mean more experimentation on young women. "That's unacceptable," said Coleman. "We simply need to call a halt to it."

Stephen Drake, research analyst for Not Dead Yet, is not surprised to hear there were medical professionals willing to perform such drastic measures on a young girl.

"As a child, I had many health problems that continued until the age of 12," said Drake. "By the time I was 11 or 12 I was feeling good enough to worry about other things, like my height (Drake is 5' 1"). I was tired of always being the shortest guy in my class and feeling bad around it. My parents took me to a specialist who determined that my health issues probably had depressed my growth and mentioned the possibility of growth hormone. My parents vetoed the idea, since I was finally happy and healthy. They figured I didn't need any new unknown health risks introduced into my life. They were right and it didn't really take me long to see it their way."

Not Dead Yet calls for a total ban on this procedure and similar ones, no matter what ethics committees think of them. Ethics committees are not a substitute for the constitutionally-guaranteed right of due process. In fact, they often act as an end-run around those protections. "Ethics Committees often say they strive for diversity in their membership, but they have historically excluded representation from the disability community about whom they are making life and death decisions," said Coleman.

###
Not Dead Yet
7521 Madison St.
Forest Park, IL 60130
708-209-1500
http://www.notdeadyet.org