Monday, July 6, 2015

Let the Death Panels Begin

This is the death watch for Suzanne Ohrling, 83, incarcerated against her will in an Oregon nursing home, "for the crime of old age", as she said to me last September. Within the next 24 hours she is expected to depart this life, after having been mostly unconscious due to aspiration pneumonia for most of the past week, according to her son Randy Lytle of Las Vegas, NV. They gave her antibiotics earlier in the week but she did not improve and then she was unconscious, said Lytle who is unable to get to Oregon to see his mom one last time.

Not that it would necessarily do much good for Randy to make the trip. His brother Brett Lytle of Milwaukie, Oregon was with their mother, Randy said, emphasis on was. Distraught because the nursing home insists his mother must die, Brett called 911 that his mom could go to a hospital for acute skilled care and IVs since she can take nothing by mouth, Randy told me in a recent call. He said, "911 came but left because Mom had signed an end of life agreement," and continued, "then the nursing home called the police and they escorted Brett from the premises."

"Will your mother die alone?" I asked gently.

"I suppose," Randy said in an exhausted, fatalistic voice. "They are treating it like hospice', he explained, "her house is on the market or sold for $150,000, the money has run out and they want to get rid of her because she costs too much". "She has to die and we don't have anything to say about it", was his opinion.

Unaware that his mom had ever signed an advanced directive to end her life, Lytle said he believes the state appointed guardians coerced her into signing sign one after they had declared her "demented". "What good is that?" he demanded.

Senior Citizens Council of Clackamas County, Inc., the entity that eventually succeeded in taking Suzanne Ohrling's freedom, filed court papers November 26, 2014 which detail the plan. In the copy I have before me, Mrs. Ohrling is primarily referred to by the dehumanizing term respondent. "Respondent needs a guardian appointed for an indefinite period of time to ensure her physical safety and continued placement in a secure facility," Section 6., page 09. [1] (emphasis mine)

It now appears this indefinite period of time will end in matter of hours. Humanizing her once again, Suzanne Ohrling, mother and grandmother, it seems, is kept in a facility so secure that a 911 ambulance called by her son must be turned away. In addressing physical safety, as her son Randy says, "they will make sure she is dead, but we can have the body."

Full Article and Source:
Let the Death Panels Begin

See Also:
FFOA Exclusive:  Safety or State Sanctioned Land Grab?

4 comments:

Frania said...

This is the worst that can happen . They need help . How can we help ? My mother , under forced guardianship and drugging has been strong . Her strength is gone . She asked her granddaughter today "Am I supposed to just not get out of here and then drop and die ?" She is s practical woman , not emotional and wants to know the plan . How can we tell her we are doing everything to help get her free . We have gotten Ill seeing what is being done to her and others : I wish we could help Suzanne out of there , with her family and save her life . My mother Paula Kryszpel has been brave since young to go against bad . She is a fair, clear , mom judgemental , hard working immigrant who blessed each day and look what Baltimore county Maryland has done to her . And others . We need help . She is asking if the next step planned for her is to die . Please don't let it happen

Selena said...

Frania is right. This is all too commonplace and the perps get by with it.

Media seems to be our only option and it doesn't always work.

Betty said...

This story makes me physically sick.

StandUp said...

Unfortunately, we've seen this many times and it never gets easier. We worry about the family and we hope for a miracle.