Many countries are becoming more aware of the obesity epidemic in their native land, and have done research to prove why the issues are happening. In America it is more common for promotional activities to be seen on television. “In most of the World, people watch less TV than Americans do, and some countries either do not allow or limit TV advertising.  Other media, then, may have to be used in certain countries.  Billboards are often more common in India, for example” (Perner, 2008). This difference can be due to differences in economic status. Another factor that can be affected by economic status is the use of coupons. In America coupons, giveaways, and discounts are used by many businesses to bring in more customers, but in other third world countries or even smaller businesses they are not able to afford making less profit on their products. This is important because another aspect of obesity has been linked to economic status of the individuals.

The Center of Disease Control was able to prove these findings though a survey in 2005-2008. The key findings of the research showed that “Low income children and adolescents are more likely to be obese than their higher income counterparts, but the relationship is not consistent across race and ethnicity groups” (Ogden, 2010). This could be due to the lack of funds available to buy healthier food. Healthy food can be pricy and the less expensive food is usually highly processed and filled with fats, preservatives, and sugars (Ogden, 2010). The U.S. Department of Agriculture found “Children consume more fat, saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars, and fewer whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products than is recommended” (Batada, 2008). Another present factor could be lower income families may consist of one working parent. With job hours increasing there is little time to make the home cooked meal and fast food may be the easiest and most convenient option for the family.

The United States ranked in high at 30% much higher than any of the other countries, but these numbers may not be as realistic as they appear. “For Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, figures are based on health examinations, rather than self-reported information. Obesity estimates derived from health examinations are generally higher and more reliable than those coming from self-reports, because they preclude any misreporting of people’s height and weight. However, health examinations are only conducted regularly in a few countries” (Statisics, 2003). Australia was the lowest of the few that rely more on medical examinations rather than on one’s self to report weight, height and body mass index score, so I researched into how they were doing in comparison to the United States. The body mass index is used to measure how close a person is to weight based diseases and mortality (Statisics, 2003). “Childhood obesity is a significant concern with the rate of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents also increasing significantly over the past two decades. It is now thought that between 21 and 25 percent of Australian children and adolescents are overweight or obese” (Health 2013). Australia believes by reducing food marketing to children, identifying high risk groups in the community, and improving high processed foods can all contribute to a healthier less obese community (Health 2013).

Focusing on Australia I was able to find that in a recent study in Australia they were able to account for the amount of commercials played and which ones related to food. “25.5% of which were for food. Significantly more food advertisements broadcast during children’s peak viewing times, compared to non-peak times, contained promotional characters and premium offers” (Kelly, 2008). Australians are well aware of the problem they face, and the marketers are well aware of how they strategically position the timing of the commercials they play to appear to a certain audience. Australia has yet to fully regulate the issue but the research is out there and now they just have to use it to help prevent them from moving higher up on the obesity level themselves (Kelly, 2008).

Picture Credit : flatworldknowledge.lardbucket.org

People who had to visit a doctor for treatment of certain disease often complain about the numbers of tests that they had to go through. Medical examinations are expensive, exhausting and worrying. A campaign, named Choosing Wisely, has been started to educate mass about the reality of medical examinations. A list that contains name and description of 135 medical examinations has been prepared for people in this regards. Thus, doctors have been compelled to consider their decision wisely before they prescribe any number of tests.

Several medical examinations are prescribed just habitually by physicians. Many of those examinations may not be even preferable to the revolutionary techniques that are executed today. However, fear of being sued is also a reason behind the large numbers of examinations that physicians prescribe.

Fortunately or unfortunately, these excessive medical examinations do save lives too. Unexpected diseases occasionally get diagnosed due to such numbers of examinations. It is unfortunate because this advantage somehow justifies excessive number of medical examinations, which means people are compelled to go through them just to stay on the safe hemisphere. Whether one should go through chain of medical examinations every time just for that uncertain diagnosis remains to be a complex question.

To avoid being sued, a doctor is bound to prescribe medical examinations as precautions. Physicians prescribe certain medical examinations, even if their experience suggest them otherwise, in order to stay out of legal hassles. Patients have to go through examinations as they would blame the doctor for carelessness otherwise. Indeed, most people would sue physicians if they discover out that they had to suffer only because certain test was not prescribed by the doctor. Thus, such medical examinations are dilemma for both the physicians and patients. Ironically, both seem to be correct and incorrect at the same time.

Continuous rise of medical expense, self-protective behaviour of physicians and the dilemma of patients have created a no-win circumstance. It can only be wondered whether getting medical treatment of high standard would even remain possible at all. The fact that physicians are humans and entitled to commit mistakes has to be appreciated. The question that remains unanswered asks whether mistakes are subject to litigation. The answer could be yes if the life that depends upon that mistake is considered. As of now, it is safe to suggest that more examinations are preferable to fewer.

