Cerebral Palsy

Treating premature babies with nitric oxide gas improved their cognitive function at age 2 and lowered their risk of developing neurological complications such as cerebral palsy, according to a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. But a separate study concurrently published in the journal reported that the therapy did not help survival in a group of smaller and sicker premature babies and might have worsened it in the sickest infants among that group. Experts said that nitric oxide therapy, while promising for some premature infants, cannot be recommended generally until further research identifies which babies would benefit.

Horace F. Burgee Jr., a popular and highly respected Hampden funeral director who served on the board of United Cerebral Palsy of Central Maryland for 40 years, died yesterday of pneumonia at University of Maryland Medical Center. He was 78.Mr. Burgee, known as Buzz, was born and raised above the two-story Burgee-Henss Funeral Home that was founded by his grandfather in a brick home at Falls Road and 36th Street in Hampden in 1899.The Towson resident continued working in the business until last year, and at the time of his death was chairman of the board of the funeral home.

Jacqueline A. Speciner, a staunch advocate for disabled people, died of undetermined causes Tuesday at St. Joseph Medical Center. She was 49. Friends and family described a gregarious and independent woman who didn't let her cerebral palsy get in the way of enjoying life. "She didn't like the word disabilities, said Phyllis Godwin, who co-wrote Mrs. Speciner's autobiography. "She liked the word challenge. She wanted to let people know they could live on their own." Mrs. Speciner lived in the Virginia Towers in Towson.

Franklin "Frankie" Karpowicz, who was afflicted with cerebral palsy and lived at St. Elizabeth Rehabilitation and Nursing Center for 46 years, died of pneumonia Monday at St. Agnes Health Care. He was 66. Mr. Karpowicz, the son of Adam and Veronica Karpowski of Baltimore, became a ward of the Daughters of Charity, a religious order of women, after his last surviving parent died in 1953. Crippled from the disease, he spent his life in a wheelchair. "He was always smiling, always a happy person," said Helen Blick, who worked at St. Elizabeth where Mr. Karpowicz was the official greeter.

A former Columbia girl, born with cerebral palsy and delivered prematurely, has reached a $4.1 million out-of-court settlement in a medical malpractice suit..With cost-of-living increases from an annuity set up with that money, the settlement reached Monday could give Tracina Woods, now 13, up to $8.6 million during her lifetime, said her attorney, Kenneth C. Vogelstein of Baltimore."It's unusually large," said Mr. Vogelstein, who noted that many malpractice awards range between $200,000 to $2 million.

St. Agnes HealthCare has agreed to pay $2.1 million to a Manchester couple whose daughter has cerebral palsy and cannot talk, allegedly because of negligent care when she was born at the hospital in 1977.William and Kathleen Hartig will receive a lump sum payment of $1.3 million and periodic payments to help care for their 21-year-old daughter Sarah, as the result of a settlement agreement filed yesterday in Baltimore Circuit Court.Officials at St. Agnes, in the 900 block of Caton Ave. in Southwest Baltimore, declined to comment yesterday.

Gary G. Ulrich, chief executive officer of the Orton Dyslexia Society and a fund-raiser for charitable causes, died May 1 of cancer at St. Joseph Hospital. He was 46.He had been CEO of the society since 1992, and he had operated Gary G. Ulrich Associates, a fund-raising firm, since 1990.Cindy Scruggs, director of special projects for Orton, said, "He made such lasting contributions to the society. He wiped out our deficit and made us financially stable. He touched so many lives on a personal basis -- you couldn't know him without loving him."

Some 850 people are expected to participate in a "One Day Victory Rally" led by Florida evangelist David Ring at 7:30 p.m. Monday at North Carroll High School.The rally celebrates Mr. Ring's "triumph over the odds," including his lifelong struggle with cerebral palsy."David has a positive outlook on life and uses his handicap in a positive way," said the Rev. Chris A. Brammer of Hampstead Baptist Church, whose members organized the event and have invited congregations from 80 area churches to the rally.

-- The piece wasn't some naked confession about the difficulties of growing up with cerebral palsy. Instead, Hailey Reissman came at her story from the side, with a twist of humor and a touch of the profane. She called it, "I Have Cerebral Palsy and David Mamet Reveals What I Imagine The Friends Of The Guy I Am Dating Will Say When He Tells Them About Me, In Three Brief Monologues." The title encapsulates the wit and inventiveness that so impressed Reissman's professors at Washington College.

JAMES McKelvey and Eugene Traynor were drunk for more than a decade. After they joined Alcoholics Anonymous and sobered up, they discovered that they were no longer eligible for government education benefits. Veterans Administration rules required that claims be filed within 10 years unless prevented by "a physical or mental disability which was not the result of their own willful misconduct."Mr. Traynor and Mr. McKelvey, steeped in the "I am sick, not bad" philosophy which has become something of a mantra for Alcoholics Anonymous, sued the VA, claiming that alcoholism is a disease, not "willful misconduct," and that their 10-year benders should be regarded as disabilities beyond their control.