32 years later, most doctors still clueless about the Americans with Disabilities Act

One in four Americans live with some form of physical, mental, or developmental disability. Despite the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 32 years ago, a recent study finds many people don’t know much about this law — including the majority of doctors!  Society might expect the medical field to be an oasis in an otherwise cold world, but researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) found that this is simply not so. Many practicing physicians do not have a basic understanding of their legal obligations under ADA and 70 percent don’t know who decides what constitutes a “reasonable accommodation” for a person with disabilities.