In reaching its conclusion, the Court found that the word “inquiries” did not refer to generalized inquiries, but instead only to medical inquiries.  The Court also explained that other courts have required – at a minimum, that the employer already know something was wrong with the employee before initiating the interaction in order for that interaction to constitute a 42 U.S.C. § 12112(d)(4)(B) inquiry.  Because the former employer did not have any such knowledge in this case, its communication with the former employee was not an inquiry for purposes of 42 U.S.C. § 12112(d)(4)(B).

For more information or for a consultation regarding your legal issues, please contact McCollum & Associates, LLC, at (301) 864-6070,www.jmlaw.net, or jmccollum@jmlaw.net.

The clinical examination involves study of:

• Vital signs including height, weight, body temperature, blood pressure (BP; sometimes referred to as “arterial blood pressure,” the pressure exerted by circulating blood upon the walls of blood vessels, and is one of the principal vital signs), pulse (in medicine, it represents the tactile arterial palpation of the heartbeat by trained fingertips), respiration rate, hemoglobin oxygen saturation/dissolved oxygen (DO; a relative measure of the amount of oxygen that is dissolved or carried in a given medium)
• General appearance of the patient and specific indicators of disease (nutritional status, presence of jaundice, pallor or nail clubbing, which in medicine, is a deformity of the fingers and fingernails associated with a number of diseases, mostly of the heart and lungs)
• Human skin, the outer covering of the body
• Head, eye, ear (the organ that detects sound), nose, and throat–HEENT
• Cardiovascular, or the circulatory system, an organ system that passes nutrients (such as amino acids, electrolytes and lymph), gases, hormones, blood cells, etc. to and from cells in the body to help fight diseases, stabilize body temperature and pH, and to maintain homeostasis: heart, a hollow muscle that pumps blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions; and blood vessels, the part of the circulatory system that transports blood throughout the body
• Respiratory, or the respiratory/ventilatory system, the biological system of an organism that introduces respiratory gases to the interior and performs gas exchange: large airways and lungs, the essential respiration organ in many air-breathing animals, including most tetrapods, a few fish and a few snails
• Abdomen, in vertebrates such as mammals, constitutes the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis; and rectum, the final straight portion of the large intestine in some mammals, and the gut in others
• Genitalia (and pregnancy if the patient is or could be pregnant)
• Musculoskeletal system (including spine and extremities; also known as the “locomotor system”), an organ system that gives animals (and humans) the ability to move using the muscular and skeletal systems
• Neurological, medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system: consciousness; awareness; brain; vision; cranial nerves, or nerves that emerge directly from the brain, in contrast to spinal nerves, which emerge from segments of the spinal cord; spinal cord; and the “peripheral nervous system” (“PNS,” or occasionally “PeNS”), consisting of the nerves and ganglia outside of the brain and spinal cord
• Psychiatry, the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders: orientation; mental status examination (USA), or “mental state examination” (rest of the world), abbreviated “MSE,” an important part of the clinical assessment process in psychiatric practice; evidence perception or thought

It is to likely focus on areas of interest highlighted in the medical history and may not include everything listed above.

A medical/clinical laboratory, a laboratory where tests are done on clinical specimens in order to get information about the health of a patient ads pertaining to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease; and imaging studies (“medical imaging”), the technique and process used to create images of the human body (or parts and function thereof) for clinical purposes (medical procedures seeking to reveal, diagnose, or examine disease) or medical science (including the study of normal anatomy and physiology), results may be obtained, if necessary.

The medical decision-making (MDM) process involves analysis and synthesis of all the above data to come up with a list of possible diagnoses (the differential diagnoses; sometimes abbreviated “DDx,” “ddx,” “DD,”” D/Dx,” or ΔΔ), a systematic diagnostic method used to identify the presence of an entity where multiple alternatives are possible (and the process may be termed “differential diagnostic procedure”), and may also refer to any of the included candidate alternatives (which may also be termed “candidate condition”); along with an idea of what needs to be done to obtain a definitive diagnosis that would explain their patient’s problem.

The treatment plan may include ordering additional laboratory tests and studies, starting therapy, referral to a specialist, or watchful observation; a laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurements may be performed. Follow-up may be advised.

This process is used by primary care providers as well as specialists. It may take only a few minutes if the problem is simple and straightforward. On the other hand, it may take weeks in a patient who has been hospitalized with bizarre symptoms or multi-system problems, with involvement by several specialists.

On subsequent visits, the process may be repeated in an abbreviated manner to obtain any new history, symptoms, physical findings, and lab or imaging results, or specialist consultations.

See: Internet From Satellite Broadband

I was more than a little surprised when my father walked into my room this morning to wake me up.  Normally I’d rely on my phone’s alarm clock to wake me up, but given how it was my day off, it was obviously not set.  Which is why instead of waking up at the usual five-thirty, I had actually overslept, meaning by the time my father woke me it was well past six-thirty.

