Saturday, January 19, 2013

California Court of Appeal Holds That a Private Conservator is a Public Official; Finds No Actual Malice Shown in Claim Based on CBS Report About Conservatorships

A conservator appointed by the court to temporarily handle certain affairs of an elderly woman is a “public official” for purposes of defamation law who has to meet the “actual malice” standard to survive an anti-SLAPP motion, the California 3rd Appellate District Court of Appeal held on Dec. 28, 2012.

In Young v. CBS Broadcasting, Inc., California Court of Appeal Case No. C064567, the 3rd District found that the professional conservator and fiduciary plaintiff, Carolyn Young, should be treated as a public official for purposes of defamation law when she acted at the request of a government agency (Adult Protective Services – “APS”) to secure a temporary conservatorship for an 86-year-old woman, Mary Jane Mann. A few months after entry of the conservatorship, following loud complaints from Ms. Mann and a court-ordered mediation, the parties agreed to a co-trusteeship arrangement subject to court supervision, with Ms. Young and Ms. Mann serving as co-trustees of Ms. Mann’s affairs. Ms. Mann continued to contest even the co-trusteeship and after nearly two years of litigation, had it dissolved by court order—shortly after the news reports at issue in the lawsuit.

The news reports—part of the station’s “Call Kurtis” investigative reporting series—were broadcast in two parts and also distributed online. The first broadcast focused on Ms. Mann’s claims that she was competent and should never had been conserved or subject to the court-approved co-trusteeship with plaintiff. The second broadcast focused on issues with conservatorships generally and did not mention Ms. Young by name. Ms. Young complained that 26 statements in the first broadcast defamed her, including statements by Ms. Mann that allegedly accused Ms. Young of stealing, and statements that questioned the claims by Ms. Young and APS that the conservatorship was justified by memory impairment.

The Yolo County Superior Court held that California’s anti-SLAPP statute applied to Ms. Young’s lawsuit, a conclusion Ms. Young did not challenge on appeal. The trial court granted the anti-SLAPP motion as to nine of the 26 statements, finding them covered by the fair and true report privilege for official proceedings and records (California Civil Code Section 47(d)) or protected under the First Amendment as rhetorical hyperbole/opinion. The Court denied the anti-SLAPP motion as to 17 other statements, and concluded that Ms. Young was not a public official or limited purpose public figure subject to the actual malice standard. The CBS defendants appealed.

The 3rd District Court of Appeal concludes that the court-appointed conservator is a public official under defamation law

The public official status was justified, the appellate court held, because “it is only through the power of the state that a person such as a conservator can co-opt another person’s independent discretion and their liberty, and in addition, force the affected person to pay for it.” In reaching this decision, the court followed a series of cases around the country holding that individuals such as charter school superintendents and court-appointed psychologists—who assume positions likely to attract or warrant scrutiny from the public—are “public officials” subject to the stringent “actual malice” standard, regardless of whether they are official government employees.

The conservator could not satisfy the strict “actual malice” test

As a public official, Ms. Young was required to show a probability that she could establish with “clear and convincing” evidence at trial that the CBS defendants’ news report discussing Ms. Mann’s complaints about her involuntarily conservatorship was broadcast with “actual malice.”

The appellate court noted that a broadcast subject’s denials of accusations are insufficient to establish actual malice. “[T]he press need not accept ‘denials, however vehement; such denials are so commonplace in the world of polemical charge and countercharge that, in themselves, they hardly alert the conscientious reporter to the likelihood of error.’” The court also rejected Ms. Young’s claims that CBS acted with actual malice in relying on interviews with Ms. Mann and her daughter, Carol Kelly, and in purportedly failing to interview other witnesses and to review other documentary sources because “reasons to doubt” Ms. Mann and her daughter “were not obvious.”

In addition, reviewing the many witnesses the producer had contacted for the investigation, the court noted that many witnesses would not speak to Mr. Clegern “due to the confidential nature of their relationship with Mann.” The court determined that the evidence “shows Clegern was not reckless in investigating this matter and attempting to speak with other witnesses.” Accordingly, the court found that Ms. Young failed to show a probability that she could prove at trial that the CBS defendants published the report with actual malice.

