Two attorneys and a couple from Michigan were sentenced for their roles in removing a man with Alzheimer's disease from a Summit County nursing home.Among the defendants was Dr. Sharon Rothstein Steinberg, daughter of a former prominent Akron anesthesiologist, who is a licensed physician herself, and her husband, David Steinberg, the former chief financial officer of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The couple avoided a six-month prison term and $2,500 fines when sentenced Tuesday by Summit County Common Pleas Judge Judith Hunter.
Michigan attorneys David Gunsberg and Bryan Schefman were ordered to serve 30 days in Glenwood Jail and pay a $500 fine for their role in removing the man from the nursing home.
The case stems from a strange series of events Feb. 24, 2008, in which the Steinbergs orchestrated the removal of Dr. Lawrence Rothstein, who practiced at Akron City Hospital for 31 years, from Arden Court in Bath Township.
The couple had been prevented by a court order from removing Rothstein from the nursing home.
''This is not a happy day,'' said Bath resident Lani Rothstein, who has been married to Lawrence Rothstein for more than 50 years. ''We've lost sleep over this. We have had nightmares over this. My children have lost time at work over this.
''I don't want another family to ever have to go through what we have gone through.''
Lani Rothstein also requested that Hunter order her daughter, Sharon Rothstein Steinberg, and David Steinberg, to stay away.
''I don't want to be bothered by those defendants,'' she said.
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Judge Sentences Four in Nursing Home Case
8 comments:
We don't know the circumstances here, but just from what I've read here, I think this is a raw deal.
I know there are good nursing facilities out there, but very few.
For the most part, people do need to be rescued!
We know the mother is against the children here, but what's the children's side?
What would they gain by taking Lawrence Rothstein out of the facility?
I rather think their intentions must have been good. I'd like to hear their side of the argument.
i can't see why anyone would remove someone from a nursing home unless it was to help them.
theres more to the story.
It appears the children meant well for their father. I hope there are more articles on this story to come so we have more answers.
Sounds like a case of isolation -- a red flag.
I am one of the attorneys involved here as attorney for the elder man, I can tell you you that there was never any court order preventing his daughter, or preventing him from walking out the front door; he wanted desperately to leave and his wife, from whom he wanted a divorce, was determined to prevent that. The man did NOT have Alzheimers but had had a stroke and suffered impairments of aphasia and some mild memory issues. I had him examined the night we left by the chief of emergency medicine from a top tertiary hospital that evening, and had him interviewed by two police officers from Michigan, where he wanted to live with his daughter. They interviewed him and concluded the man was in Michigan voluntarily, lucid, and very certain as to where he wanted to live; within days, he was seen by an internist gerontologist and a neuropsychologist who concluded the man had the capacity to determine where and with whom he wanted to live. The family lied to the Ohio probate court and alleged he was in danger, and worked the courts in Michigan, armed with an ex parte Ohio order, to have the man returned to Ohio. The Ohio family finally prevailed on the local prosecutor after 1 year two months, to file charges and indict. This was in addition to civil suits, and promises to "destroy" us by an Ohio son who assured us that his political reach would achieve his threat. We accepted plea agreements rather than face trial on first degree kidnapping charges that carried long prison terms. The tragedy here was that the courts never viewed the man as the victim here; instead, the Ohio family was the victim. While he in the nursing home, his wife had taken away his cell phone and prevented the daughter from seeing him, and he was never provided counsel, although there was no court order preventing that, or in any way adjudicating his rights as impaired. He was desperate for counsel and had submitted four notes to his wife begging for an attorney, a divorce, and to live with his daughter in Michigan. This was a case of abridged civil rights and elder abuse. This man just wanted to live out his life with a daughter who was devoted to him.
To Attorney Anon: thank you for taking the time to explain your point of view in your comment on this news item posted by NASGA.
In fairness, I personally appreciate hearing all sides of a situation that usually has legs into other issues that we will not find in the news article.
He's a scumbag. Scheff
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