After being reminded that there was a medical check-up I needed to get to at the office, I hurriedly bathed and got dressed.  Surprisingly, the fact that I had literally eaten nothing since six in the evening the night before didn’t bother me one bit, but I suppose the two liters of water I had drunk on and off during the evening had something to do with it.

So once I got to the office, I headed off to the pantry where the bulk of the medical check-up was set up.  As expected, I wasn’t the only one there, but the line was moving relatively quickly anyway.  I filled out the required forms, then shuffled over to one table to have my height and weight measured.  As I had feared, I was counted overweight again, though it’s been at the spot where it’s occupied for more than two months now, so at least that’s a small comfort.  My eyesight seems to have gotten worse though (both measured 20/100).  Hmm.  I might have to have a new set of lenses measured.  

Next was the blood test.  It was strange, since I’d normally balk and even look away whenever a blood sample was taken from me, but this time around I stared with abject disinterest when the orderly jabbed a syringe into my right arm.  I didn’t even flinch.  After that, I was given a small plastic container to fill for the urine test…  Which because of all the water I’d been drinking for the evening and evening before I left home, I was ready to fill.  The usual check-up with a doctor followed that, before it was off to the parking lot for my chest X-Ray (since the mobile X-Ray van was set up there).

With that completed, I submitted the completed form, had it signed, and that was that.

I didn’t go home right away of course.  Given that I hadn’t eaten dinner or breakfast, I dropped by the closest Jollibee, ordered a 2-piece Chickenjoy with extra rice, and stuffed myself with fried chicken to my heart’s content.  Going to hate myself later on of course, but boy did that chicken taste good.  I don’t think it’s even close to the context it was used, but what the hey, let me crib a bit from Cervantes in saying that “the best sauce in the world is hunger”.

It was still early once I got home, which meant that I had to wait for an hour or so before I could withdraw my pay from the nearby bank (I had checked earlier at the ATM on the first floor when I went to the office, and it didn’t have money in it yet).  So I caught up on some of the shows I had downloaded over the week.  It was close to lunch when I decided to go out again, because I was sure that there’d be money in the payroll account by then… Which it did.  

The thing is, it wasn’t as much as I was expecting, but I guess it’s because of all those taxes and deductions that come at the end of the month.  Oh well.  After another detour to my savings bank, said pay was safely deposited into my account.  Though, I don’t think it’s going to get a chance to linger there long, as I already have three bills waiting for me.  Oi.

Tch, it’s really going to be tight again until the next payday.  And enrollment is coming too…

The settlement, announced Tuesday, resolves a lawsuit from the U.S. Justice Department that accused the county of discrimination and violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. The county has agreed to make payments between $5,000 and $75,000 to 10 workers and job applicants or their surviving family members, but maintains that its policies are legal and crafted to make sure that employees are physically fit to do their jobs.

The suit was brought on behalf of a group of current and former county workers and applicants, including police officers and firefighters. They said they were forced to reveal extensive and private medical histories — including questions about tobacco use, tea and soda drinking habits and past skin rashes — that were irrelevant to their job performance. They also said they were made to undergo fitness-for-duty exams that weren’t connected to their jobs, in some cases when they were on medical leave and weren’t even preparing to return to work.

Two applicants for EMT positions said they were disqualified because they were diabetic, according to the lawsuit. In one instance, a police officer who injured his neck and shoulder trying to subdue a suspect complained that the county forced him to see a doctor who asked him to describe his medical history “from birth,” including an eye injury 17 years prior, and reviewed 200 pages of medical records — even though the doctor said he was fine to return to duty.

“The result of the county’s discriminatory policies and practices was to force employees, including veteran police officers and firefighters, to submit to invasive and unjustified medical examinations and inquiries,” Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for the civil rights division, said in a statement. “The ADA does not tolerate this type of conduct and neither does the Justice Department.”

Under the settlement, the county agreed, among other conditions, to not automatically exclude job applicants who are diabetic, to train supervisors on how to comply with the ADA and to conduct medical examinations on existing employees “only where they are job-related and consistent with business necessity.”

Baltimore County Attorney Michael Field said in a statement on the county website that although the county was confident its procedures would have been upheld in court, it wanted to avoid a costly legal fight with the federal government.

“In this age of multi-million dollar judgments and soaring attorney’s fees, the County must consider the potential cost to taxpayers of litigating against the federal government — an ordeal that would have been lengthy and costly, even if the County ultimately prevailed,” Field wrote.

