NPR Health is reporting that a federal judge agreed to strip mentions of "integration" from federal regulations tied to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, a landmark civil rights law that prohibits disability discrimination and regulates federally funded disability programs. It said the judge acted after the Justice Department declined to defend its own rules in a lawsuit brought by several states challenging the legality of those rules.
NPR reported that disability advocates worry the change threatens disabled Americans' rights to dine, work, go to school and generally live their lives around able-bodied people rather than being segregated to nursing homes or other institutions. It said Bruce Darling, president and CEO of the Center for Disability Rights, described hearing about the ruling as feeling "like a knife in your chest."
It said disability rights lawyer Jennifer Mathis noted the court's decision did not undo integration protections tied to the Americans with Disabilities Act or those established by decades of case law, but that the lack of clarity introduced by the ruling will affect disabled peoples' rights and how states behave. NPR said Mathis worries state leaders will now feel freer to take away funds from programs for community-based living, especially as states face pressure to reduce Medicaid spending.
NPR also reported that a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a resolution this week asserting the federal government's longstanding interpretation of the Supreme Court's landmark Olmstead decision. It said Delaware has already passed a law incorporating the Section 504 regulations that were stripped from federal law, and that other states are moving in a similar direction.
Separately, NPR reported that it received exclusive access to tour the labs of Origin Genomics in New York City, a startup developing genetically modified human embryos in hopes of preventing inherited diseases from being passed to the next generation. It said the embryos were donated by couples whose families have been plagued for generations by life-threatening genetic disorders including Huntington's disease, cystic fibrosis and hereditary cancers.
NPR said most scientists think it is still premature to use genetically modified human embryos to produce babies, and that it may never be safe. It said critics, including University of California, Berkeley gene editing researcher Fyodor Urnov, argue the companies are really in the business of embryo and ultimately baby improvement.
NPR also reported on Stanford University medical professor Bryant Lin, a nonsmoker diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer two years ago who has long advocated for better lung cancer screening. It said Lin credits cutting-edge targeted therapies with giving him a longer life and better quality of life, and that he continues to teach, travel and attend San Francisco Giants baseball games with his family.
It said UCLA oncologist and researcher Jonathan Goldman attributes improved survival to the ability to genetically analyze the mutations causing cancer on a patient-by-patient basis and select drugs targeted to that particular cancer subtype. NPR said the targeted drugs are better at shrinking tumors than chemotherapy and come with fewer side effects, and are also being used to treat breast and liver cancers. It said cost remains a steep barrier, with Lin describing a delay in treatment while waiting for prior authorization for a $16,000 medication.
NPR also reported on a study out of Hebrew University in Jerusalem in which psychologists compared how eating alone versus eating with other people affects blood sugar. It said participants who ate bread with a buddy experienced a smaller blood glucose spike and cleared glucose from their blood more quickly than those who ate the same amount alone, which researchers see as an example of the positive effect social bonds may have on human physiology.