As professionals skilled in rehabilitating people with short-term or long-term disabilities, physical therapists (PTs) come across a number of patients who are inspirational in their fight to live life unhindered, as much as possible, by any handicap. One individual, Jarek Molski, a 35-year-old paraplegic, is turning his inspiration to live into a high level of activism.

An article recently published in the Los Angeles Times Magazine1 featured the legal jaunts of Molski, who has proclaimed himself the “sheriff” of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). In 2003, Molski filed a lawsuit against Cable’s, a restaurant in Woodland Hills, Calif, alleging that it discriminated against him under the ADA. According to Molski, the men’s room door required more than 5 pounds of pressure to open, the height of the toilet seat was not between 17 inches and 19 inches, and the paper towel dispenser in the restroom was higher than 40 inches. Molski claimed to have also suffered trauma, muscle strain, and pain while transferring between the toilet and his wheelchair without the aid of grab bars.

Since 2003, Molski has filed more than 350 lawsuits against various business establishments that he claims have failed to remove barriers to access for people with disabilities. As a result, local business owners, their lawyers, and government officials have lost respect for Molski and his plight as a paraplegic, and instead view him as an extortionist who is abusing the ADA. Cable’s eventually won the lawsuit, securing the jury’s verdict that it had not failed to remove any barriers and had not violated the ADA.

Opinions are mixed as to whether Molski’s actions have a positive or negative impact on the lives of people with disabilities. Some ADA advocates state that without the pressure of lawsuits, businesses would be reluctant to spend the money to restructure their facilities to become handicap-friendly. A few business owners along California’s Central Coast—where most of Molski’s lawsuits have taken place—have even hired a consultant to help assess their buildings’ compliance with the ADA. However, the consultant—a wheelchair user himself—was accosted by irate locals who thought he was Molski. Reportedly, some business owners also have become hostile to people in wheelchairs, often glaring at them when they visit local establishments. As Molski fights for the rights mandated by the ADA, the battles he has picked may do him, and those for whom he claims to fight, more harm than good.

In the meantime, PTs can choose to fight the good fight: The Medicare therapy cap legislation will be reinstated in 2006 if it does not garner enough opposition. Without Congressional action, Medicare enrollees will be subject to an annual arbitrary therapy cap of $1,750, which greatly limits access to rehabilitation care. PTs can act today to repeal the therapy cap by supporting the Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act. The American Physical Therapy Association  (APTA) Web site offers a wealth of information on various action items, including model letters that PTs can use to send to their congressperson. According to the APTA, it may not be possible to repeal the therapy cap altogether; however, efforts to protect your Medicare patients’ physical therapy benefits as much as possible are crucial.

Reference

1. Heller M. Rolling thunder. Los Angeles Times Magazine. October 2, 2005:12-15, 30.