Studio looking for cast members with "limb differences"

From the Signal (Santa Clarita, CA):

Universal Pictures has an open cattle call for people - NO ACTING EXPERIENCE NECESSARY - who'd like to be in a film with Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks. Yes. THAT Julia and Tom. We ain't foolin'. Call 310-364-3661. The location is at 11009 East Washington Ave., El Cajon, CA 92019. The production office is specifically looking for "Men, Women, and children who have limb differences or Unique Phiscial Characteristics."

ACA Survey of Prosthetic Coverage Restrictions

The Amputee Coalition of America has released a survey that found a wide disparity between what private insurers will cover for prosthetic devices. The ACA is advocating at the state and federal level for legislation that requires all private health insurers to provide coverage for the "fitting, repair or replacement of a prosthetic device and/or component."

Did da Vinci have a hand deformity?

The San Diego Union-Tribune had this article from last week on a California man who believes Leonardo da Vinci had a hand deformity.

(Ben) Sweeney's research convinced him that da Vinci had a congenital defect – a webbed, or syndactyl, hand. The artist's drawings of his own hand, Sweeney contends, seem to depict a webbed third and fourth finger, characteristic of syndactyly, and a pointed little finger. Sweeney also singles out similarly deformed left hands in other da Vinci artworks – including the hand of Jesus Christ in “The Last Supper.”

Sweeney shared his research with Dr. Joseph Upton at Harvard. Upton is one of the country's leading hand specialists.

“What he has shown me is certainly very believable,” Upton said of Sweeney's research.

While no one will ever be able to prove the theory, “you can't rule it out,” Upton said. He noted that the malformation of the ring finger and third finger depicted in da Vinci's art matches several hand casts in his office.

Upton concluded, “If he didn't have the deformity himself, he certainly saw people who did.” He also said the deformed left hand of Christ in “The Last Supper,” thought by some art experts to be a depiction of da Vinci's own hand after he suffered a stroke, is inconsistent with that of a stroke victim.

Sweeney is in the early stages of his research and it will be interesting to see if his findings get any traction with da Vinci experts and other art historians.

Basketball star doesn't sweat extra digits

The Athens Banner Herald has this article on Auburn Tiger basketball player Frank Tolbert. Tolbert is a starting guard for the Tigers and also has polydactyly. Excerpt from the article follows:

Tolbert doesn't set himself apart with his high tempo alone. He also has a small extra finger protruding from the side of both hands, a birth defect called polydactyly. It doesn't give him any edge gripping the ball.

"People come up and ask me, 'Can I move it? Does it affect me?' I always just tell them, no," said Tolbert, whose father and grandmother also have extra digits. "It's just there."

He's not sensitive about the subject, laughing off the occasional heckling from opposing fans. He particularly liked one visiting fan's sign that read: "Hey, Frank. High Six."

"It just makes me laugh," Tolbert said. "I always joke around about my fingers anyway."

Visit to the Geneticist

A couple weeks ago we took our daughter to see a local geneticist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. While they didn't do blood work during this first appointment, the doctor did examine her hand. As with the majority of doctors we've seen, he did not think it was amniotic band syndrome -- do to tell-tale signs like the formation of finger nails.

His best initial guess was an atypical version of ectrodactyly, which is the medical term for the unfortunately labeled "lobster claw." The timing is ironic given that this condition is in the news courtesy of Bree Walker's appearance on Nip/Tuck.

Based on previous consultations and our own research, both my wife and I are skeptical it's actually ectrodactyly. That condition usually means the third metacarpal bone is missing and the hand forms a deep cleft where that bone should be. While we haven't had a truly conclusive x-ray on our daughter's hand, the hand surgeon we saw in Omaha thought he felt that all the metacarpal were present and during our initial consultation at the Curtis National Hand Center, I recall that team also ruling out ectrodactyly.

I'll be covering genetics in future posts as more tests are done over the next few weeks.

As an aside, in our appointment we were joined by about half-a-dozen medical students. The more the merrier as far as my wife and I were concerned. We know the rarity of this condition dictates that it's not often seen by most physicians, especially when they train and practice in a smaller city. Hopefully the subsequent discussions about my daughter's condition will help familiarize more local physicians with congenital hand deformities and improve their ability to diagnose and counsel other parents who will be faced with this situation in the future.

ACA Legislative Agenda

The Amputee Coalition of America is pushing legislation in 21 states in 2007 that would require insurers to provide coverage that allows policyholders to receive the prosthetic device they need. Here's how ACA frames the issue:

"In return for premiums paid for group health insurance, consumers expect to be covered for catastrophic illness or injury. Sadly, without legislation to ensure coverage, many people living with the loss or absence of a limb are facing discouraging obstacles when trying to obtain prosthetic care. Current changes in insurance plans are having a devastating effect on amputees and their families..."

The Coalition's online advocacy center includes a wealth of information on the issue and this initiative, including the status of legislation or coalition building in each state. The organization is also maintaining a blog specificly focused on its legislative campaigns. In a previous post I highlighted an upcoming volunteer night in DC that will help support the overall legislative effort. For more information on these efforts you can contact the ACA's Advocacy Dept. at (202) 742-1885 or appll@amputee-coalition.org.

ACA Volunteer Night in DC

The Amputee Coalition of America is organizing a "volunteer night" in DC on Wednesday, January 17th. According to the ACA advocacy page, the organization is pushing for prosthetic insurance legislation in 21 states in 2007 and is looking for volunteers to help support that effort. For more information you can contact Jeremiah at (202) 742-1885 or jperez@amputee-coalition.org.