This Week in Elder News: 1 March 2008

In this regular Saturday feature you will find links to news items from the precedng week related to elders and aging, along with whatever else catches my fancy that I think you might like to know. Suggestions are welcome with, however, no promises of publication.

In the city of Manchester in England, a playground for elders has recently opened in a local park right next to the kiddie playground. "The equipment is great,” said one elder. “It's laugh-a-minute. If it makes people laugh and there is exercise involved, then how can it be a bad thing?” I think it’s a great idea and I wish there were one in my town. (Hat tip to lilalia of Yum Yum Café.]

Great strides are being made in DNA testing for identifying the potential for contracting certain diseases and conditions. But The New York Times reports and HuffPost follows up on a trend of people terrified to have the tests for fear of losing their health coverage. There’s an easy solution: Congress can legislate against providers taking that advantage – and it should.

Last summer, we reported on producer Sue Perlgut's documentary, 100 Ways to Retire. Now she's looking for some help with a brief survey of older women about advice given and received. It would be nice if you could help her out.

When a Fedex courier filed an EEOC age discrimination suit against her employer in 2002, it was disallowed by a court because the EEOC failed to inform Fedex within the required 60 days. Finally, last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the lower court must allow the suit to continue, that plaintiffs cannot be made to suffer when a federal agency errs in its responsibilities. Can someone explain to me why this took six years and the Supreme Court to decide it?

In another age discrimination case last week, the Supreme Court wimped out. The question involved whether testimony from other employees of Sprint, laid off at the same time as the plaintiff, could be allowed. A lower court had denied it. The Supreme Court sent the question back to the federal district court. This case, too, has been going on for six years. The wheels of justice grind on.

All too often we hear of prescription drugs pulled off the market for previously unknown side effects. One reason that happens is that it's not easy for people to report their own side effects. This month, March, the FDA will announce its decision about whether to include an 800 number for patient reporting on TV prescription drug ads. Consumer Reports is collecting signatures on a petition supporting this move. You can find out more and sign the petition here.

In a money-saving move, beginning 1 June, all major airlines – 240 of them – will require etickets for all passengers. Although the number seems high to me, the Washington Post reports that 97 percent of U.S. passengers already fly on etickets. Those without access to the internet will still be able to book by phone or through agents, but will be required to pick up their etickets at the airport rather than receiving them by mail.

In a week in which Senator Hillary Clinton pounded away at Senator Barack Obama for borrowing some speech language from a friend, it amuses me to discover that senior White House aide, Tim Goeglein, plagiarized nearly every word of his column for home-town newspaper, the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. As soon as Nancy Null Nall revealed the theft on her blog, the paper removed the column and printed Geoglein’s apology.

Voters and election officials alike have serious doubts about Diebold and other brands of voting machines. With that in mind, enjoy this parody from The Onion of a news report about a nightmare event that some people worry isn’t humor at all. (2:43 minutes)

Quote of the week:

"Although most industrial Western (as well as Eastern) European countries have national health services, the American taxpayer is not allowed this amenity because it would be socialism, which is right next door to godless communism and free love, followed by suicide in the long white Swedish night."

- Gore Vidal