Call us today. (800) 488-2436 | Salt Lake City, UT brodychemical.com We’ve been providing the medical industry here in Utah with products that are safe and the highest of quality since 1991. Brody Chemical provides a broad selection of hand wash and sanitizing products, surface disinfectants and cleaners, sterilizers, soaps, and more. • MS: Hemiparesis, osteoporosis, fractures from falls • NP: Epilepsy, psychiatric illnesses, anxiety, aggression, microcephaly and macrocephaly, movement disorders and extra pyramidal disorders Quality of Life Considerations It is very difficult for a medical professional to judge the quality of life of an individual who has developmental disabilities. This is a significant issue. The life that a person with developmental disabilities has is the only life they know. It is not fair to judge the quality of their life as compared to that of the person who is making the judgment. As medical professionals, we should be careful about making the decision to put such individuals on hospice or not treat them based on a judgment concerning the quality of their life. Obviously, there are medical conditions that preclude treatment or make it inadvisable, but caution in making such decisions in the developmentally disabled is advised. About the Authors Dr. Cook and Dr. Monson graduated from the University of Utah Medical School in 1962 and 2013 respectively — 51 years apart. From the demographics of their classes to the advances in medical technology, it has been delightful and enlightening for them to contrast how medicine has changed over time while practicing together at the Utah State Developmental Center (USDC). The USDC is an intermediate care facility for individuals with intellectual disabilities located in American Fork, Utah. Joseph Cook is a graduate of Utah State University and the University of Utah School of Medicine. He completed a straight medical internship followed by almost four years providing outpatient medical care to U.S. Navy personnel and dependents mostly in the Philippines. In 1967, he started general practice in San Mateo, California. In 1970, he was in the first group to qualify as a board-certified family physician. Following a long career in private practice and administrative medicine, he became the medical director of the Utah State Developmental Center (USDC) in 2007 where he still works part-time. While in private practice, he taught many medical students and was a clinical professor at the University of California in San Francisco. He is a fellow of the AAFP. Steven Monson is a graduate of Brigham Young University and the University of Utah School of Medicine. While a student at BYU, he worked at the USDC as a caregiver. Dr. Monson completed a family practice residency in Muncie, Indiana. He started as an attending physician at USDC in 2016 before becoming the current medical director, succeeding Dr. Cook in 2017. Dr. Monson has an interest in aerospace medicine and has been an active flight surgeon in the Indiana Air National Guard since 2016. | 32
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