Sunday, April 12, 2015

Update from NASGA Nevada Legislative Liaison, Rana Goodman

When The Vegas Voice began the series on guardianship we had no idea what a mess we were getting involved with. The lengths some of these people go to, in order to cheat the elderly out of every dollar they can, which in turn, robs them of the peace and tranquility they have saved their whole life to achieve for their declining years.

These guardians isolate them, decimate their finances, sell everything they own, and then shuttle them from one living facility to another as the need to pay lower and lower fees for their keep arises.

The wards who really do need guardianship are, for the most part left in a solitary existence with only the company of the other residents of the facility and a caregiver working there. No loving support from the family they have been stolen from, who many times don't even know where they are. Or, in several cases we have been working on, have been scared away by the guardian with threats of jail or harm to the parent if they interfere.

I was asked in an interview if "conspiracy" was too harsh of a word to attach to this and I had to answer that it was a perfect word. Why, because when you think about the guardians who, for years have openly been treating dozens of wards this way and no one has reported the abuse.

The hearing master accepts the word of one person, the guardian, that the potential ward, who the hearing master does not see or question, cannot live alone. He glances at a doctors form with boxes checked off but never questions the length of time the doctor feels this diagnosis might last. (we were told by a well known psychiatrist that dementia like symptoms may show one week and the person be perfectly normal the following week, especially if they are taking medication, as many seniors do.) This does not mean they cannot live alone. This hearing master quickly signs off and the request to sell everything and the ward's life is forever changed. YES, conspiracy is a perfect word!

9 comments:

Camille said...

Rana, you are an inspiration!

Sue Harmon said...

Rana is on a mission. She is hot on their heels. This racket has been operating in secrecy in the dark but all that changed with the INTERNET our best source, our best weapon to research, locate and unite!

Kathleen said...

Thanks Rana for bringing awarness to the atrocity of guardianship abuse.

Anonymous said...

My stable,brave good mother never took anything but blood pressure pills in her life, worked hard since young with no family to help her,blessed each day , she has been given psychotropic drugs ,forced Into a locked dementia unit, her house sold, assets ,jewelry, valuables taken .She has been a brave person since young . She is a hero. A woman to honor .with all the false reports ,all the drugging to try to make her nuts. She still lives . Her strength to fight back is now gone. I ,her only child.,am doing everything possible to get her out ,away from the court, judge ,guardians to live her last time on earth free. The court ,guardians ,lying doctor reports all want her trapped. We want her out. A whole city that has known this woman is shocked this was done to her. Her doctors of many years know nothing was wrong with her. Mind before this daily forced drugging. Why are the courts letting this happen to innocent ,good, brave people. ?

frsnia said...

Yes. Conspiracy is certainly the right word.

NASGA said...

Anonymous, it's happening all over the country. If you could gather the support of your city, there's a possibility you could make a difference by having people express their outrage to the guardian, the doctor, and to your elected representatives.

We're so sorry for you and your Mom.

Anonymous said...

My mother fought back bad. Like brave people do. She would not let herself or us get bullied. She got rewarded by being lied about in reports, drugged, forced into a dementia locked unit with no people to communicate with and who can be dangerous ,as has happened ,in many ways .this done to make her lose her mind to prove when she fought back evil that it really was not so. It was so. No elected representatives in any state is stopping this ,knowing it's going on. . Do you know why,?

Anonymous said...

People that have expressed their outrage have gotten retribution. . This is something you are not to bring up . It has perilous to your job, your reputation ,your life.

Anonymous said...

So true. While my mother was alive, the guardian industry could hurt me by hurting her. Now that she has died, mysterious charges made in a secret hearing still hang over me. Meanwhile,my poor mother was fleeced by the industry of $500,000 of her $600,000 life savings in two years as her children were threatened and could only visit under strictly monitored conditions.