Conclusion
The published decision by a unanimous court should be of considerable assistance to media defendants who face lawsuits arising from news reports on government contractors and appointees when the government has outsourced important public functions to outside professionals. It provides media organizations with breathing space to report on controversies involving individuals who are performing government functions, regardless of whether they are technically and officially on the government payroll. The recognition that such individuals are public officials subject to the actual malice standard ensures that speech will not be chilled when a news organization wades into a thicket of conflicting charges about official conduct. The opinion also reaffirms the stringent standards for actual malice liability and the need for defendants in such lawsuits to create a detailed record of their newsgathering efforts to support the actual malice defense.

Source:
California Court of Appeal Holds That a Private Conservator is a Public Official; Finds No Actual Malice Shown in Claim Based on CBS Report About Conservatorships

READ the court opinion: Carolyn M. Young vs CBS Broadcasting, Inc.et al.

2012 State Adult Guardianship Legislative Update






The ABA Commission on Law and Aging has completed the  2012 State Adult Guardianship Legislative Update.  Click  through to read about the 29 adult guardianship measures enacted during the year.

Source:
American Bar Association

READ: State Adult Guadianship Legislation:  Directions of Reform - 2012

Nebraska Chief Justice: Guardianships Initiatives Show Success

Tighter court oversight of guardians and conservators in recent months has exposed cases of theft and misuse of funds, Nebraska's top judge said Thursday.

Chief Justice Michael Heavican said changes to state law made in 2011 are providing more protection for vulnerable adults in Nebraska.

But he said the court system is continuing to look for ways to simplify reporting requirements for guardians without weakening protections.

Some guardians have complained that the new requirements are too onerous, especially for spouses.

Heavican touched on the guardianship improvements in his State of the Judiciary speech to the Legislature.

The guardianship changes were passed in response to problems uncovered by The World-Herald. In the most egregious case, Dinah Turrentine-Sims, a court-appointed guardian-conservator, was able to steal more than $400,000 from eight of her wards in Douglas County.

Full Article and Source:
Nebraska chief justice: Guardianship, juvenile probation initiatives show success

See Also:
Nebraska Judge:  More Guardianship Oversight Caught Theft, Misuse of Funds

Friday, January 18, 2013

Disability Rights Ohio Declares Victory in Groundbreaking Case: Right to Counsel for Those Under Guardianship Upheld by Ohio Supreme Court

Today, the Ohion Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the right of individuals under guardianship to be represented by a court-appointed lawyer during review hearings to determine whether they continue to need a guardian. Disability Rights Ohio brought this case on behalf of Mr. James McQueen, who resides in a locked nursing facility in Cuyahoga County by order of his court-appointed guardian, who is neither a family member nor a friend. Mr. McQueen no longer wishes to live in the facility and had applied for a review of his case to end guardianship.

Under Ohio law, a guardian is appointed for someone who can no longer make his or her own decisions. Once guardianship is granted, the ward loses legal power over his or her own affairs. Given this significant removal of individual rights, citizens in Ohio have long had a right to an attorney before a guardian is appointed. This case breaks new ground by affirming the continued right of these individuals to a lawyer at all subsequent review hearings. Mr. McQueen will now receive his day in court with an attorney.

“This landmark decision will have a lasting statewide impact,” says Kerstin Sjoberg-Witt, Legal Director of Disability Rights Ohio. “Anyone under a guardianship, both currently and in the future, now has a clear legal right to an attorney when challenging the need for a guardian.”

The court’s decision was unanimous. All of the Justices agreed that the right to a review hearing included the right to a court-appointed attorney under R.C. 2111.49(C) (emphasis added): “a hearing shall be held in accordance with section 2111.02 of the Revised Code to evaluate the continued necessity of the guardianship.” Therefore, to not provide an attorney would make the “accordance with” language “meaningless.”

Additional language in the ruling clarified that where the law provides for an appointed attorney, mandamus is an appropriate avenue to use when a lower court fails to appoint an attorney. Mandamus is a legal remedy that forces a court or other government entity to uphold a law or make a ruling on a law as written.

Full Article and Source:
Disability Rights Ohio declares victory in groundbreaking case: Right to counsel for those under guardianship upheld by Ohio Supreme Court

See Also;
READ State ex rel. McQueen v. Cuyahoga Cty. Court of Common Please, Probate Div., Slip Opinion No. 2013-Ohio-65

Nebraska Judge: More Guardianship Oversight Caught Theft, Misuse of Funds

Tighter court oversight of guardians and conservators in recent months has exposed cases of theft and misuse of funds, Nebraska’s top judge said Thursday.

