O&P Leaders Testify for Patients’ Rights Poster Law

National leaders in the O&P field testified before the House of Representatives Small Business Committee on July 16 in favor of HR 5730, the Injured and Amputee Veterans Bill of Rights. The bill would require the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to post a list of patients' rights in every VA prosthetic clinic, including the right to access the latest and most appropriate technology and the right to have access to the private practitioner of their choice. Tom Guth, CP, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Orthotics and Prosthetics (NAAOP), spoke before the committee about the critical role that small private O&P practices play in service to U.S. veterans. Testimony was also given by Fred Downs, chief of the Veterans Affair's (VA) Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Division, James Rogers, CPO, FAAOP, president of the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists (the Academy), and Dennis Clark, CPO, President of POINT Health Centers of America, Waterloo, Iowa, who has performed prosthetic care through Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The bill was introduced on April 8 by Robert Filner (D-CA), Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee.