Comments on: Shipped Home from Iraq: Diabetes Discrimination?

By: Kevin James

Kevin James — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 22:17:57 +0000

Did you take your KBR physcial before you knew that you had diabetes, or did you know and you still passed your physical?

By: Kevin Redmond

Kevin Redmond — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 20:04:32 +0000

I am a Civilian contractor currently in the Army CRC course at Ft. Benning, Georgia for deployment to Baghdad, Iraq this week. I was in the CRC course last week and was stamped “non-deployable” due to being a Diabetic. Before the end of the course, I was sent home due to my name being spelled wrong in the CVS database for my military ID card. I just started this week’s course today and am attempting to obtain a waiver to resolve the Diabetic “NO-Go” issue.

I find this article very interesting, providing references to agencies that appear to be supportive in this type of discrimination.

I have been using a Medtronic Mini-Med insulin pump for the past decade and the Continuous Glucose Monitor since introduced. I am prior US Army Special Forces Veteran, making me a strong candidate for this type of contractor assignments. I am in excellent shape still. I see many of the Contractors here that can barely make it up the hill and are allowed to be deployed. The rule being applied here is that no injectable medication users are allowed to be deployed, not just Diabetics.

I will pursue the waiver process this week and keep this site posted on my results.

By: Gary Hall

Gary Hall — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:07:32 +0000

I was medically discharged from the Army in 1984 for diabetes, and denied a civil service position as a Public Affairs Officer in Afghanistan in 1984 due to being diabetic – the Army doctor at Landsthul said that I had no way to keep insulin refrigerated in-country. Because of not getting this job, my family and I were required to leave my employment working for the Army in Germany. Emloyment prejudice against diabeticcs exists, and our government offices are riddled with supervisors who try to “get around” the ADA. If they can’t get around it, they just ignore it.

By: Mark Ford

Mark Ford — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 23:22:20 +0000

Sieve,
I am very interested in going overseas to work. The economic gain is the reason. I do not know who to contact. I have type 2 diabetes. Who and where was your physical performed? Please email me information concerning this matter. Also do you work for an verseas contractor presemtly?

By: PrintCrafter

PrintCrafter — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 15:39:45 +0000

Amy–

Well here is where we get into the quick sand, isn’t it? Yeah, I know, I know…. a T-1 can do anything anyone else can do, or so the mantra goes. Problem is, I don’t really believe in my heart that it is true. There is a core group of super-athlete T-1s out there who climb Everest and win bike races (Go Team Type-1!!). But the sad truth is that most of us are in poor shape.

Taking myself for an example, I’m not worth a shit when a hypo hits. And they do hit, even with all my fancy CGM equipment and my alleged super-bright mind. Honestly, I don’t think I should be a Cop. What if a hypo hit during a drug raid? Some one might get hurt or killed. Maybe my partner, maybe me.

I have a Commercial Pilot’s License that I can no longer use. Yeah, sucks, but I really don’t want the guy flying the plane I’m a passenger in going hypo on take-off either.

On the other hand, here in New Mexico, if you are foolish enough to admit to DMV that you are D-folk you can only have a driver’s license for one year and you need a special form from your doctor every year to re-apply. That’s madness and discrimination against an entire category of humans. I can see some reasonable restrictions if you actually had an accident. Or maybe even for us insulin users. But to make Type-2s on Metformin go through this every year????

But that’s only one side of this story, isn’t it? The D really had nothing to do with this at all, and maybe that’s even more frightening. Maybe what should really scare all of us to death is the fact that our conditions can be used capriciously to be rid of us should we become annoying for other reasons.

I guess we, as a tribe, need to figure out some sort of balance. We need to realize, and we must make the world understand, that all of us must live within our limits but that those limits should not be imposed externally. Case by case is messy. I’d think that as a general rule if your job involves a gun…. but as we’ve seen there is this crazy nutcase who wants to fight in Iraq with his insulin pump. I guess if his commander and his comrades are comfortable with it…..

Bottom line, from my own experience, I think a few closed doors are simply part of life. That’s the balance part. The other side of the coin is rigorously defending ourselves and our kin from abuses like this one you wrote about.

Do you think it is possible to accept some limits but rigorously defend against any trespass beyond that point?

By: Bev Sklar

Bev Sklar — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 00:35:41 +0000

Amy, What a story. Good for you speaking directly with Griffin. It's positive that he felt Steve would have had a case, even though the motive to fire is allegedly not diabetes. I'd be curious to see what Griffin has to say about the lower courts' rulings on those fired for diabetes, and how the current legal climate is not favorable for discrimination litigation by people with diabetes. Especially someone like Steve with excellent control. Scott is on target re: the climate in the courts. Diabetes is not considered a disability. I wrote a post this past July regarding the proposed Americans with Disabilities Act Restoration Act. This bill has NOT been signed into law. But it needs to be, and perhaps with the bipartisan nature of the bill, it will be. http://www.thediabetesblog.com/2007/07/29/americans-with-disabilities-act-restoration-act-introduced/

By: joanna

joanna — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 12:42:56 +0000

After 31 years with T1 and yes I was one of those customers on the Auto Syringe but mine was a black brick lol I have also experinced discrimmanation because of having T1 diabetes. In fact a few years ago I was working for a hospital and you would think of all places they would understand NOT ! The department I was working in would not let me test my blood sugar or treat a low. I was harassed (spelling) all the time because of my diabetes. Sad to say discrimination is still out there : (

By: Melissa

Melissa — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 10:27:01 +0000

Scott is such an inspiration to persevere, and stand up for himself. It is a shame he had to be dismissed.

By: Manny Hernandez

Manny Hernandez — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 14:02:44 +0000

Scott make s a very good point in terms of diabetes not being a disability that would protect people with diabetes from situations like this one. I started a discussion about this on TuDiabetes: http://tudiabetes.com/forum/topic/show?id=583967%3ATopic%3A38707

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 21:11:26 +0000

Actually, this has been an ongoing issue that the ADA has been trying to resolve, but the issue has been tied up in out do-nothing Congress. The fact is that the Americans with Disabilities Act has been undermined by several Supreme Court rulings in recent years that actually enable employers to discriminate against people with diabetes because it is not specifically spelled out in the law as a disability. Its really shameful when the courts undermine the law that was meant to end employment discrimination, but then again, the court has changed since Alito was put in charge, and this is the result.