Chief Justice Michael Heavican said the changes made in a 2011 law are providing more protection for vulnerable adults in Nebraska.

The law was passed in response to problems uncovered by The World-Herald.

Heavican touched on the guardianship changes in his annual State of the Judiciary speech to the Nebraska Legislature.

Source:
Judge: More guardianship oversight caught theft, misuse of funds

Recommended Website: The National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care

The Consumer Voice is actively fighting to end the misuse of antipsychotic drugs as chemical restraints.

Our campaign seeks to address this problem through:

• Legislation
 •Regulation and Guidance
•Education






Residents of long-term care facilities are increasingly being placed on antipsychotic medications despite having no proper diagnosis to warrant their use. Twenty-six percent (26%) of all nursing home residents are given antipsychotic medications. Use is even higher (nearly 40%) among residents with dementia - the very individuals that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns are at serious risk of medical complications and death from taking antipsychotics. In addition, far too often the dangers of these medications are not even discussed with residents and their families and are administered without consent.

Source:
TheConsumerVoice.org

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Virginia: ALF's Continue to Operate Despite Expired Licenses, Violations

Expired facility licenses and a slew of violations, including a lack of qualified administrators, haven't prevented the continued operation of several assisted living facilities, or ALFs, under the ProPlusCare umbrella in Hampton Roads.

Despite ongoing complaints and multiple documented failures to meet the state's standards, thanks to due process, they can continue to operate and take in new residents until all licensing appeals are exhausted. The Department of Social Services, which regulates them, was unable to give a timeline for the process, which in the instance of Madison Retirement Center in Williamsburg has continued for almost a year, since March 2012.

Administrative problems:

Over the years, Scott Schuett expanded ProPlusCare to operate six ALFs — Madison, Ashwood Assisted Living in Hampton, Oakwood Assisted Living in Suffolk, Governor's Inn in Newport News, and Chesapeake Home and Colonial Home, both in Chesapeake — with the capacity to house 400 residents, the vast majority of them low income living on Social Security disability, SSI, supplemented by auxiliary housing grants from the state.

After multiple inspections by the Department of Social Services revealed a litany of violations at each facility, including medication mismanagement, inadequate food supplies, bed bugs and foul odors, Schuett and two of his employees, Rena Gaddy Thomas and Donna Norvell, were stripped of their administrator's licenses in late 2012 by the Board of Long Term Care Administrators. It determined that Schuett's practice posed "a substantial danger to the public health and safety."

Expired licenses and more:

At the end of November Schuett voluntarily closed one facility, Governor's Inn in Newport News, but the other five continue to operate, including Madison, whose conditional license (an indicator of prior problems) expired almost a year ago, in March 2012. Norvell, who lost her license in October, was the administrator of record there. No qualified replacement is listed by the Department of Social Services.

By law, ALFs must employ a licensed administrator or a qualified acting administrator.

Full Article and Source:
Assisted living facilities continue to operate despite expired licenses, violations

See Also:
Scott Schuett, Operator of 5 ALF's License Revoked

Virginia: ALF's Operating on Expired Licenses

These are the five remaining homes operated by ProPlusCare, a company formed by Scott Schuett. In November he appointed Rena (Gaddy) Thomas to take over leadership of the company; he also closed the Governor's Inn facility in Newport News. A month before her appointment, Thomas, who was married to Schuett briefly in 2011, lost her administrator's license for repeated inspection violations at Ashwood Assisted Living in Hampton.

Ashwood Assisted Living, 40 Hunt Club Blvd., Hampton; 757-827-0000.
Listed Administrator: Rena Thomas (license revoked Oct. 31, 2012)
License: One-year license expired Aug. 25, 2012. Renewal is under appeal.
Last inspection: Nov. 15, 2012; observed unruly resident, urine-soaked pants, no recorded menu substitutions, maintenance issues, call bell not working, foul odors, bed bugs, cockroaches. "The facility failed to assume general responsibility for the health, safety and well-being of the residents."

Chesapeake Home, 1012 N. George Washington Highway, Chesapeake; 757-485-5597
Listed Administrator: Kristin Krewson
License: One-year license expired Dec. 31, 2012. Renewal inspection completed, waiting for decision.
Last inspection: Dec. 4, 5, 6, 2012; acting administrator failed to document when on site; admitted residents on psychotropic meds without appropriate treatment plan, failed to document assessed needs, menu not posted and did not meet USDA guidelines, improper administration of medications, failure to provide scheduled activities, maintenance issues, and lack of staff training in cognitive impairments.

