Two Herald-Tribune staffers honored for health care reporting

Herald-Tribune reporters Barbara Peters Smith, left, and Justine Griffin.

Two Herald-Tribune journalists were honored by the Association of Health Care Journalists with national awards for their work on elder guardianship and the medical egg donation industry. 

Barbara Peters Smith won first place in the health policy category for small publications for her series “The Kindness of Strangers: Inside Elder Guardianship in Florida.”

Herald-Tribune reporter Justine Griffin won second place for her “Cost of Life” project in the consumer category for small publications.

The awards, which recognize the best health reporting in 11 categories, received more than 420 entries.

“These pieces show that excellent journalism is alive and well,” said contest chair and AHCJ board member Julie Appleby, a senior correspondent for the nonprofit Kaiser Health News.

AHCJ started the recognition amid growing concern that too many journalism awards are sponsored by special interest groups that seek to sway coverage. No health care companies or agencies fund this program.

Peters Smith's series has inspired a move in the Florida Legislature this year to address the issue of elder guardianship, including a bill that would create a state agency to provide more oversight for a growing group of professional guardians who exercise tremendous control over the finances and everyday lives of elderly and vulnerable Floridians.

Sen. Nancy Detert, a Venice Republican, said her legislation was prompted by the Herald-Tribune's December series, which highlighted the potential for conflicts of interest among judges, attorneys, guardians, health care providers and other business people who work closely together within the system.  (Continue Reading)

Full Article & Source: 
Two Herald-Tribune staffers honored for health care reporting

Rightful Elder Care Guardians Find Hope in Senate Bill 1226

NEW YORK (MainStreet) — Julie Ferguson still owes some $5,000 to a Florida attorney she hired to help secure guardianship for her 80-year-old mother, Marise London.

“My sister is a convicted felon who tried to get durable power of attorney from my mother,” said Ferguson, who lives in Sarasota, Fla. “My mother assigned me to be her durable power of attorney, and I was the only link to stop the hemorrhaging of my mother’s life savings from being funneled to my sister's hometown in Tennessee.”

Instead of having Ferguson awarded guardianship as London legally requested, London’s daily life is governed by a professional guardian hired by the state and appointed by a Florida probate judge in 2013.  “Two elder law attorneys advised me to contact Elder Affairs, a state agency that referred me to the Department of Children & Families,” said Ferguson. “They recommended that a multi-million dollar corporation called Lutheran Services Florida become guardian of my mother's person and property.”

To this day, Ferguson is still fighting the court’s decision to appoint this third-party guardian. But a bill endorsed by the Senate committee last week may provide new protections for elderly Floridians who end up under a guardian’s supervision because of illness or mental incapacitation.

Fiscal Therapy

Experts believe this bill is a move in the right direction.

“It will begin to solve some of these problems,” said Dr. Sam Sugar, founder of the Americans Against Abusive Probate Guardianship (AAAPG) in Miami. “However, what we have seen is statutes are routinely avoided or ignored in probate court and I personally view this whole exercise as only the first step in creating real reform and guardian discipline.”

Among its provisions, SB 1226 would allow courts to refer guardianship disputes among family members to mediation or an alternative dispute resolution and reduce the time of temporary guardianship from 90 days to 60 days.

“One of the temporary guardian’s responsibilities is to identify the assets of the elderly person, but because there can be so much money involved for them, they dawdle and have their days extended by the judge,” Sugar told MainStreet. “It’s a good idea to reduce their total commitment of days.”

Another portion of the bill requires that the appointment of guardians be rotated among a list. “It’s a work in progress,” Republican Chairman Miguel Diaz de la Portilla reportedly said before the Judiciary Committee unanimously approved it. “It protects the rights of wards. It respects rights of the families of these wards, and it creates a process that is clearer and transparent for all involved.”

Sugar advises aging Americans to take their own precautions by securing a certificate of capacity from a physician and naming three or more people as potential guardians in advance directives rather than just one person.