The settlement also includes $30,000 for lawyers’ fees, he said.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

The Michael L. Buckner Law Firm recommends institutions’ athletics compliance offices: a) review policies and procedures concerning mandatory athletics medical examinations for prospective student-athletes; and b) include the interpretation in the next scheduled rules-education session for the athletics staff.

by Dr. Janko Gregorin, Rijeka

Research into a medicine for malignant diseases

In the course studying malignant diseases, I attempted to come one step closer to the development of a versatile medicine, which could contribute to the healing of these kinds of diseases. I was fully aware of the difficulties of this task. I took at the same time spiritual force and courage from the results I have achieved in the research into medicines that can be useful for combating fatal diseases and the recovery of my patients. So I launched this special scientific project. The discovery of the principle of function of cancerous cells served as basis for the scientific approach I applied. The fact that I have been engaged in alternative medicine prevented me from reporting on my findings in a specialist journal. Accordingly, this paper can be regarded as a report on the results I have achieved in healing cancer diseases. Being in quest of new things, I decided to approach the issue from the effect instead of the cause. This is why the discovery of the principle of function of cancerous cells was so important. I first tested the concentrate as treatment of my mother in 1994. According to the diagnosis, she was in the last stage of rectal cancer. The diagnosis threatened with immediate end. The situation grew worse because my mother refused to receive medical treatment, i.e. chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Scientific background of the efficaciousness of the medicine

Two factors set limits to the use of the preparation which was already available to me at that time. On the one hand it was its very mild effect, being an herbal product. On the other, it does not show its effect through metabolism. This is the reason why it gets through to the internal organs more slowly. Despite all this, my mother recovered completely owing to this remedy in six months. This encouraged me to help other patients who appealed to me as they were trying to find a remedy for their tumor disease. Then I decided to elaborate a more up-to-date method for producing a stronger version of the preparation I discovered, a version which would show its effect through metabolism. My aim was to produce a new remedy which would be able to block the growth and function of cancerous cells in the human body in a very short time. As a result of desperately hard research work of eight years, I managed to prepare a more up-to-date version of the remedy in 2002. It is able to stop the function and growth of cancerous cells in the internal organs much faster, through metabolism. Hoping for help, patients called on me one after the other. There were some serious cases when the whole body of the patients were full of metastases. Based upon the experiences I gained so far I can say that these metastases can be forced back in 1-4 months. These almost unbelievable results drove me to expose the product to further laboratory tests in order to clear its effect mechanism precisely. As I could not rely upon any financial aid for my research apart from my own income, it took a long time until an institute encouraged my efforts and carried out the laboratory efficiency test of the product. Grateful acknowledgments are due to the Slovenian National Cancer Research Institute and Ms Professor Dr. Tamara Lah, head of the Department of Cytogenetics and Toxicology for providing an opportunity in 2004 to carry out tests of both of my preparations on hepatic tumor cells at the institute led by her.

Indolence of patients – an obstacle to restoration to health

Certainly, there are some obstacles to becoming cured of tumor diseases. As is often the case, patients do not take the treatment seriously; they do not comply with the strict orders of doctors. As soon as the first signs of recovery appear, patients take it easy and establish a diagnosis by themselves. They do not go regularly to check-up examinations, etc. In other cases, patients pray for help having one foot in the grave, owing to the fact that they consulted a doctor too late. Another problem is that it is difficult to find transplantable organs for patients with significant metastases. And another difficulty may be caused by the fact that soft tissues, i.e. lungs, liver, etc., begin to decay quickly. So every day of delay decreases the chances.

So I recommend that all my patients and clients take their health seriously. They should regularly go to medical examinations and consult a doctor before it is too late. They should also listen to the doctors’ advices. All these things are to be done so that the medical aid will not be provided too late. Should it happen the only thing to be done is to provide an opportunity for them to spend the rest of their days under circumstances worthy of them.

Tests have demonstrated – as you can also see in the pictures – that the Herbal Tonic, the preparation which was invented in 1989, eliminates the homogeneity of tumor tissues to a significant extent in a few hours. The other picture to the right shows that the Tonic Extract, the preparation which was invented in 2002, blocks the growth and function of tumor tissues within a few hours. Owing to its crystal-forming effect, it can eliminate the homogeneity of the tumor cells of nodes even more efficiently. It indicates that the enzyme to be found in the preparation is treated by the tumor cell as nutriment which is fixed by the tumor cell. The preparation, on the other hand, blocks the growth and nourishment of the tumor cell, owing to its crystal-forming effect.

Alternative medicine has offered a remedy for several kinds of tumor diseases in the last hundred years. The ever increasing offer of different herbal teas, tinctures and honey-based herbal preparations give the best proof of the efficiency of alternative treatments. All of them increase the body’s deferences. Through invigoration of the immune system, the body is able to take up the fight and recover even from serious diseases as cancer. We should not forget that the use of preparations which are not qualified as pharmaceutical products does not substitute for medicinal treatment and regular medical control.

The information I have in this post is still relevant to DLA changes, and I hope you find it useful. However, it is not as current as some other material out there, given that it was written in response to the June 2010 budget. I hope that if this post doesn’t answer your questions, that at least some of the links here can.

Best wishes

Pandora

—

EDIT – 6 December 2010 – In light of announcements made today on DLA, this post is experiencing a resurgence of hits.  Unfortunately the material herein, although probably relevant to today’s measures, is not about them specifically, referring instead to ideas mooted in the June 2010 budget.  I have yet to examine in detail the changes announced in today’s proposal documents, but will do so as soon as possible and then post about it.  In the meantime, here is the information provided by the government itself, and an article on the issue from Community Care.

