:; 

. . 

k OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

4 AUSTIN 

OROVER SELLERS 

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 

Your request is as 

ore mabjeot matter. 

ional Hehabiliard far Voaationng proathetia appliVoaatlonal Hebabtlltaoae and tent of any State 

bids are not 88ked by the 

trol upon a prosthetia appliance. 

e of bir. hrorn’a reasoning ooncerne states &hat a man may become hard 

ne of the Pullowing raasunq 

*it. A man baoolves hard of bearing as a result of disease, such as catarrh, 

diptherta, mastoid trouble, measles. 

"3. A &an becomes hard of hearhe, on aecount 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 

l Atmo r dinLO g the WreetOr Of VOCiatiOnal Dehabllitation, one man oah heaf better with an innerear 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 requiring 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 support 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 satlsfactory. 

sin regard to the purehsse of glasses, it is dlfficult 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 Control upon competitive bidding. 

Xour question is ruled br our Opinion lo. o-2771,’ addressed to Director wown on a very similar question, in which 

opinion we saidr 

5Yros what you say in your letter of request, -- and your statement comports rith common 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 purchasin(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 oennection 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 aeoordlugly; so that, in our opiaiun, the purshase of a brsoe 

does not fall witbin tha ssope of the statutes cequiring 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, l pplianaes, brasss 

and material neoessary in the proper haudling of 

crippled children may be in psrt or entirely proviaed. 

-*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 arerage iiiininiuni cbargen for the name serrioe8 rendered tu werage ward patient8 in the bonpitale approveii for purpose of thin Act -- rrucb Rules and 

&egulationn w&all be approved by the state Department of Eauoation,** 

tiOXl. 

What we there mid applies a8 well to row quee-