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To those who have contributed to the debate on what constitutes eligibility for Social Security disability, and to those who have not: First of all I should describe my personal situation. I was first diagnosed in 1982 at the age of 48. I continued to work full time for the next twelve years. I will be 64 next February. I was declared officially SS fully disabled as of June 1997 and I received my first check in November. I am fortunate in that I tolerate prescribed drugs well. In March of 1997 I had a fetal tissue implant (or placebo) as part of an NIH study. When I first applied for SSDI I heard the horror stories of those who had applied, been rejected, and were accepted only after appeal. My neurologist wrote a fine letter for me citing my symptoms and my record of working until the very end of my usefulness to my employer. As a result my application was accepted. I periodically must justify my continuing disability to the Social Security Administration. The detrimental side effects of Sinemet have been cited as a reason to avoid it use. Has the young man in question tried using Sinemet to see if he is one of the unfortunate few who do not tolerate this drug? If he has, and if the answer is "yes" then his neurologist should prescribe alternative drugs, Permax, Parlodel, and so forth. If after a reasonable number of tries, no standard medical treatment is appropriate for him, then he certainly has evidence to present to the SSDI that he is eligible for their approval for SS Disability Income payments. When others complain about bureaucrats who don't understand their special situation, I tell them that as a taxpayer I applaud the eforts of the Social Security Administration to be good stewards of my hard earned cash. I understood that due to the nature of PD my application would be regarded with suspicion. I asked my examiner if PD was a common cause for application. He said that I was his first case on his twenty years on the job. Fully half of the questions on the standard forms are inappropriate for a gradual disabler like PD. What date did you first become disabled? When do you expect your disabilty to cease? Rather than give misleading or incomplete answers, I answered the form with a typewritten narrative explaining at length the meaning of "relentless" as it is understood by PWP. Never pass up a chance to instruct. Back to our vitamin and holistic medicine young man. Citizens of a democratic representative republic have obligations. First, to vote and to make their wishes known to their elected representatives whether they voted for or against them. Either way, they represent us. Second, we are citizens not subjects. Citizens have a social contract, a covenant with their government. Subjects do not. This covenant says that your government will play fair (reasonably) with you if you play fair with them. This is not easy. It is the nature of all governments to lie, dissemble, prevaricate, procrastinate, and to bully. The stubbornness, cussedness, and contrariness needed to put up with PD on a daily basis should make us formidable adversaries when we approach City Hall, the Statehouse, and the Feds. Part of playing the game is to use standard medical practise as the yard stick of disabilty, which returns me to my first question. Is the young man a certified victim of undesirable side effects, or of old wives tales? George Andes 63/15