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Yes, this article is dismaying. However, what the researchers report about their studies in the medical journals and what the public ends up reading about them in the news media, are usually not exactly the same. Attention grabbing headlines, exaggerations and mistatements in news reports are common. It results in the public not getting accurate facts about PD and not understanding the people who live with it. Compare these excerpts from the original journal article, published in Neurology, with excerpts from the St. Petersburg Times article. First of all - note the titles of the two articles: Neurology article - "Driving safety in Parkinson's disease" St. Petersburg Times - "Study: Parkinson's patients not safe behind the wheel" From the St. Petersburg Times article: "ANEW study by researchers in Tampa found that Parkinson's patients are much more likely to be involved in car accidents, especially as the disease progresses. ...In an article published in the journal Neurology, the study recommends establishing guidelines for when patients should surrender their licenses, a notion gaining popularity among some advocates and researchers, but one most states have not addressed." From the research reported in : Neurology:Volume 59(11) 10 December 2002 pp 1787-1788 "Our study indicates that PD patients with advanced disease may be at risk for motor vehicle collisions, owing to both motor and cognitive dysfunction. Physicians may recommend that patients with dementia or substantial motor symptoms cease driving or refer them to the division of motor vehicles for a driving examination. Questions for further study include whether PD patients have more accidents on the road and whether antiparkinsonian treatment improves simulated or real driving performance. Larger, long-term prospective studies correlating periodic simulator assessments with motor vehicle accidents are required to develop rigorous guidelines regarding driving safety in PD patients." The Times article also stated that: "About 4 million Americans have Parkinson's disease. " ---Estimates of the number of Americans with PD vary from under 1 million to 1.5 million. --I also find it hard to believe that Dr. Lieberman would say something like this: "When you first get the disease, you're doing OK. But three or four years into the disease you're doing terribly," said Lieberman, a neurology professor at the University of Miami, " -- My bet is that he was misquoted or the comment taken out of context. Linda Herman dx 7 years ago and not "doing terribly" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn