More Good News: Congratulations to James Sugg
Oh, James, sweet boy. When we met at Oberlin you were just a curly-headed, pink-cheeked virginal boy who still wore a signet ring with a cross on it. We briefly shared the stage together in a Noel Coward play, in which you excelled and I … spoke. You introduced me to Pet Sounds, for which I’m forever grateful. Your muscial The Sea was — and I’m being only mildly hyperbolic here — just as stunning. And now, after years of sound design, composing, acting, musicifying and otherwise distinguishing yourself in every way across the globe, you’ve won an OBIE Award!
James’ performance in Chekhov Lizardbrain was incredible. He acted so tortured, it was like he and I were one. I think it was the best play about mental health that wasn’t about mental health that I’ve ever seen.
liz | 11:19 AM | philadelphia, random
Ezra Rowe Hendler
I just want to welcome a new friend to the world, United States, New York, NY, in May 2009. We’re going to be buddies. True, he’s only, um, a day old right now, but I already project into the future and see us engaged in any number of buttery-filter vignettes: me watching him ride his first carousel; his trembling lip as he lets go of a balloon; his little licks of ice cream and the rainbow sprinkle that gets caught on his nose; the first time he says, “Auntie Liz … ”
He was born yesterday (not so smart, this kid) courtesy of the agony of my friend Nina Rowe, who I always pay tribute to because she hung in with me through many years of my own agony (including many boring phone calls). Her husband, Glenn Hendler, was also thoroughly involved in the childbearing situation.
I won’t post photos of Ezra yet because he’s barely alive, and thus I can’t ask if he wants to be semi-semi-famous. But I love him already. Congratulations to Nina and Glenn! You have reproduced, and quite well, at that. Good show.
Voting in PA If You Have a Disability
Activist extraordinaire Fran Hazam has sent much info on the challenges to voters with disabilities. If you need any of the forms mentioned herein, let me know by emailing me: lspikol@philadelphiaweekly.com, and I’ll get them out to you.
One thing to keep in mind, Fran says: “a voter in the hospital will need assistance from a friend to complete an Emergency Absentee Ballot. The process can be complicated to use for someone who is ill, since the completed ballot has to be hand delivered to the County Election Board….not to your local polling place.”
She also says, “In Philadelphia Remember to Vote the 2 Questions First…..so easy to forget them after choosing candidates. But important YOU be heard on these changes to the City Charter !” This is especially good advice to us with cognitive difficulties.
The below is from Paul O’Hanlon, Esq., of the Disability Rights Network:
Election Day Survival Kit for Voters with Disabilities
Pennsylvania registered a record numbers of new voters last year. If the poll worker cannot find your name on the list of registered voters, ask them to look at the list of “inactive voters.” Voters who have not voted for a few elections, or who did not receive or respond to official election mailings have been placed on a list of “inactive voters.” The act of voting will be sufficient to transfer your name from the ”inactive” to the “active” list. If your name cannot be found on either list, and if you are sure you are at the correct polling place – ask for a provisional ballot. Federal law requires that you be provided with a provisional ballot in such a case. Do not leave the polls without casting a vote!
How do I verify that I am registered to vote?
Go here.How do I locate my correct polling place?
Go here.Will I be required to show I.D. to vote?
All first-time voters, and all voters who are voting for the first time in a precinct, can be required to show an acceptable form of I.D. You can find a list of acceptable forms of I.D. here.If you do not have I.D. when you go to vote, and if returning later with proper I.D. is not an option, you have a right to vote by a Provisional Ballot. Provisional Ballots receive greater scrutiny than other ballots. However, if you are registered to vote, and if your signature matches the signature on your voter’s signature card, then your Provisional Ballot should get counted. If necessary, casting a Provisional Ballot is much better than not voting at all.
Can I get assistance in the voting booth if I need it?
Voters with disabilities have the right to have the person of their choice provide assistance in the voting booth. The person providing assistance can be almost anyone — a friend, a family member, or even a poll worker. However, the assistant cannot be: (1) the voter’s employer; (2) the voter’s union representative; or (3) the Judge of Elections.
When a voter with a disability requests assistance in the voting booth, the poll worker should look up your registration card to see if it has a notation indicating that you require assistance. If there is no notation on the card, you will be required to complete a written statement explaining the nature of your disability. Some voters may be offended at intrusive questions like asking for the name, phone # and address of their doctor. But the poll workers are required to enter all this information, along with the name of the individual who provided assistance, into the “Record of Assisted Voters.” The voting process is a very formal process with many safeguards.
