2006年VOA标准英语-US Disability Legal Center Helps Cancer Patient

By Mike O'Sullivan
08 June 2006

Millions of Americans are living productive lives despite battling cancer, thanks to progress in medical treatment. But some cancer patients who face workplace discrimination or the loss of health insurance need legal aid. A law center in Los Angeles is helping¹ people with cancer, as well as others with more conventional disabilities.

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Eve Hill  
  

Eve Hill, who directs the Disability Rights Legal Center at Loyola Law School, says cancer can be a disability, and that cancer patients who are being treated unfairly have remedies through laws that protect the disabled. "In fact, people with cancer face a lot of employment discrimination. And then, people with other kinds of disabilities have a lot of trouble getting around if they have a mobility² impairment. There are still a lot of organizations, businesses and governments who haven't done anything to remove the barriers that they've built into place," she said.

The Disability Rights Center sponsors educational programs, runs a mediation³ service, and refers clients who need a lawyer to volunteer attorneys.
 
 
Barbara Schwerin
  
It also houses the Cancer Legal Resource Center, a joint⁴ program with Loyola Law School. Barbara Schwerin heads the project, which gets calls from 300 cancer patients a month.

Cancer-fighting chemotherapy treatments can cause fatigue⁵ and other problems. Ms. Schwerin says some employers are understanding, and help their employees by rescheduling work hours. Others are less cooperative, and she says their workers call her center with questions like this one. "I've been diagnosed with cancer. How do I work with my employer to keep my job while I go through treatment?," she said.

There are legal safeguards for people with cancer at the state level, including in California, where the condition is covered under the state's disability rights law. Ms. Schwerin says a landmark⁶ federal law enacted⁷ in 1990, the Americans With Disabilities Act, also provides protections for cancer patients.

"Theoretically, most people with cancer should be protected under that as being disabled. The question will also come up, though, as to whether they are qualified⁸, can they perform the essential functions of the job with or without a reasonable accommodation? So I think it's meant to be a dialogue between the employer and the employee, and we really try to encourage that that dialogue take place," she said.

She says she views recourse to the courts as a last resort in resolving problems. "I really think most people battling cancer don't need litigation in their lives. We try to find very practical resolution for people. But sometimes we need an attorney who can write a letter to the insurance company, help somebody know what words to use to talk to their employer," she said.

In other cases, law students help guide clients through the maze⁹ of government and private agencies that offer assistance to those with cancer and the disabled.

Eve Hill says the disabled have legal rights, whether their disability stems from cancer, impaired¹⁰ mobility, developmental problems or psychiatric conditions. But she says some employers, schools, transit¹¹ systems and others are slow to recognize that. "Some of it is ignorance. A lot of it is, well, I don't think it must apply to me, or we don't get any people who use wheelchairs here, to which I say, this is why - you have stairs so they can't get in. A lot of it is attitude. People are ignorant about disabilities and react with fear to them," she said.

The Los Angeles centers are working to help the 10 million Americans who are living with cancer, and the tens of millions more who face discrimination from other impairments

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。

3 mediation   

n.调解

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled by mediation of the third country. 这场争端通过第三国的斡旋而得以解决。
• The dispute was settled by mediation. 经调解使争端得以解决。

4 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

5 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

6 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

7 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

8 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

9 maze   

n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑

参考例句：

• He found his way through the complex maze of corridors.他穿过了迷宮一样的走廊。
• She was lost in the maze for several hours.一连几小时，她的头脑处于一片糊涂状态。

10 impaired   

adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Much reading has impaired his vision. 大量读书损害了他的视力。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His hearing is somewhat impaired. 他的听觉已受到一定程度的损害。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。