Withdrawn: 28 CFR Parts 35 and 36, Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability by State and Local Governments and Places of Public Accommodation; Equipment and Furniture (ANPRM)

i. Medical examination and treatment tables and chairs

Healthcare providers use examination and treatment tables and chairs for many different types of medical and dental examinations and treatments. Examples of specialty areas using examination or treatment tables or chairs include ophthalmology, optometry, podiatry, oncology, physical therapy, chiropractic, rehabilitation medicine, urology, and obstetrics and gynecology. If a person with a disability cannot get onto an examination table or chair and is thus not examined (as occurs, for example, with some women with disabilities who cannot access ob-gyn tables) or is examined in a wheelchair, any examination that does occur likely will be less thorough than it would have been on an examination table, and the medical provider may miss important medical information.

The Department has received complaints and learned in the course of its enforcement efforts that medical and dental examination tables and chairs often are too high to be accessible, lack stabilization elements, and do not have adequate clear floor space nearby to permit access. Although Section 510 of the Rehabilitation Act does not specifically address tables and chairs used solely for treatment purposes, the Department anticipates that such treatment equipment would be subject to similar accessibility requirements, such as adjustable heights.