Disabled women undergo yet another type of abuse

Depo Provera is a progestin (synthetic progesterone) used by some women as a primary method of birth control. Progestins, though widely prescribed for a number of problems, have long been associated with a plethora of undesirable side effects: headaches, panic attacks, depresion, muscle pain, insomnia, cramping, and on and on. Depo Provera--used over a long period of time-- carries its own particularly nasty side effect: bone loss, which does not necessarily reverse when the drug is no longer injected.

Alas, a Blog reports, however, that Depo Provera is being injected into disabled women in some nursing homes so that the staff does not have to deal with the patients' menstrual cycles. It is against the law to do this: Sanitary napkins are among the supplies that federal law mandates nursing homes to provide to patients.

According to F.R.I.D.A. (Response In Disability Activism), some nursing home patients are using their tiny SSI allowances to buy their own menstrual products, if and when they are allowed to. F.R.I.D.A. has established the Pad Patrol as a way of getting sanitary supplies to disabled women in nursing homes in Chicago. The organization maintains that private help for these patients does not dilute the goal of getting nursing homes to obey the law; rather, it brings the problem to public awareness.