Summit focuses on options for dealing with Alzheimer's

TALLAHASSEE -- It was difficult to find a doctor willing to tell Senate dean Dempsey Barron that he had a relentless, degenerative and fatal disease.

His wife, Terri Jo, knew something was wrong several years before doctors diagnosed her husband with Alzheimer's disease.

Speaking Thursday at a two-day Alzheimer's summit organized by House Speaker Johnnie Byrd, Mrs. Barron described the impact of the disease that claimed her once-powerful and strong-willed husband in July 2001.

"Doctors don't want to diagnose Alzheimer's, especially not for a big strong guy like Dempsey Barron," she said.

That changed in 1994, when President Reagan went public with his own diagnosis.

To honor the former president's courage, Byrd, R-Plant City, scheduled the summit on Reagan's 92nd birthday and invited Dennis Revell, Reagan's son-in-law, to make the keynote address. Revell said Reagan is doing well, given the circumstances.

"Alzheimer's is robbing him and robbing the family of his normal life," Revell told a crowd of doctors, caregivers and legislators. "But he is doing well or better than could be expected for a 92-year-old man who is diagnosed with this dreaded disease."

Most people are well into the disease before they know it. So Mrs. Barron suggested taking away the driving privileges of people with the disease.

Florida also could do a better job of analyzing statistics collected at memory disorder centers around the state, provide more education, provide pharmaceutical advice and help caregivers get the assistance they need, Mrs. Barron said.

Many education projects can be done with just a little money, Byrd, who lost his father to the disease in 1998, has made Alzheimer's one of his priorities. He proposed $5.5-million for a pilot program involving 300 Medicaid patients to help them receive services at home rather than in an institution.

"Alzheimer's robs men and women of their dignity," Byrd said. "And it is a quiet thief in the night that leaves our loved ones struggling to care for people who may never recognize them again."

But how will the state pay for Byrd's proposal in a tight budget year? Federal Medicaid dollars would cover $3.2-million of the cost, leaving the state to come up with $2.3-million, which he would divert from the Department of Elder Affairs.

Senate President Jim King, R-Jacksonville, praised Byrd's devotion to the cause and said he will try to find the money.

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