Colonial Home, 904 George Washington Highway, Chesapeake; 757-487-9737.
Listed Administrator: None.
License: One-year license expired Dec. 5, 2012. Renewal inspection completed, waiting for decision.
Last inspection: Nov. 26, 2012; Billing irregularity; October renewal inspection found discharge irregularities, medications not available, inconsistent record-keeping, acting administrator hadn't filed application to Long Term Care Board.

Madison Retirement Center, 251 Patriots Lane, Williamsburg; 757-220-4014.
Listed Administrator: None.
License: Conditional license expired March 5, 2012. Renewal is under appeal.
Last inspection: Nov. 13, 2012; no licensed administrator of record, resident didn't have medical hose on, medication records not accurately documented, needed medications not available, dirty linens, bed bugs.

Oakwood Assisted Living, 2536 E. Washington St., Suffolk; 757-538-9214.
Listed Administrator: Scott C. Schuett (license revoked Dec. 11, 2012)
License: One-year license expired Sept. 30, 2012. Renewal is under appeal.
Last inspection: Nov. 26, 2012; during renewal inspection "33 violations that were widespread, systemic, pervasive, and with high risk ratings" were observed.

Full Article and Source:
ALF's Operating on Expired Licenses

Elder Abuse Leads to Jail for Nursing Director

California’s Attorney General announced that the former director of nursing at a hospital in the Kern Valley Healthcare District was sentenced to three years in state prison for the “convenience drugging” of elderly patients, including one who ended up dying.

Gwen D. Hughes, the former nursing director, was charged with the deaths of three patients in the original lawsuit. She pled no contest to a single felony count of elder abuse last October, with a special allegation that the abuse resulted in the death of a patient, according to a press release from the California Department of Justice.

The state’s Department of Justice alleges that Hughes ordered psychotropic medication -- without any therapeutic reasons -- for 23 elderly patients of the hospital’s skilled nursing facility. The drugs were given to keep quiet patients who were noisy, prone to wandering, or were argumentative.
The patients who were given the medication were mostly Alzheimer’s patients or suffering from dementia.

Hughes allegedly directed the hospital’s director of pharmacy to write doctor’s orders for the unnecessary psychotropic medications, according to the California Justice Department. The investigation by the state found that the drugs hastened the deaths of three patients and that all the patients who were inappropriately medicated suffered adverse physical reactions.

The Kern Valley case represents a rare instance in which a medical professional faced criminal charges and was sentenced under elder abuse laws for the illegal chemical restraint of patients.

Full Article and Source:
Sokolove Law:  Elder Abuse Leads to Jail for Nursing Director

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Linda Kincaid Reports: Guardianship in DC is all about the money

Ninety-one year old Jenny Horace is the face of "guardianship" in Washington, DC. Jenny is not allowed to see her daughter. She is held prisoner in her own home. Her refrigerator is kept locked, and she is only allowed to eat at the convenience of her "guardian.". Jenny's daughter Laura Francois-Eugene contributed the following comments.
It's all about the money!

My 91-year-old mother, Jenny Horace, has been in decline for the past few years. Hence, my daily habit of visiting her home in Washington, DC after I get off work at 4:30 p.m. I often put in 10- or 12-hour days as a Program Manager for the federal government, and wouldn’t mind going straight home at the end of my shift. But I like to check-in on my mother first, and make sure she has enough food on hand, and tend to anything else she may need.

Usually these visits are a matter of routine. I have a key to the front door, let myself in and typically find her in the kitchen eating a light dinner she’s prepared, or snoozing in the glare of her living room TV set, or perhaps even in bed.

But the evening of Thursday, April 26, 2012 was different. Significantly, upsettingly different.

I arrived shortly after dusk at 6 p.m., parked on the street in front of my mother’s home, strode up the short walkway to the front door and slipped my key into the lock. But the door did not open.

Strange. It opened just fine exactly 24 hours earlier at the time of my prior visit. But it failed to open on this occasion because between then and now, a court-appointed conservator – a person my mother had never met nor approved, yet who’d been given complete legal power, authority and control over my mother’s life, medical care and financial assets – had the locks changed on the home in an attempt to bar my mom from seeing me.

The conservator’s name is Christina Forbes, a local D.C. attorney.

Full Article & Source:
Guardianship in DC is all about the money

Sheila Collier: Are guardians helping or harming the elderly?


There continues to be so much published by the media about how a guardian for an incapacitated elderly adult abuses the assets of the estate and gives little supervision to the individual. There is another side to the story for people to hear.

As the first private professional guardianship service established in Texas, I based my initial fees on what was being paid by our state to the former nonprofit agency contracted to provide guardianship services throughout Texas in 1997. I gradually made slight increases to keep up with the usual cost of living adjustments.

Unlike in 1997, Texas now has regulations for educating and certifying guardians, and for the monitoring of guardianship services and fees. Regretfully, in 2009, these new regulations resulted in cutting my established budget to run a 17-county program by one-half. This necessitated the layoff of needed employees and termination of insurance benefits that an employer is now going to be required to provide.

While we all most likely have read about a guardian who has mismanaged a client's funds, there are many more of us who do just the opposite for little compensation to support our much needed programs. Most of my own clients are on Medicaid, for which Texas has set a limit to the fee a guardian can be compensated. For the regulated $175 per month for a client on Medicaid, a guardian: (1) is on call 24 hours a day / 7 days a week; (2) applies for and monitors the client's financial assistance programs; (3) interacts with health care providers to give adequate care and supervision to the client; 4) is called on to make qualified life and death treatment decisions on behalf of the client; and (5) is often under the scrutiny of family members and/or friends who have made a choice not to be their loved one's guardian, for whatever reason that one may consider just or unjust.

Full Article & Source:
Sheila Collier: Are guardians helping or harming the elderly?

Newark woman gets 6 months in jail for presenting false documents to get job


TRENTON
— An Essex County woman has been sentenced to six months in jail for presenting false documents when she applied for a job as a home health aide, the state Attorney General's Office said today.

As part of the sentence, handed down Friday, Bassey Justice Woodson, 50, of Newark must also serve one year of probation and 10 days community service, the office said in a news release. She pleaded guilty in November to falsifying government documents.

Full Article & Source:
Newark woman gets 6 months in jail for presenting false documents to get job

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Schiavo Brother Tries to Save Another Life


It is very scary when a state wants to dehydrate a citizen. That happened several years ago in the Haleigh Poutre case in Massachusetts. Haleigh was a 12-year-old child abuse victim beaten viciously by her step father into unconsciousness. Within days of her injury, doctors said she would never awaken and the state immediately sought court approval to dehydrate her to death. Luckily for Haleigh, the bureaucratic requirements took enough time for her to prove her doctors dead wrong by awakening. Today, she is moving on with her life–no thanks to the state social workers who advocated for her death rather than her life until she became clearly conscious.
 
In New York, a court has removed a wife from guardianship of her apparently unconscious husband, and the court appointed guardian wants him dehydrated to death on advice of doctors. Terri Schiavo’s brother, Bobby Schindler, has stepped in and asked to be named guardian. From The Leader story:
In 2007, Sara Harvey was removed as her husband’s guardian when a judge ruled she was ill-suited to care for him and did not follow the advice of medical professionals. The county was named Gary Harvey’s guardian. In 2009, Chemung County planned to remove Gary Harvey’s feeding tube on the advice of doctors, but the move was blocked. A do-not-resuscitate order remains in place. Later in 2009, Schindler joined Sara Harvey’s cause, saying she had the right to regain guardianship of her husband and take him home to care for him there.
After filing his guardianship request, Schindler said: “I have raised the question many times, ‘How can Chemung County, guardian of Mr. Harvey, be acting in his best interest when they, in fact, tried to kill him?’ From all indications, it appears that Mr. Harvey has been warehoused and denied the opportunity to receive the care and rehabilitative services that would benefit his condition.”
I have seen cases where guardianship was removed solely because the family member wouldn’t agree to dehydrate. I don’t know if that is the case here. But even if she is unable to personally provide his care, that doesn’t mean her opinion about her husband’s continuing existence should be disregarded. As Bobby Schindler told me:
How ironic. When my sister’s husband wanted her dehydrated, we were told that spouses should decide. Now, when the spouse doesn’t want him dehydrated, her opinion apparently doesn’t matter.
Go, Bobby! Go!