—

NOTE: This is written from the point of view of someone claiming Disability Living Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance as her sole income; I do not and cannot work at present.  In most cases, DLA can be awarded if you do work.  However, I have only claimed it in the context of unemployment, and would apparently not be entitled to it if and when I did return to work, so I am writing from that perspective.  Please see here if you need more details on the benefit.

—

So apparently the delightful George Osbourne, with the backing of both the Tories and the Liberal Democrats in their spectacularly beautiful little love-in coalition of joy, has decreed that from 2013 all claimants of Disability Living Allowance – new or existing – will have to undergo medical examinations.  This is in order to weed out the dirty, scrounging malingerers that go about claiming DLA…you know, those bunch of work-shy, lazy twatbags that just cannot be arsed to work.

People like me!!!

I am mental, therefore I have a disability that you can’t see on or about my body…therefore I don’t have a disability and am not mental, so seemingly goes the circular logic, because mental illness* doesn’t really exist, does it – it’s just something us pigshit, employment-avoidant obsessives make up so we can live at the tax-payer’s expense.  Nevermind that filling out the bloody form is like a full-time job in itself…

(* Of course they do recognise that mental illness exists – but ‘depression’ or ‘PTSD’ or whatever are not really mental illnesses in these people’s eyes.  One has to be floridly and continually psychotic, otherwise they ain’t unwell at all innit.  And, yes, I know – not everyone in the government or society at large thinks this.  Probably not even the majority, to be fair.  But it’s still going to be the hidden disabilities that get hit here – of that I am almost certain).

Obviously, I’m being facetious here.  I know that there are people claiming benefits who are work-shy malingerers, and of course I’d like to see such people weeded out of the system; I think most right-thinking people would.  The difficulties with this approach are many, though.

For one, I genuinely don’t believe that there’s as many such people in the system as the Daily Fail-thumping reactionists would have us believe.  That was a view that I formerly held, I must confess, and I apologise profusely for my unfair, cruel stereotyping.  It hasn’t been my own work-demise that has fuelled my revision of opinion, but connecting with so many people on Twitter and Facebook whose claims for various disabilities – mental or physical, obvious or hidden – are very clearly needed and deserved.  I have yet to meet one single person claiming the benefit that does not seem entitled to it.

Secondly, these medical examinations can set people like me back by months.  I cannot emphasise enough how stressful they are.  Unlike DLA, claims for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), the replacement for Incapacity Benefit (IB), are presently assessed.  I went through one in March last year, and it effectively ruined my life for a while – the derision and contempt with which you are treated, the evident disbelief on the part of the clinician, the gruelling and intimate interrogation that they force upon you – for someone mentally stable, it would be horrific.  The effects upon us that are clearly unstable are potentially devastating.

Thirdly, as Benefit Scrounging Scum points out in this post, there is a danger that DLA assessments will completely backfire on the government.  If, as seems likely, assessments will ensure that many people receiving or applying for DLA will be turned down for it, then in all probability the various Social Security Agencies will be swamped with costly appeal tribunals.  The capital involved in provision of these tribunals could quite possibly amount to a figure similar to the bill currently directed at DLA payments.  Any savings would ergo be lost.

On a similar point, though, I fear that those of us with mental health problems, or those that are ‘easily’ distressed, may be so floored by the news that their DLA claim has been rejected that they fall into a spiral of abject depression.  I think I can reasonably assume that detailing the dangers of this to most of my readership is not a necessary endeavour on my part; however, in government-speak, let’s just say that if these people are using DLA as income because they can’t work – well, refusing the benefit to them is not exactly likely to enable them to become your fabled ‘productive members of society’.

In the fourth instance, the medical professionals employed in these capacities seem universally fuckwitted (I’ve had experience of them prior to last year too).  They work for the Social Security Agencies, I am convinced, because they are unemployable elsewhere (and that’s saying something when you consider the calibre of some medics in the NHS!).  At no point are any specialists apparently involved.  This is not just applicable to psychiatric disorders, but things like MS, arthritis, deafness, learning disabilities, autism – you name it.  They’re just ‘generic’ doctors with no in-depth understanding of the sometimes complex illnesses with which they are presented.

The incompetence of the doctor I saw last year was underlined by the fact that he felt that I was at no point ‘disconnected from reality’ (hmm, psychosis and dissociation are a universal reality, then) and could return to work within a year to 18 months.  LOLZ like innit.  Look at me, people, look at me!  I’m a bloody mess of psychological spaghetti falling off a plate!  There is no way!

The incompetence of the Social Security Agency, in turn, was that they employed this useless tosser who didn’t even assess me under the correct section of the relevant legislation, and they didn’t even realise his mistake.  Despite my protestations, a year later they have still not responded to my complaints.  Furthermore, because I was not deemed to be ‘disconnected from reality’, I will be asked to attend work-focused interviews towards the end of this year – and unless there is a dramatic change in a mere few months, I will simply not be ready for these meetings, never mind for actual fucking work.

