Welcome to the first issue of Diabetes Docket, a place you can turn to for information about your legal rights as a person living with diabetes or caring for a loved one with diabetes. This newsletter will be a great way for you to connect with the American Diabetes Association’s Legal Advocacy department and stay updated on our successes.
Our goal is to provide information about diabetes discrimination—what it is, how to prevent it, what to do if it happens to you. In each issue, we’ll cover topics relating to your rights in the workplace, how to keep children with diabetes safe at school, news about important legal developments, how you can get help and help others, and much more. Diabetes Docket is just the beginning. Information is also available at www.diabetes.org/discrimination.
Alan Yatvin, Chair, American Diabetes Association Legal Advocacy Subcommittee
Katie Hathaway, Managing Director, Legal Advocacy, American Diabetes Association
New and Noteworthy
Victory for California School Children with Diabetes!
Every child has a right to be medically safe at school. In California, there is only one school nurse for every 2,200 students and nearly half of the state’s school districts do not have a single nurse on staff. As a result, children with diabetes were being placed in a dangerous and potentially life-threatening situation when they did not have access to insulin at school and school activities because no one was available to help. Until now.
For nearly eight years, we fought in the courts to make sure children with diabetes in California's public schools could be safe at school. On August 12, 2013, the California Supreme Court issued a ruling that vindicates the rights of these students, holding that California law allows school staff to be trained to help students by administering insulin to those students who cannot self-administer their own insulin.
As you send your son or daughter back to school this fall, you know that parents of children with diabetes have more than school supplies and homeroom assignments to think about. Your son or daughter has a disease that must be managed 24/7, and proper care for diabetes throughout the school day is essential in maintaining their overall health. Are you prepared?
Do you know what a “504 plan” is and whether your child needs one? A “504 plan” is a legal document designed to make sure students with disabilities, such as diabetes, can manage their condition at school and receive the same education as other kids. A 504 plan spells out how your son or daughter’s diabetes care should be provided while he or she is at school and school activities.
Whether you’ve worked at the same job for years, or you are job hunting or considering looking for new employment, managing your diabetes at work can be stressful and uncertain. What are your legal rights on the job if you have diabetes? Do you have to tell your employer that you have diabetes? What happens if your blood glucose level drops while you’re working? Can an employer fire you if your A1C is too high?
Everyone who has diabetes deserves fair treatment at work, school and in other parts of daily life. But that does not always happen. If something doesn’t feel right, it might not be legal.
Navigating your legal rights can be tricky. Let the Association’s legal advocates help you.
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Have you or someone you know been discriminated against because of diabetes? The American Diabetes Association offers free resources to help ensure you receive the fair treatment you deserve. Call the Association's legal advocates today at 1-800-DIABETES or visit www.diabetes.org/gethelp.
Become a Diabetes Advocate
Become a Diabetes Advocate today to help Stop Diabetes®! Join us as we raise our voices to ask national and state leaders to fund vital diabetes research and programs, prevent diabetes, improve health care and protect the rights of all people living with diabetes. Make your voice heard! Visit us at www.diabetes.org/takeaction to learn more and sign up today.
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The American Diabetes Association's Legal Advocacy activities are supported by a grant from Novo Nordisk.