What if I find my polling place is not accessible on Election Day? How can I vote?
Voters with disabilities, as well as seniors 65 and older — who are assigned to inaccessible polling places — are eligible to cast an Alternative Ballot. It is called an “Alternative” ballot because it is a method of voting provided to the voter as an alternative to having an accessible location. (Some deal!)
An Alternative Ballot looks exactly like an Absentee Ballot, but a different colored envelope is used to distinguish it from an Absentee Ballot. The normal deadline to file an application for an Alternative Ballot is the Tuesday before Election Day. However, if you did not know that your polling place is inaccessible, or if you had some good cause for not being able to file by that deadline – you can still vote! The Pennsylvania Department of State created procedures for an Emergency Application for an Alternative Ballot, which may be filed as late as Election Day at 8:00 p.m. A voter with a disability who discovers on Election Day that their polling place is not accessible can file an Emergency Application for an Alternative Ballot. This Emergency Application must be filed on Election Day, before 8:00 p.m., at your County Elections Office.
What if you can’t get to your County Elections Office on Election Day?
If you are unable to travel to the County Elections Office on Election Day, you can get a friend or relative to act as your agent to travel back and forth to the County Elections Office.
You will need to prepare three forms: (1) the Emergency Application for Alternative Ballot; (2) the Designated Agent Form; and (3) the Certification of Designated Agent Form.
What if my right to vote is challenged on Election Day? What if someone says I’m not competent to vote?
In Pennsylvania, we have only 3 qualifications for a person to register and to vote. The individual must be:
• A citizen of the United States for at least one month before the election;
• A resident of Pennsylvania and the election district for at least 30 days before the election;
• At least 18 years of age on or before the day of the election.
Pennsylvania does not have any laws that restrict the right to vote of people who happen to have developmental, mental health, or physical disabilities. In rare instances, Courts issue orders depriving people of the right to vote. But, so far , “electors” in Pennsylvania cannot be challenged on competence, ability or worthiness to vote.
Persons convicted of felonies (or any other crime) are eligible to vote – only individuals currently incarcerated in penal institutions for felony convictions are denied the right to vote.Who can I call on Election Day if I’m prevented from exercising my right to vote?
Call the Election Protection hotline at 1-866-OURVOTE (1-866-687-8683)
Voters who speak Spanish can call 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA (1-888-839-8682)
or
Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania1-800-692-7443
1-877-375-7139 (TODD)
Voting is your right. Don’t leave the polls without voting!
Your vote matters — but only if you use it!
liz | 12:58 PM | DISABILITY, philadelphia, politics
You Have the Right to Vote. Today.
I’m pulling the lever for Dan McElhatton for D.A. and Brett Mandel for controller, as well as a few judges, including Dan Anders. Not that you care. But you should vote. Many people in other countries don’t have this right. And women and African-Americans didn’t have the right until shamefully recently. And many formerly incarcerated people don’t have the right. And people with language barriers often don’t vote because they can’t. People who are disabled are often turned away from non-accessible polls. People in poverty are routinely disaffected from the voting process.
The ACLU’s Voting Rights Project webpage details all kinds of cases in which voting rights are compromised, even in the U.S., even in 2009. I vote because I feel privileged to be able to do so. I’m one of the lucky ones, is how I think about it.
For information on Election Day if you live near me, go to the Committee of Seventy’s website.
liz | 10:17 AM | philadelphia, politics
You Planning to Vote?
It’s really important, guys. Philly District Attorney Lynne Abraham was in office for longer than some of PW’s interns have been alive. And she was the wrong person for the job. A lot of Philadelphia politicians, once they have a foothold, achieve tremendous staying power. Whoever gets voted DA this time is likely to be around for a while. Here’s hoping you like him.
Vote on Tuesday, May 19, for judges, city controller. I’ll be running this post again.
To find your polling place, go here.
liz | 2:54 PM | politics
Checking in With Andy Behrman
Andy, author of Electroboy, is pretty pissed off about his experience with Abilify. Here’s what he means:
Ironically, Behrman used to be a spokesperson for Bristol-Myers Squibb, the maker of Abilify — which sort of mirrors my own experience as former (unpaid) speaker for Astra Zeneca about Seroquel. The Wall Street Journal has an article, “A Celebrity Patient’s Backing Turns Sour,” about Andy. It begins:
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. has worked with hundreds of patients in its promotional efforts. The drug maker says every collaboration, except for one, has been positive for both Bristol-Myers and the patients who tell their stories.