Full Article & Source:
Schiavo Brother Tries to Save Another Life

Sites Sharing Press Release:
Deacon John's Space

See Also:
Schiavo's brother seeks guardianship in local case

Case continues involving guardianship of brain-injured man

Schindler's list: Terri's brother now saving others

Terri Schiavo's Brother, Bobby Schindler, Petitions Court to Intervene in Guardianship Case

Bobby Schindler Files Petition Requesting to be Gary Harvey’s Guardian

The Dictators of Non-Compassion: Gary Harvey Case and the Unexpected Twist

Kent judge says ethics chief sabotaged Wulle's re-election bid


A Kent-area judge disciplined in 2010 for trying to influence the Amanda Knox murder trial in Italy has accused the head of a state judicial ethics agency of misconduct, including sabotaging Clark County Judge John Wulle's re-election bid.

In a Jan. 3 letter to the Washington Supreme Court, King County Superior Court Judge Michael Heavey accused Reiko Callner of violating her role as executive director of the Washington Commission on Judicial Conduct by spearheading an investigation of Wulle and then manipulating the media to help shatter Wulle's re-election bid.

He said the behavior is part of pattern of Callner's interference in due process for judges accused of misconduct.

"Commission powers have been usurped by Ms. Callner and have been wrongfully used to campaign against a sitting judge running for re-election," Heavey wrote. "The members of the commission have acquiesced in this highly unprofessional action."

Callner denied the accusations and said they appeared to be retaliation for the commission's September 2010 discipline of him. Heavey was admonished for using his office to advocate for Knox, his daughter's friend. He sent letters on Knox's behalf written on his court stationery to judges in Italy and other officials, according to commission documents.

"Judge Heavey is on a kind of personal campaign against me," Callner said Thursday in a phone interview with The Columbian.

In a telephone interview Thursday, Wulle said he wasn't consulted about the complaint, but Heavey had asked his attorney, Josephine Townsend, about his case.

As executive director, Callner is not allowed to initiate investigations against judges. Only the commission — a panel of 11 members charged with investigating complaints against other judges — may initiate an investigation, and they must vote to do so. Judges, attorneys and citizens make up the panel.

Full Article & Source:
Kent judge says ethics chief sabotaged Wulle's re-election bid

Monday, January 14, 2013

Schiavo's brother seeks guardianship in local case


ELMIRA — The brother of Terri Schiavo, whose right-to-die battle played out in the public spotlight in the early 2000s, has asked New York’s Supreme Court to name him the guardian of a Chemung County man who has been in a persistent vegetative state for nearly seven years.

Bobby Schindler is petitioning the court to name him the legal guardian of Gary Harvey, who was living in Horseheads in 2006 when he fell down his basement steps and suffered a traumatic brain injury. Since the accident, Harvey has been in a persistent vegetative state.

Harvey’s wife, Sara Harvey, has been involved in a prolonged legal battle with the county regarding the care of her husband, who did not have a living will at the time of his accident.

In 2007, Sara Harvey was removed as her husband’s guardian when a judge ruled she was ill-suited to care for him and did not follow the advice of medical professionals. The county was named Gary Harvey’s guardian.

In 2009, Chemung County planned to remove Gary Harvey’s feeding tube on the advice of doctors, but the move was blocked. A do-not-resuscitate order remains in place.

Later in 2009, Schindler joined Sara Harvey’s cause, saying she had the right to regain guardianship of her husband and take him home to care for him there.

After filing his guardianship request, Schindler said: “I have raised the question many times, ‘How can Chemung County, guardian of Mr. Harvey, be acting in his best interest when they, in fact, tried to kill him?’ From all indications, it appears that Mr. Harvey has been warehoused and denied the opportunity to receive the care and rehabilitative services that would benefit his condition.”
A court date is set for Jan. 30.

Schindler is the executive director of the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network, an organization that works to protect the rights of the medically vulnerable.

Like Gary Harvey, Schiavo did not have a living will when she fell into a persistent vegetative state in 1990. Her guardian, husband Michael Schiavo, eventually decided to have her feeding tube removed, but Terri Schiavo’s parents and brother strongly opposed.

After years of bitter legal battles, Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube was removed. She died March 31, 2005, in Florida.

