Subj: Can-Am Care Corp. Believes Tide May Be Turning For Diabetic Teenager In
Glucose
Date: 97-06-17 14:51:49 EDT
From: AOL News
BCC: Pat Noble
CHAZY, N.Y., June 17 /PRNewswire/ -- The tide may be turning in the case
of Eric Carr, a diabetic teenager targeted by school officials for giving
glucose tablets to two friends.
"The ACLU is looking at the case right now ... I'm hopeful they'll
take
it," Jim Armistead, Eric's stepfather, said Saturday (June 7).
An insulin-dependent diabetic, Eric was 13 last fall when officials
at the
Hollenbeck Middle School in St. Peter's Missouri, determined that he had
contravened the state's Safe School Act, which prohibits children from
sharing
over-the-counter drugs.
Eric was suspended for several days and "instructed" to sign a
document,
subsequently entered on his permanent file, "admitting" he was guilty of
passing out drugs.
No matter that glucose is not a drug, but a harmless sugar --
school
officials simply dug in their heels and refused to remove the "confession"
from Eric's record. Armistead persevered.
To convince the school of its error, he enlisted expert help from
Eric's
endocrinologist and the New York based Can-Am Care Corporation, which sells
the Dex4 glucose tablets that Eric uses. Both provided information to the
school, explaining that glucose tablets are simply sugar, packaged as a
convenient, fast acting source of carbohydrates. They indicated that glucose
tablets have become popular with diabetics, as health professionals commonly
recommend them to avoid or correct hypoglycemic episodes (excessively low
blood sugar). In fact, Can-Am Care Corp. compares its glucose tablets to
other sports energy supplements like sports drinks and energy bars, and
indicates that they are routinely munched by athletes for quick energy, to
prevent their supply of glucose, the body's basic fuel, from depleting.
Dr. Gerald Bernstein, vice president of the American Diabetes
Association,
was quoted in a Washington Times article comparing glucose tablets to Life
Savers. The FDA confirmed that glucose is not a drug. All to no avail.
"The last thing the school superintendent told me was that Eric
wasn't
punished for the particular substance, but for the fact of passing it out,"
said Armistead, who is all too familiar with the school's bunker logic.
Armistead was definitely not impressed, and neither were the
readers of
Diabetes Interview, the San Francisco based paper that broke the story last
month, to its nationwide readership. Outraged, they wrote to the editor,
lambasting the school for its treatment of Eric, its show of willful
ignorance, and its unwitting role in helping to perpetuate myths about
diabetes.
"It was nice to see that story in Diabetes Interview, support has
grown
since," Armistead said. "I forwarded one of the letters to the (school)
principal ... I thought it really gave credence to my argument (that Eric's
rights had been abrogated)."
Why doesn't the school board just admit its mistake, apologize to
Eric,
and remove the "confession" from his record?
"I figure either they're just hard-headed or they don't want to be
seen to
be backing down," Armistead said.
"The school board, I guess, figures it hasn't got much to lose --
the
worst that can happen is they go to court and end up being ordered to do it."
Eric has recovered from the potentially stigmatizing affair.
"We've discussed it and he understands he didn't do anything
wrong,"
Armistead said. When the incident first occurred, he "had three really bad
days, and he had a hard time coming back from that ... But now his grades are
back to normal, he's on the honor roll this year."
Written by Maxine Ruvinsky.