Not everyone that claims DLA also claims ESA or IB, but many do.  For those of us with a nervous or unstable disposition, having to have two evil medical exams will be a stress beyond stress; this may sound histrionic, but I really believe this could lead to full psychological – even psychotic – breakdowns.  They really are that bad.  Aside from the fact that this is horrendous for the person involved, and their friends and family, if we look at it from a macro perspective, such breakdowns will only cost the government more through the health care required.  Thus rendering the supposed savings redundant, yet again.

Now, if Georgie-Gideon-Tory-Boy Osbourne would link ESA assessments to those also claiming DLA, or vice versa, that might be moderately acceptable.  I could live with that, but not with having to go through this highly traumatic experience twice.

Additionally, the various Social Security Agencies across the UK need to make sure they employ a range of medical specialists.  Psychiatric specialists, yes, but also those in other medical disciplines.  Presumably psychiatry would need to be the largest, however, as mental health problems (as far as I know) account for many DLA claims, especially amongst people of my age.  I don’t even think these doctors would need to be full-time, nor would they need to be consultants.  A trainee at registrar or SHO level, perhaps also working elsewhere at other times, would be better than someone who has only the most basic specialist training whilst doing his or her MB.

They will never do this, of course.  But to make things fair, they damn well should.

The one saving grace of this proposed change to DLA, from an entirely personal angle, is that it won’t come into practice until 2013.  I sincerely hope that I will be able to work at that point, but therapy and recovery for the conditions with which I am afflicted takes bloody time, and we’ll just have to see.  One thing that I am determined not to do is return to work before I am completely psychologically ready – that would do neither me nor the employer any good.

For other people, who will never be able to work, this is a self-evident and undermining blow – and, frankly, something of an insult.

In theory, I do support some screening to make sure claimants are genuine.  Those that are claiming illegitimately give us all a bad name, and more importantly, they ‘scrounge’ money that would be much better spent elsewhere – such as the health service itself.

But at the end of the day, I would rather there were one or two fakers within the system than have the rest of us robbed of the entitlements that we need, whilst being thoroughly objectified and demoralised in the process.

marketing

Since Australia’s Immigration Minister announced changes to the skilled migration program at the end of last year there has been a lot of misunderstanding among intending skilled migrants. In this article we try to dispel some of the myths.

In no particular order, here are some of the comments we have heard in recent months:

Australia has stopped accepting skilled migrants

Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, Australia’s skilled migration program (the amount of visas the Immigration Minister requires his Department to grant annually) is the highest on record this year, with a planned 115,000 skilled visas to be granted in the year to 30th of June, 2009.

The skilled program for 2009/10 is planned to be 108,100, which is the third highest program on record.

By way of comparison the skilled program in the last few years has delivered the following outcomes:

 
2007/08: 108,540
- 2006/07: 97,920
- 2005/06: 97,340
- 2004/05: 77,880

My occupation is not on the Critical Skills List and I can’t be sponsored by a State or Territory Government. That means I will never get a visa.

It is true to say that the Minister’s announcements have impacted quite significantly on the processing of skilled visas, with occupations on the CSL and State/Territory Sponsored skilled visa applications being the only offshore skilled visa applications that are being processed to a decision at the moment.

However, there will come a time (we anticipate in the next 3 to 4 months) when Department of Immigration case officers will have to move onto the next category on the Minister’s priority list, namely applications where an occupation on the Migration Occupations in Demand List (or MODL) is nominated.

We anticipate that many applicants with MODL occupations will have sought sponsorship from a State or Territory Government (as MODL occupations have tended to be included on their Wanted Skills Lists) and as such we think it likely that remaining skilled visa applications will start to be looked at with a view to visas being granted during the.

It should also be remembered that when the total skilled migration program was in the region of 70,000 annually processing times were typically 9 to 12 months – even allowing for heightened demand in recent years the large program total that is now available should allow visa application processing times to be closer to 12 months over the next year to 18 months.

And as ever, the sooner a visa application is lodged the sooner a visa will be granted.

I won’t be able to obtain sponsorship from a State or Territory Government

To a verying degree all of the States and Territories in Australia are sponsoring skilled individuals for the grant of visas. Some are sponsoring for the grant of provisional subclass 475 visas (which provide for permanent residency via a second visa application once subclass 475 visaholders have been residing and working in a regional area for the required period), while others are sponsoring for subclass 176 permanent residency visas.

The key question for intending skilled migrants is therefore which States and Territories are sponsoring my occupation, and for what subclass of visa.

If I am sponsored by a State or Territory Government I will have to live there while I remain in Australia

Technically, that is not the case. If applying to a State or Territory Government for sponsorship you will be asked to provide information that demonstrates you are genuine in your intentions to reside in that State or Territory.

Indeed, in most cases you will be asked to sign an undertaking to reside in the sponsoring State/Territory for at least 2 years.