Full Article & Source:
Schiavo's brother seeks guardianship in local case

Sites Sharing Press Release: Deacon John's Space
See Also:
Case continues involving guardianship of brain-injured man
Schindler's list: Terri's brother now saving others
Terri Schiavo's Brother, Bobby Schindler, Petitions Court to Intervene in Guardianship Case
Bobby Schindler Files Petition Requesting to be Gary Harvey’s Guardian
The Dictators of Non-Compassion: Gary Harvey Case and the Unexpected Twist

NY Bill Would Make Lawyer Discipline Process More Public


Law360, New York (January 10, 2013, 5:29 PM ET) -- Empire State authorities would have to explain decisions not to pursue disciplinary proceedings against New York-admitted lawyers if legislation introduced Thursday in Albany that is designed to shed light on the process were signed into law.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. George S. Latimer, a Democrat from Port Chester, N.Y., would add a new section to the state's law governing allegations of professional misconduct against attorneys, which are handled by grievance committees overseen by the Empire State's mid-level appeals courts.

Full Article & Source:
NY Bill Would Make Lawyer Discipline Process More Public

Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband extended as conservator


LOS ANGELES --
Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband will remain the ailing actress' conservator until at least August and will have to account for her assets, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Fredric von Anhalt has served as his wife's conservator since July after the actress' daughter questioned whether he was providing proper medical care and appropriately managing her finances.

An attorney appointed to represent Gabor's interests wrote in a report that von Anhalt has generally been a good steward of his wife and has complied with terms of a settlement that required strict financial oversight. The report by attorney LeAnne Maillian states it appears von Anhalt had used some of his wife's money to pay his own expenses, but that he has already repaid it.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/01/09/5103071/zsa-zsa-gabors-husband-extended.html#storylink=cpy

Full Article & Source:
Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband extended as conservator

See Also:
Petition Filed to Conserve Zsa Zsa Gabor

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/01/09/5103071/zsa-zsa-gabors-husband-extended.html#storylink=cpy

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Tonite on T.S. Radio: Nancy Vallone on Saving Daniellle Murphy





Danielle Murphy is a mildly autistic disabled adult. She lived with her aunt, Nancy Vallone, in Arizona. Nancy provided the best of care and medical treatment for Danielle and even moved to Ohio so Danielle could receive treatment from a the Cleveland Clinic Medical Center in Cleveland, OH. Shortly after the move, the Ohio’s Advocacy and Protective Services Agency (APSI) took control of Danielle’s case. They placed Danielle in a group home where she has been physically and sexually abused. APSI denies Danielle the treatment that Nancy moved to Ohio to receive.

Worst of all, APSI isolates Danielle from receiving any visitors, including her Aunt Nancy.

5:00 PST … 6:00 MST … 7:00 CST … 8:00 EST

LISTEN LIVE or listen to the archive after the show is over

See Also:
NASGA:  Danielle Rene Murphy, OH Victim

Brain-Injured in Nursing Homes Without the Care Giffords Had

Larry Boswell sat slumped in a wheelchair. His sweatpants were soiled, his T-shirt soaked in saliva. Flies buzzed around his head.

He was able to walk when he arrived at Illinois'Cobden Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in 2008, government records show, something he can’t manage now. Speech therapy for the 57- year-old ended shortly after he was admitted, according to a lawyer trying to persuade Medicaid to transfer him.

While much of what Boswell says is incomprehensible, he managed a clear “no” when asked if he wanted to stay where he was. Cobden officials didn’t respond to telephone calls.

Boswell is one of nearly 244,000 brain-injured people consigned to nursing homes, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from U.S. Medicare and Medicaid statistics. He’s also on the front line in a national battle to get people like him out of facilities that aren’t equipped to care for them.

“People used to be put away in state hospitals and state developmental centers,” said Steven Schwartz,  a lawyer who filed a class-action lawsuit to force Massachusetts to provide alternatives to nursing homes for the brain-injured, and won a settlement that’s still being implemented. “Now people with brain injuries are warehoused and put away in nursing homes.”

Over 4 million brain-injured Americans -- including victims of car accidents, assaults, strokes and falls -- suffer from long-term disabilities that require specialized therapies. They are sometimes neglected in institutions designed for geriatric care, not for the treatment they need. In some cases, they’re in facilities with low scores from a U.S. agency that grades nursing homes on quality, cleanliness and other measures.