Andy Behrman is the one.
In 2004, Bristol-Myers held a retreat for 1,250 sales representatives, to prepare them to market a powerful psychiatric drug for a new use — bipolar disorder.
A video of Mr. Behrman, a 42-year-old bipolar patient, filled a gigantic screen. He recounted how a Bristol-Myers drug, called Abilify, had changed his life. Unlike other medicines he had tried, Abilify had no …
And today Andy sent out an email:
Dear Friends,
Three years ago, after working as a spokesman for Abilify, a hugely profitable drug manufactured by Bristol Myers Squibb, I published an online article about the drug’s terrible side effects. I said it was the worst drug that I had ever been prescribed and that it had nearly killed me.
Within twenty minutes of the article being posted on a website owned by the New York Times, the article came down. Turns out, BMS was a sponsor of the website.
Today I am preparing to sell a new book, Adventures in the Drug Trade, which details my nightmarish experience with Abilify, my treatment by Dr. Mark Frye, a former UCLA psychopharmacologist now at the Mayo Clinic and curiously no longer a medical consultant for BMS, and my experiences as a pusher of their not-so-wondrous wonder drug.
I believe that BMS will go to almost any lengths to stop me and the publication of the book. It’s time to hold drug makers like BMS accountable for their corrupt practices and harmful products. Just as culpable, if not more so, are the licensed physicians that aid and abet them. Do no harm? I don’t think so.
…The sad reality is that the drug companies won’t tell you the truth about the side effects of their drugs and for that matter, neither will your doctor. Did you know that pharmaceutical companies actually send some of these doctors on an all-expense-paid ten-day Caribbean cruises just for “writing prescriptions?”
I suspect a lot of people who read this blog do know that, but now Behrman knows it too — and so will a lot of mainstream readers if he gets his book published.
The only thing I want to say here, aside from wishing Andy good luck with his fight, is that I wouldn’t want to tar all doctors with the same brush. My psychiatrist does tell me the truth and he refuses to take any Big Pharma compensation. He is very clear about his policies in that regard up front. Many of his colleagues are the same. They have integrity and passion for their patients and want to advocate for them.
I’d also like to point out that if you take a new medication and you’re concerned that your doctor is not being frank with you, do your homework. It is easy in the Internet age to find information about side effects. If you don’t have access to a computer, ask your pharmacist to give you the package insert for the medication. It clearly lists the possible side effects, along with statistical probability. If you feel such stats aren’t credible due to the source, you can be sure that at the very least the side effects listed are ones that people did experience.
Be careful out there, folks. Big Pharma — just like Big Oil or Big Tobacco or Big Anything — doesn’t give a shit about you.
liz | 10:05 AM | BIG PHARMA
It’s All About Sports Today
Ex-Yankee Jim Leyritz threatened to commit suicide and voluntarily admitted himself—so says FOX Sports.
The background:
Leyritz is free on bail while awaiting trial on DUI manslaughter charges for the late 2007 death of a restaurant waitress Fredia Ann Veitch in a two-car crash that occurred after the former Yankee was celebrating his 44th birthday. Leyritz allegedly had a blood-alcohol content of .14 — well above the legal limit — several hours after the crash, while Veitch had a .18 alcohol level at the time of her death.
…
Davie police then went to Karri Leyritz’s home who told them that Jim Leyritz had blown into the Breathalyzer in an attempt to start his car, but the device indicated he had been drinking, Coyne said.
Karri told cops that Jim had not been drinking. Karri said Leyritz went out to the car a second time, and that when he tried the device that time it indicated he had not been drinking.
That is when Leyritz became upset because he knew the first result would be reported to authorities as a possible violation of his bail conditions, Karri told cops, according to Coyne.
“That caused him to be distraught,” Coyne said.
Karri then told cops that Leyritz said something to the effect that, “He might as well ‘end it’ if it’s too much trouble,” Coyne said.
I gotta say, I’m not feeling deep, deep sorrow for Leyritz right now. It’s hard for me to sympathize given stories like this one. He wasn’t even supposed to be driving, let alone drinking and driving. She was drinking and driving too, so there aren’t any winners here. But sometimes things get really, really simple. Let’s break it down:
If you are drunk, you cannot operate a motor vehicle.
