Sierra Vista woman drives federal change on service animals in labs


With tireless work and persistence and support from others who believed in her cause, Sierra Vista resident Joey Ramp-Adams has helped fuel a significant change at the federal level.

 
 

 

The wife of former Tombstone Marshal Jim Adams has persuaded the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to clarify that service animals are allowed inside laboratories and that their guidelines do not supersede laws permitting service animals when requested.
 
 
For the past four decades, laboratories at universities and other institutions across the United States have followed guidance issued by the CDC and NIH known as the Biosafety in Microbiology and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL), first released in 1984.
 
 
One sentence in the sixth edition of the BMBL states: “Animals and plants not associated with the work being performed are not permitted in the laboratory.”
 

That sentence made life extremely challenging for Ramp-Adams and likely others who rely on service animals in laboratory settings.

 

The federal agencies’ clarification has left Ramp-Adams with mixed emotions.

 

“When I got the news that the CDC finally published the clarification, also the Office of Laboratory Safety, the National Institutes of Health and the Division of Occupational Health and Safety, I felt a mix of relief, gratitude and frustration,” Ramp-Adams said in a text message to the Herald/Review.

 

It took her nearly three years to achieve the outcome.

 

She said the relief comes from knowing the scientific community will “finally have” clear guidance. The gratitude, she said, is for the persistence of U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani of Arizona and members of his staff, including Alex Fink and Fiona de Young, “whose support was instrumental in getting this change across the finish line.”

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