Tell the CDC "No" on Abuse-Enabling "Wandering" Code!

[satie_danser]

"Last week, the ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee met to discuss the future of medical coding in the United States. The ICD-9-CM stands for the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification, and is the US government's official system of assigning codes to medical diagnoses and procedures. The day

Comments

[pyraxis]

Signed.

[old_cutter_john]

I was sneaking onto the New York City subways and riding alone for miles when I was only five years old. If some kid is doing that today, my sympathies are with him.

[satie_danser]

Yes, parents should definitely keep an eye on small children. Even a non-autistic 5 year old can wander off. (You managed the subway at five?! I'm 32 and they still intimidate me!) =b

[old_cutter_john]

At thirty-two they intimidated me too, so I always carried a gun.

[satie_danser]

I meant the subway, itself! They confuse me. But then, I live in a small city and rarely encounter them.

[nickykaa]

Signed. Thanks for posting.

When you sign, you have the option of adding a personal message. This was mine:

"The desire to go for a walk is not a pathology. The potential for abuse and impingement on individual liberty far outweighs any dubious potential benefits of medicalizing the taste for exercise and exploration. This isn't the first time in history that an attempt has been made to pathologize "wandering" - look up "Drapetomania" sometime."

[satie_danser]

Yes, thank you! I was going to ask people to share their personal messages, so others could build off them...but I forgot.

I didn't add a personal message, myself. And, my email to Donna Pickett was very simple, more or less a copy and paste job, so I didn't bother to share it here.

[novanglus]

Thoreau would never have survived in our modern age.

[brockulfsen]

He'd have been fine, as long as his insurance kept paying for the drugs to keep him docile.

[alonglongtime]

Thanks for passing this along, S.