We would add that when applying for sponsorship you should be completing the application in good faith, with a genuine intention to reside in the State or Territory to which you are applying.

Note also that if applying for sponsorship of a subclass 475 (provisional) visa you will be subject to a visa condition that requires you to live and work in a regional area of Australia, and that you can anticipate that this will be checked when you apply for permanent residency in due course. 

Employers are no longer able to sponsor individuals for skilled visas

This comment is typically heard in the context of subclass 457 visas – which is the long term temporary residency visa.

It is fair to say that Australia’s Immigration Minister has sought to change 457 visa sentiment amongst employers by issuing “clarification” in the last few months in the form of policy guidance to his Department. This has included (amongst other things) requiring employers to more clearly demonstrate the benefit to Australia arising as a consequence of the employment of the nominated individual following the grant of a 457 visa.

However, this amendment of policy settings has not caused a cessation of 457 visa grants – far from it. Indeed, Go Matilda has had many 457 visas granted in the last few months.

Even if I obtain a visa, the global economic crisis means I won’t be able to get a job when I move to Australia

The Australian economy has held up remarkably well in comparison with other first world countries, and indeed has thus far avoided a technical recession. This is quite possibly due to its closer associations economically with South East Asia and China, and the financial boost associated with a growth in population, most notably through the large migration programs of the last few years.

By contrast the UK has found itself more closely aligned with the fortunes of the US, and with the collapse of wealth through banking and housing failures.

No-one can say that any one individual will be certain to secure employment when they move to Australia. However, the prospects for work are generally considered to be brighter in Australia than in the UK, US, etc, which should augur well for intending migrants.

I won’t be able to sell my house and the GBP – AUD exchange rate is awful

Yes, the economies of the world are in a dreadful state at the moment, and the bottom has fallen out of the housing market in the UK.

However, there is no requirement for you to move to Australia as soon as your visa is granted – permanent skilled visas require you to enter Australia by an initial entry date, which is usually 12 months from the earlier of the date of police clearance certificates and the date medical examinations were attended.

That required initial entry can be on a holiday, and the permanent move can be a few years later – at any time up to 5 years after visa grant – by which time we suggest the economies of the world and the currency exchange rate will be somewhat different, most probably better than they are today.

This means that applying for a skilled visa now rather than waiting could actually mean that you find yourself migrating at a better time than those who have been granted their visas in the last 12 months.

If you are a skilled individual and are contemplating a move to Australia some of the above issues might have crossed your mind.
If you would like to talk about your concerns and to discuss the migration process more fully please contact us.
Go Matilda has many years of experience assisting with Australian visa applications, and we will be pleased to have a free initial discussion about your situation, your visa strategy, and how we might help, after which we can send you a no obligation proposal as to our fees.

This may be a major problem as it can, under certain circumstances, lead to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) attempting to have the sponsors permanent residence visa cancelled. The reason behind this, apart from the obvious one, that the sponsor has not answered questions on their original application form truthfully, is that all dependants, whether migrating with a primary applicant or not, must undergo the same medicals as the migrating applicant. DIAC has a “one fails all fail” policy when it comes to medicals.  So if a non-migrating child, for example, fails to get a satisfactory medical report, the visa will not be granted unless a waiver can be accessed. All Public Interest criteria that apply to a visa (and medical testing is a very important public interest criterion) must be met in order to get a visa granted. In the case of permanent residence, all ‘potential’ migrant dependants must pass medicals.

The real problems, however, begin when the new permanent resident makes application for the undeclared child or children to migrate to Australia. DIAC’s basic initial reaction is…what children? All of a sudden a person who is, in their own view, attempting to do what they see as the ‘right’ thing can be fighting a battle on two fronts – one to get the children recognised and the other to keep their own permanent residence visa.

The three clients I saw last month had been advised not to include their non-migrating children by different trusted people, for different reasons. These omissions were therefore intentional and not some sort of error or oversight. I don’t believe any of them thought they were doing the wrong thing at the time, and remember, those they trusted were urging them that it was the prudent way to apply. As an example one was told that ‘Australia’ didn’t like large families and another, that the children were ‘not applicable’ to this type of application. This was all of course untrue, and all potentially very damaging to the applicant and the children. Circumstances change, and all of a sudden, all these people found that their responsibility for their overseas children, over and above parental financial duties that they were all fortunately maintaining, became pressing and immediate. All of a sudden the reason for the question on the original application form relating to non-migrating children became apparent.

The DIAC slogan is “people our business” and the Department sees many people who are at their most vulnerable when applying to come to live in Australia. None of the silly stories that float around regarding ‘official’ attitudes to non-migrating children or family size are true. Migration is a process best served with the truth. It is often very difficult to move children, even those with legitimate claims, across national borders. There are very good reasons behind the caution with which governments approach child migration. When additional barriers are erected in the manner outlined above, the process inevitably becomes slow, frustrating, and at times, almost impossible. Applications are refused – I’m looking at two now where there is not even a dispute as to the children’s parentage.

