Cerebral Palsy

Dr.

Öner Odabaş, who heads the ministry’s treatment services department, announced late on Friday that the Evren family’s plea to allow a doctor to apply a growth-stunting procedure to their disabled son had been rejected by the department’s ethics committee, which is made up of a child neurologist, a radiologist, a deontologist, public health officials, a child psychiatrist, a child endocrinologist, a surgeon, and representatives of the Turkish Pharmacists’ Union and the Turkish Doctors’ Union.

“There has been no documentation of the positive consequences of this method in the literature to date,” said Odabaş.The Evren family had applied to the Ankara University department of medicine late March, where they were told they would have to wait for a decision from the Health Ministry’s ethics committee before implementing the procedure to stunt their child’s growth, also referred to as “Ashley’s treatment.” The family had said they feared that if their disabled son Umut Mert got taller and heavier, they would be unable to hold or carry him.

Umut Mert cannot eat, speak or walk by himself.

Explaining the ethics committee decision, Odabaş said Ashley’s treatment was currently applied only in the US, stating that the number of cases where the growth-stunting procedure had been used was still too...

They are hoping the rest of it � $126 million � can be covered by the cost-cutting measures.

Lawmakers are continuing to work on those measures, which will be included in the budget or an implementing bill.

They are expected to focus on such issues as tightening the monitoring of contracts and improving needs assessments and ending redundant services.

�My heart goes out to the disabled and the most vulnerable among us,� said Gov.

Charlie Crist.

�I don�t want to cast judgment too harshly and I want to support those who need the help, but I don�t want to support fraud.� Crist said he does support improving the agency�s management.

His predecessor, Jeb Bush, led an effort to reduce its staffing and shift certain management functions to private vendors.

The deficit issue was kicked up to Sansom and Carlton after a joint budget conference committee on health care failed to reach agreement.

It is one of the last issues still unresolved in talks between the two chambers over the annual state budget, which will top $70 billion, for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

Carlton and Sansom agreed to meet again Saturday on other issues that various budget conference committees, which have finished thei...

They are expected to focus on such issues as tightening the monitoring of contracts and improving needs assessments and ending redundant services."My heart goes out to the disabled and the most vulnerable among us," said Gov.

Charlie Crist.

"I don't want to cast judgment too harshly and I want to support those who need the help, but I don't want to support fraud."Crist said he does support improving the agency's management.

His predecessor, Jeb Bush, led an effort to reduce its staffing and shift certain management functions to private vendors.The deficit issue was kicked up to Sansom and Carlton after a joint budget conference committee on health care failed to reach agreement.It is one of the last issues still unresolved in talks between the two chambers over the annual state budget, which will top $70 billion, for the fiscal year beginning July 1.Carlton and Sansom agreed to meet again Saturday on other issues that various budget conference committees, which have finished their work,...