Obama administration steps into insulin shot fight
Monday, May 30, 2011
Suzanne Kline checks son Merrick Horne's insulin in Corte Madera. With few school nurses, Kline must often leave work to give Merrick insulin.
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The Obama administration has stepped into a California case involving 14,000 diabetic schoolchildren, urging the state's top court to let school employees give insulin shots if no nurses are available.
Two lower courts have ruled that California law allows only licensed doctors and nurses to administer medication, including insulin, except in emergencies. But U.S. Justice Department lawyers say that given the state's shortage of nurses, that would effectively deny care to thousands of children and violate their rights under federal disability laws.
Prohibiting trained non-nursing employees from giving insulin injections "creates a serious obstacle to the ability of California schools to comply with their federal obligations" to educate children with disabilities, th
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