The moral to this story is twofold: tell the truth and don’t assume that something as fundamental as a parental bond will naturally overcome all obstacles.

In my experience DIAC will deal honestly with people if people deal honestly with them. If you’re unsure, or if someone is telling you to misrepresent your true situation, get some more advice. Don’t just blunder ahead. Very few lies ever produce outcomes that are immune from the original dishonesty.

Webcam from the Bridge of the Queen Victoria is HERE.

The Victoria spent this day steaming due west from Civitavecchia, Italy, toward Barcelona, Spain. Early in the morning, not long after dawn, the Victoria made a graceful turn (photo, above) and ran along channel markers passing between Corsica, a French island on the north, and Sardinia, an Italian island on the south.

Weather had turned chilly, but not cold. The seas had calmed and the sun, although not warm, was bright.

In the afternoon we received a letter from the Purser’s office containing our missing luggage tickets for our transfer on Monday to the Queen Mary 2. Our luggage must contain both a pink and a white tags to bypass British customs and be delivered directly to our QM2 cabin. Our actual tickets will be waiting for us in our cabin on the QM2 along with “leather luggage tags” (which apparently is a big deal).

… but wait! – how are we supposed to get on the QM2 if our tickets are already on the ship in our room? We were given a letter that we are supposed to present at the gangplank.

Oh. Okay.

We were still waiting to hear whether any tours will be offered during our day in the UK. We’d like to go to Windsor Palace. Stonehenge is of less interest because we have seen such stone arrays elsewhere in the UK, and because neither of us have ever been taken on alien spaceships and medically inspected.

Southampton will be fine if nothing else works out. Everyone without exception is telling us there is little to see in Southampton, but, fact is, Carol Anne and I always find lots of interesting things and people in ‘uninteresting’ places.

Photographs and Text of QueenVictoria.Wordpress.Com are property of, and Copyright 2009 by, Seine-Harbour Productions LLC, Studio City, California. All rights are reserved..

Travel insurance will replace (in the equivalent in monetary value) your bag and its contents including the money. Travel Insurance is written on very low margins to keep it competitive, too low to absorb increased costs so they are inevitably passed on. This tends to mean that yo get what you pay for, if the policy you are thinking of buying is very cheap then there will be a catch if not several catches when you come to make a claim, it is one area where it is definately true to say you get what you pay for. Travel Insurance is probably one of the most overlooked aspects of preparing for a trip. Getting the right insurance cover is very important. Travel insurance is usually one of the last things that a holiday-maker considers which portrays just how insignificant it can be to some people. Just remember that travel insurance needs to provide the most suitable cover for you and your family. Travel Insurance companies offer protection for the adventurous engaged in sports and extreme sports. They cover a variety of winter and water activities, like skiing, climbing, scuba diving, and even sky diving and bungee jumping. Travel insurances categorized mostly in two category, Long term and Short term. Travel insurance becomes increasingly difficult to get after age 55, with your age alone being considered something of a pre-existing condition. The precise cutoff for receiving insurance without an addition premium and/or medical examinations varies from 55 to over 70 for some insurers. Travel insurance might not be at the top of your list of “things to do,” but it should be. If you will be driving in Mexico, you must be sure that you are familiar with the relevant motoring laws in Mexico. Travel insurance for people doing winter sports often doubles because of the associated risks, so it makes a huge dent in your wallet. However, unless you plan to be on the slopes every single day of you trip, it´s worth considering other options. travel insurance. Travel insurance will cover theft and lost items whilst you are on holiday, but only if you can show proof of ownership and proof of loss! If you are the victim of a theft, go to the police to get a written police report. Travel insurance is one type of insurance you are guaranteed to use. We need medical attention from time to time, and some of us need it quite often. Travel insurance isn’t much good to you if you’re in breach of the insurance policy’s terms. Travel insurance and medical evacuation are competitive businesses. Thus, it is interesting to postulate why insurers and evacuation companies so often fail to provide a high-quality service. Travel insurance can help cover expenses if you become ill or injured, lose your luggage, have a car accident or have to change your plans due to weather or illness. Travel insurance is uniquely different from other kinds of insurance services in that it does cover most of what is covered under standard insurance plans, but becomes effective only while the person is traveling. It is also interesting to note that one may arrange for travel insurance generally at the time while the trip is being booked. Travel insurance covers you for losses caused by trip cancellation and interruption, medical expenses, baggage, and both trip and baggage delay. When you consider all the protection you get, we believe travel insurance is actually a great value. Travel insurance poses some new questions; some vacations are low risk and cost very little money and therefore probably aren’t worth insuring. A vacation that includes hang gliding on a remote island during hurricane season, on the other hand, may be worth insuring. Travel insurance nowadays is not merely a health plan for vacationers. Therefore if you have decided that you want to purchase travel insurance before you leave there are a few things you should know.