[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 148 (Wednesday, October 27, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S13326]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 CHILDREN WITH BRACHIAL PLEXUS INJURIES

 Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss an issue 
which affects children across the country.
  Brachial plexus injuries (BPI), also known as Erb's palsy, occur when 
the nerves which control the muscles in the shoulders, arms and hands 
are injured. Any or all of the nerves which run from the spine to the 
arms and hands may be paralyzed. Often this injury is caused when an 
infant's brachial plexus nerves are stretched in the birth canal.
  What is devastating about BPI is that the children will have 
paralyzed arms and hands which may be misshapen or extending out from 
the body at unnatural angles. This can retard a child's physical 
development, making everyday tasks such as coloring, drawing, dressing 
and going to the bathroom, which their peers can perform with no 
trouble, almost impossible. The feeling in the children's arms and 
hands is similar to how a non-paralyzed person's arm feels when he or 
she sleeps on it. This numbness leads to more serious injuries--
toddlers and young children will accidentally or purposely burn or 
mutilate themselves because they lack feeling in their extremities. 
Some children can undergo expensive surgery and therapy and, though 
never fully recovering, can regain some normal function of their arms 
and hands. However, many children suffer permanent, debilitating 
paralysis from which they never fully recover.
  On Thursday, October 21, I sponsored a meeting between members of the 
United Brachial Plexus Network (UBPN), surgeons, occupational 
therapists and experts from the Social Security Administration to 
discuss why so many families with children with brachial plexus 
injuries were being turned down for Supplemental Security Income 
despite seeming to meet the qualifications for such payments as laid 
out in the Social Security Administration handbook.
  The Social Security Administration gave a presentation explaining the 
statutory qualifications for receiving SSI. Their presentations were 
followed by presentations by surgeons and therapists explaining how 
children with BPI function and why they feel children paralyzed by BPI 
should be eligible for SSI payments because of their disability.
  Most moving were the presentations made by children with BPI and 
parents of BPI children. These courageous people talked about their 
daily lives and the difficulties children with BPI must endure in 
attempting to perform everyday tasks.
  I want to commend UBPN board member Kathleen Kennedy from my home 
state of Iowa, Iowa State Senator Kitty Rehberg and Sharon Gavagan, who 
also sits on the board for UBPN, for their hard work and dedication in 
organizing the meeting between the UBPN and the Social Security 
Administration. I want to thank the surgeons and therapists who 
traveled from Texas to make presentations. I also want to commend Susan 
Daniels, Kenneth Nibali of the Social Security Administration and the 
experts from SSA for their willingness to travel from Baltimore to 
participate in the meeting. I am encouraged by their willingness to 
consider issuing new guidelines to the personnel in the SSA field 
offices regarding brachial plexus injuries.
  We must work to ensure that everyone who meets the guidelines for 
receiving SSI has the opportunity to apply for the benefits and be 
given a fair hearing. I look forward to seeing the new guidelines from 
SSA, and I am eager to continue working with the Social Security 
Administration on this issue.

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