Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1944 )

:; ..... k OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL AUSTIN OF TEXAS 4 OROVERSELLERS ATTORNEY GENERAL honorable bumo Steuart, Vice-Resident 5taCe board for Vocational Edusation Gapit samtment A&Latin, lexaa Dear &r. stewart: pur request for an opinion rroe thi ore mabjeot matter. Your request is as ional Hehabili- ard far Voaation- ng proathetia appli- Voaatlonal Hebabtllta- oae and tent of any State bids are not 88ked by the trol upon a prosthetia appliance. e of bir. hrorn’a reasoning ooncern- e states &hat a man may become hard ne of the Pullowing raasunq *it. A man baoolves hard of bearing as a re- sult of disease, such as catarrh, diptherta, mastoid trouble, measles. "3. A &an becomes hard of hearhe, on ae- count of his age. 94. A man becomes bard OP hearing on aeaount of traumatio injury. "6. Various people become hard of hearing for no apparent reason or cause. 675 honorable taco Stewart - page 2 lAtmo r dingLO the WreetOr Of VOCiatiOnal De- habllitation, one man oah heaf better with an inner- ear oondustion, and another sitb bone conduction on the outside OP the ear. One man can bear better with one hearing device than he da5 with another, and only an otologist can tell the type of hearing device best Wited tor a person. TherefOPe, it is hr. &rown*s contention that hearing dwiaes should bo purchased upon the recommmdstiOn of a reeogadssd 0t010glst. .ln regard to the purchase oi artiiielsl limbs, it Is hr. mowh*s contention that every stump requir- ing an artillcial limb la different. On0 person oan best be fitted with a leather soakst, another with a plastio sooket, and moth- sitb perhaps a woeden socket that one man east wear sbouldsr straps and sup- port a limb whereas another person roquire8 a pelvte belt attaohment. Eaoh psrssa wearing a lirb rants a particular kind of limb and when tboy~are forged to aoaept another kind of limb it does not 'prove satls- factory. sin regard to the purehsse of glasses, it is dlf- ficult to order glasses for the sI.mple reason that nearly evm pair of glasses rsquirs so55 adjustment - lames have to be ground and fittings have to be mads. 5The atate Board for Vocational Edueatlon berew require5 an opinion relative to whether or not it is necesfdsry for the State hoard of Control to purchase prosthetia appllanoes through bids for sllents of tbe Vocational iWhabilitatio5 Dlvislon.5 IOU are respectfully advised that it is tbe oplnfan of this department the purchase of prosthetic applisnces, wah as you mentiun, need not to be through the State board of Con- trol upon competitive bidding. Xour question is ruled br our Opinion lo. o-2771,’ ad- dressed to Director wown on a very similar question, in which opinion we saidr 5Yros what you say in your letter of re- quest, -- and your statement comports rith com- mon understanding, -- a brace for a crippled 676 nonorable Laoa St&mart - page 3 child IS not aUcb 5 thing a515 WtttS5Iplat~sd by our statutes calling for aempetitire bids in pur- chasin(r supplle5 for an institution. A brsee is not a oosumoditp aarrled in steaks from wbleh a purohase way be qulekly made, like a bat or a pair of shoes, for the simple reason that a braao for a crippled child is a specialt;l and must be precisely fitted to the par3ionlar need and oondition of the inlured or abnormal limb. It is of a kind with the fitting of glas8es sr the settiry of a broken liub in plaster. The purobase of’ such braoe 15 net in its nature a oousercial purohase from a store or dealer8 it is in the nature of a servioe in oen- nection with the treatment of the brekeu, dO?inmod or ololadJusted limb. lit is as samh a sex-vise a8 is the surgeon*5 operatlon~ ilrdeed, it is a speoios ef arechanioal operation. livery mush ease presents aa i,ndAridual situatiea sud must be trsated aeoordlug- ly; so that, in our opiaiun, the purshase of a brsoe does not fall witbin tha ssope of the statutes ce- quiring uompetitive bids by the Board of Control. *if ve are mistakeu la this, se are further of tbe o.pin.ion that the statutes thcprselves, when liberally Or even reasonably oonStrued, oompol t&d am0 conoludon. *House Bill Yo. 222, passed at the Regular Sewion of the 44th tagislaturo (General Laus, 44th Leg., p. 222) provides: **At the disawetion of the State Department of Education, trsnspsrtation, lpplianaes, brasss and material neoessary in the proper haudling of crippled children may be in psrt or entirely pro- viaed. -*The Wbsbilitation Mvidon of the State hepartueut of Eduoation 15 direoted to provide in itules and uegulations, the neoesaary details for the conduct of this sork, in roaordanae with the purposen of this Act, rhiah shall pormit as far as possible, the free choice UP patleuts in their selection of physioiaue and hospltnls, and shall arrauge with hospitals, braoe departments and other 677 llonurable &aco atewart- page 4 mmrioee yrurUi.ng for crippled childrea*s Pork, aonipenootim for ouch seniaee, provided that such feee or charges &all not esoeed the arer- age iiiininiunicbargen for the name serrioe8 render- ed tu werage ward patient8 in the bonpitale ap- proveii for purpose of thin Act -- rrucb Rules and &egulationn w&all be approved by the state Depart- ment of Eauoation,** What we there mid applies a8 well to row quee- tiOXl.