 Despite the importance of distinguishing disease from disability, there are at least three reasons why it is difficult to do so. First, as noted above, many or most diseases are defined as disabilities by disability discrimination laws or their judicial and administrative interpretations; they are subject to the same legal protections and requirements of reasonable accommodation as “Amundsonian” disabilities. This legal treatment may, however, be justifiable, because some diseases, such as AIDS, are stigmatized as severely as many or most disabilities. Second, many disabilities, such as the inability to walk, may be associated with diseases, such as MS, which have a progressive character, causing pain and further impairment, and sometimes increasing the risk of death (Wendell 2001).[5]  Third, a society such as our own, where atypical functionings are often not well accommodated, accords a higher priority to the prevention or treatment of some non-fatal diseases than would a society that better accommodated them.