FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          CR
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1997                       (202) 616-2777
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

  SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA OPTHAMOLOGY CLINIC AGREES NOT TO TURN AWAY
 PATIENTS WITH DISABILITIES, UNDER JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SETTLEMENT

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- An eye clinic in Orange County,
California that turned away a patient because she had Down
Syndrome will implement a new policy to ensure that it does not
discriminate against patients with disabilities, under an
agreement reached today with the Justice Department.

      The agreement resolves a complaint filed in September 1996
under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) against the Eye
Institute of Orange County.  In that complaint, submitted to the
Justice Department, the parents of a 15 year-old girl who has
Down Syndrome alleged that the girl was denied an appointment for
an optometry exam in March 1996, because of her disability.

     In support of their allegations, the family submitted a tape
recorded message left by an Eye Institute staff member on their
answering machine that said the office "was not equipped to
handle patients with Down Syndrome." 

     "The presence of mental retardation, including Down
Syndrome, should never be a reason to deny appropriate health
care," said Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights
Isabelle Katz Pinzler.  "Many people with disabilities already
face obstacles such as the cost of medical care; they should not
also have to worry about an additional obstacle of being denied
medical attention because of their disability."

     Under the settlement agreement, the Eye Institute will:

*    adopt  a written policy stating that it will not refuse to
     treat patients with Down Syndrome or any other disability;

*    post the policy in the lobbies of its offices and distribute
     it to all employees;

*    require all employees to attend mandatory training on the
     policy; and,

*    pay $5,000 in compensatory damages to the girl. 

     The compensation will be placed in a trust managed by a non-
profit organization that arranges trips specially organized for
persons with developmental disabilities.

     Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination by public
accommodations such as medical practices against qualified
individuals with disabilities on the basis of disability.  Under
title III, no individual should be discriminated against or
refused medical treatment on the basis of disability. 

     Individuals, medical offices, or other private businesses
who wish to learn more about the ADA can contact the Justice
Department's ADA technical assistance hotline at (800) 514-0301
(voice) or (800) 514-0383 (TDD) or to access the ADA Internet
home page at: [http://www.usdoj/crt/ada/adahom.1.htm].

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