If you are not drunk, you can operate a motor vehicle.
(Unless you’re my mom, in which case alcohol is immaterial. Joking!)
liz | 3:59 PM | criminal justice system, suicide, violence
Depression Confession: Speaking of Sports…
The Eagles’ (<3) Shawn Andrews has been very open about his struggle with clinical depression, which I greatly admire in a lineman. The New York Times is apparently all over the pro sports/mental health beat (thanks to Dave K. for letting me know):
Andrews said he had seen a psychiatrist last summer in Little Rock, and then in Philadelphia, but that he was not currently undergoing counseling. He did say he was taking antidepressant medication, along with the drug Adderall to treat attention-deficit disorder.
He said he understood that some people had little sympathy for a highly paid professional athlete, that even some of his teammates might feel he was exaggerating, or using depression as an excuse for an indifference to football. “That’s fine,” he said. “I don’t work for them. They don’t pay my bills. They don’t take care of my family.”
He said he took gratification from a handful of players around the league who told him they felt similarly and from others who said they had been emboldened by his own admission.
“A lot of people say football should help you channel your anger and aggression,” Andrews said. “But it’s not as easy as people think it is.”
…
Compared with last year, Andrews said, “I’m at a better point, mentally and physically.”
Early last August, as rumors grew about his absence, Andrews told reporters that he was suffering from depression, had sought professional help and was taking medication. He eventually reported to the team, but played in only two games before sustaining a herniated disk in his back, which required surgery.
For a brief period last season, he said he stopped taking his medication.
“I was feeling great, I was like, this thing is over,” Andrews said. “Man, things went south. I’ve never been a big fan of medication, but at this point it’s very crucial for me.”
So far this off-season, [coach Andy] Reid said, Andrews is “doing a great job.” Andrews said the move to tackle could rejuvenate his career.
Still, his renewed enthusiasm has been tempered by the fact that he has missed nearly two full seasons to injury.
“All the physical anguish I’ve been through, the thought of not being able to get up and play with my son, that really keeps my mind going every day,” Andrews said.
He sees some of his teammates dropping items and struggling to bend and pick them up.
“I don’t want to live like that,” Andrews said.
Inside Lineman’s Helmet, Doubts and Depression
liz | 2:11 PM | celebrities, depression
High Anxiety: Dontrelle Willis
Congrats and good luck to pitcher Detroit Tigers Dontrelle Willis who’s back to work after a lengthy struggle with anxiety issues. From the New York Times:
For privacy reasons, [manager Dave] Dombrowski declined to talk specifically about what treatment Willis received for the anxiety disorder, and how it was diagnosed.
On Tuesday, Willis discussed his treatment in general terms. Asked whether he saw a psychologist or a psychiatrist, Willis answered, “Yeah, something like that,” and added that he saw more than one at a time. “Like a team,” he said. The therapy, he said, mainly involved talking to doctors, then to teammates.
“With all the professional things that were going on, they said I needed to relax and have fun and get back to my old self,” he said. “That’s what I’ve been doing. It was just one of those things. I think I was putting a lot of emphasis on every pitch unnecessarily, and they said, ‘Well, just go back to what you were doing before.’ ”
Dombrowski said the team followed the doctors’ recommendations for treatment, which required putting Willis on the disabled list after supplying the commissioner’s office with supporting medical documentation. Willis added that he is no longer undergoing therapy.
“Our goal all along was to put him in a position where he could come back and pitch well for us,” Dombrowski said. “We let the doctors guide it, not the baseball people.”
Dontrelle Willis, Back From Anxiety Disorder, Is Seeking a Return to Form
liz | 12:54 PM | anxiety
Power Corrupts, Absofuckinglutely
Employees at a state school in Corpus Christi, Texas, forced mentally disabled residents to spar in late-night fight clubs, telling them if they didn’t, they’d be beaten or forced to go to prison. Below is a news report. WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT.
This is the sickest thing I’ve seen in a long time. As someone on ABC News said, I think, the employees are behaving like Michael Vicks with his pit bulls — only these are human beings. It’ll be interesting to see if this incident causes as much furor as the Vick story did. Granted, there’s no celebrity involved, but you know how these things go.
ABC News has a good report on this, and you can link to a Nightline report on it as well.
liz | 10:50 AM | DISABILITY, criminal justice system