Full Article and Source:
Brain-Injured in Nursing Homes Without the Care Giffords Had

FINR Brain Injury Center Seeks Bankruptcy as Bank Sees Default

Florida regulators are demanding that a brain-injury treatment center with patients from across the U.S. prove that it’s financially viable, as the facility seeks bankruptcy protection.

The Chapter 11 filing by the Florida Institute for Neurologic Rehabilitation Inc. followed Bloomberg News stories about the alleged abuse and neglect of patients by their caregivers at the 200-bed residential facility southeast of Tampa. It’s one of the largest in the country treating people with long-term disabilities brought on by brain trauma.
The filing came hours after Regions Bank sued the institute, known as FINR, in U.S. District Court in Tampa, claiming it’s in default on $31 million in real-estate loans. The lawsuit by the Birmingham, Alabama-based unit of Regions Financial Corp. (RF) says FINR stopped paying on the debt in August.

FINR’s owner, Joseph Brennick, said in a statement yesterday that he was “confident” the facility could properly care for the people living there while it undertakes a financial restructuring. Media coverage led to “a significant decline in revenue making FINR unable to meet is financial obligations,”Brennick said in the statement.

Negotiations with Regions Bank are “ongoing and we are making strides to resolve this successfully as we look for a long-term solution,” he said.

After the bank sent FINR a default letter in September, Brennick withdrew at least $466,000 from center coffers, the suit alleges. In addition, FINR has failed to give the government the payroll taxes withheld from employees’ wages and hasn’t paid real estate taxes and routine operating expenses, Regions Bank says in the suit.

Full Article and Source:
Brain Injury Center Seeks Bankruptcy as Bank Sees Default

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Caregivers Bloodied Patients as Complaints Drew Laughter

Former Banker, 98, Testifies Against Secretary Accused of Stealing $1.3 Million From His Checks

Ninety-eight-year-old William Salomon climbed gingerly from his wheelchair into the witness stand in federal court in Newark today. As he struggled to reach the raised seat, the concerned-looking judge asked the frail man whether he would be able to make it up to the stand.

"Ooooh yes," Salomon quickly called out.

Moments later, Salomon — who’d traveled from his home on Park Avenue to be at the first day of a bank and wire fraud trial — began answering questions from Prosecutor Evan Weitz.
Yes, he’d started working in 1933 at the Salomon Brothers bond-trading house in New York, a firm that would later become a highly profitable investment bank of world renown. And, yes, his father was one of its founders a century ago.

From the witness stand, Salomon also identified the woman seated at the defense table as Karen Febles, his former secretary from 2000 to 2011. Febles, a tall, blond 48-year-old, is accused of stealing about $1.3 million from Salomon, over the course of five years, through brazenly depositing into her own accounts the cash from checks he’d entrusted to her.

"There’s no reason to have a personal secretary if you can’t trust her," Salomon testified today, when asked by Weitz whether he was careful in overseeing Febles’ check writing. Then, asked directly whether he trusted Febles, he also said, "I certainly did, implicitly."

Former Banker, 98, Testifies Against Secretary Accused of Stealing $1.3 Million From His Checks

NJ Doctor Accused of Unauthorized Medical Research on Disabled is Fired

The doctor accused of performing unauthorized medical research on intellectually disabled residents at a state institution in Union Township has been fired, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services said today.
The doctor, Philip May, was let go last month after he refused to participate in an internal hearing on charges that he abused clients at the Hunterdon Developmental Center, engaged in inappropriate physical contact and falsified documents, the spokeswoman, Nicole Brossoie, said.

May’s lawyer, John A. Azzarello of Chatham, said in an e-mail message last night his client chose instead to challenge the dismissal by seeking a ruling before "a neutral arbiter."

The department placed May on paid leave in December 2011, but did not bring administrative charges against him until last July 27 after an article in The Star-Ledger cited five sources who said they had direct knowledge of the investigation.

Full Article and Source:
N.J. Doctor Accused of Unauthorized Medical Research on Disabled is Fired

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Nurse Sues NJ Over Hunterdon Deverlopmental Center Investigation

Hunterdon Developmental Center Doctor Suspended Without Pay in Research Study Scandal

Three Hunderdon Developmental Center Managers Face Administrative Charges Over Bone Research Study

State Files Charges Against Hunderdon County Physician, Nurse

Hunderton Deverlopmental Center Pair Allegedly Performed Dangerous Tests on Disabled Residents