“The intent is to prove that on a certain date an individual had capacity so that the judicial process cannot retroactively invalidate advanced directives claiming that at the time they were made the person was incapacitated at some date indeterminate,” said Sugar. “A string of springing guardians helps when a judge is avoiding appointing the first named. You want to designate a series of people in order of preference so that a judge can have options.”

The proposed bill must now pass through various committees in both the House and Senate before it comes up for a vote in the combined legislature in the spring.

Ferguson, who has endured the difficult side trying to secure rightful guardianship over her elderly mother, understands the high-stakes at hand for this bill -- and the potential shortcomings of having an inadequate third-party guardian.

"A guardian is only required to visit an elderly ward four times a year," said Ferguson. "Can you imagine an older person in a retirement home who has no voice or health care advocate and whose family members are barred from visiting? Nursing staff can be overworked. A bed sore or health issue could occur any time and go unnoticed."

Full Article & Source:
Rightful Elder Care Guardians Find Hope in Senate Bill 1226

Not Dead Yet Applauds Second Thoughts Connecticut As Disability Advocates Prepare to Testify Against Assisted Suicide Bill

Hartford, CT (PRWEB) March 18, 2015 

Not Dead Yet applauds Second Thoughts Connecticut, as disability advocates held a press conference Monday and now prepare to testify against an assisted suicide bill (HB 7015) at a Connecticut House Judiciary Committee hearing being held on Wednesday, March 18, 2015. Not Dead Yet’s New England regional director John Kelly is also submitting written testimony opposed to the bill.

Both proponents and opponents of the Connecticut assisted suicide bill held press conferences on Monday at the state capitol. One speaker who opposes the legislation was Maggie Karner, a woman with brain cancer, who was quoted saying “if we endorse patient suicide as our statewide policy for dealing with pain and the financial burdens at the end of life — we’re going to end up embracing a whole new ethic that confuses compassionate medical care with a prescription for death.” (Both Sides Get Ready To Debate End of Life Issues, CT News Junkie, March 16, 2015.)

One of the leaders of Second Thoughts CT, Cathy Ludlum, was interviewed extensively about her concerns as a person with significant physical disabilities regarding the potential for "unintended consequences" and the difficulty of providing adequate safeguards. She noted that terminal prognoses can be incorrect. Regarding safeguards, “Ludlum pointed to studies that indicate as many as one in 10 seniors are victims of elder abuse. 'If you’re introducing a deadly prescription into that family situation, where no one is going to be there to see what happens, you don’t know what happened,' she said." Ludlum also noted that cost cutting pressures in health care and social services could "push some people toward ending their lives.” (On polarizing end-of-life issue, what changes minds? CT Mirror, March 16, 2015)

Stephen Mendelsohn Testifies

Second Thoughts CT disability advocates have been also preparing for a hearing on the bill before the House Judiciary Committee. The testimony of Stephen Mendelsohn, another Second Thoughts CT leader, raises serious concerns about suicide contagion in Oregon, where assisted suicide is legal. “According to the Centers for Disease Control, Oregon’s already high suicide rate has increased much more than the national average; from 1999 (shortly after the Oregon Death with Dignity Act took effect) until 2010, the rate of increase for people age 35-64 was 49% in Oregon versus 28% nationally. . . . Mercilessly bullied autistic and LGBT youth can pick up this message that ‘my death’ is ‘my choice’ . . . and act on it. Those of us on the autism spectrum can take messages like this quite literally.”

Mendelsohn’s testimony also points to the dangers of future expansion of eligibility for assisted suicide beyond the parameters in the current bill, based on public comments by assisted suicide proponents:

“When Compassion & Choices president Barbara Coombs Lee came to Hartford last October, she declared her support for assisted suicide for people with dementia and cognitive disabilities unable to consent. CT News Junkie quoted her saying, ‘It is an issue for another day but is no less compelling.’ (Compassion & Choices Draws Full House at Real Art Ways for Panel Discussion, Film, Oct. 10, 2014) Dr. Marcia Angell, leading proponent of the defeated Massachusetts’ assisted suicide ballot question, recently wrote in The New York Review of Books that she now favors euthanasia as well as assisted suicide. (“A Better Way Out,” Jan. 8, 2015.) Oregon is currently debating legislation (HB 3337) that would extend eligibility for assisted suicide from a six month prognosis to one year.”

The Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund’s senior policy analyst Marilyn Golden submitted a compilation of “Some Oregon and Washington State Abuses and Complications.” Hearing testimonies on HB 7015 submitted in advance are available online on the Judiciary Committee's website.

Full Article & Source:
Not Dead Yet Applauds Second Thoughts Connecticut As Disability Advocates Prepare to Testify Against Assisted Suicide Bill

Time to license, audit court-appointed guardians

It ranks up there with the most despicable of crimes: people professing to care for the elderly, then stripping them of their money.

In Nevada, nobody is watching. It’s almost as if the immoral practice has the state’s approval.

We’re talking about guardians-gone-bad — private guardians, supposedly trustworthy people, who are assigned by judges to watch over wards of the court who can’t manage their own affairs and have no family nearby.

It’s expected the guardian will guard the client’s finances like a hawk, to make sure some con man doesn’t swindle money. The guardian has almost complete control over the client’s life.

But some guardians are themselves the con men, stealing from the very clients they were hired to protect. Cases come to light all the time — and are presumed to be just the tip of the iceberg.

The reason: Many states, including Nevada, have no regulations governing guardians’ behavior, much less watchdogs to be on the lookout for abuse and financial high jinks.

As a result, an evil-minded guardian can go to the bank and withdraw the client’s money, bunches at a time, and go gambling. Or go to the beauty salon for a makeover at the ward’s expense. Or run to the store to buy the client some candy bars — and withdraw $150 for his time. The courts don’t have time to check on the details.

You have to be licensed in Nevada to be a barber or beautician, but you don’t have to be licensed to run someone’s life and have virtually full control of their money. Stunning.

Consider the case of Patience Bristol, who had been a guardian for five years when she was charged in 2013 with stealing from her court-appointed wards. Metro Police investigators say she stole nearly $150,000 and $50,000 in jewelry from her clients. In two cases, police said she transferred assets into a new account only she had access to.

Bristol was charged with obtaining money under false pretenses, exploiting vulnerable people, and burglary. In a plea bargain, she confessed to one count of exploiting a court ward and was sentenced to three to eight years in prison.

She and other predators might have been thwarted had they been licensed and their backgrounds checked — and if there were sufficient financial resources for courts to hire staff to comb through guardians’ files to watch for spending patterns and the depletion of estates. But files are checked only randomly by overworked court staff, much like how so few of us are audited by the IRS.

A draft bill to address the issue, prepared with the support of former Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto; attorney Barbara Buckley, former speaker of the Nevada Assembly and executive director of the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada; and seniors advocate Sally Ramm of the state Aging and Disability Services Division, is poised to make an appearance in the Legislature this week. The would-be sponsor is Assemblyman Michael Sprinkle, D-Sparks. The bill would require guardians to be licensed and wards’ assets audited to make sure there’s no swindling going on.

“Just as there are family members who can be evil, there are guardians who do bad things, guardianship companies that do bad things and courts that are not doing the right thing,” Ramm said. “It’s infuriating.”

This is a no-brainer. If leadership doesn’t support this proposal — which could die due to inactivity this week — let’s hope they don’t become our guardians, because their values are suspect.

Full Article & Source:
Time to license, audit court-appointed guardians

Florida Will Overturned On Finding of Undue Influence By Surviving Spouse

Jeffrey Skatoff

Written by Anya Van Veen • March 19th, 2015
• Probate Litigation,

In Blinn v. Carlman, the Fourth District Court of Appeal upheld a Florida probate court’s invalidation of a will based upon undue influence by a surviving spouse.  Overturning a will on the grounds of undue influence by a surviving spouse is challenging, and this case gives insight into the kind of facts that support a finding of undue influence, and the standard the Florida appellate court uses to review the Florida probate court’s decision.

The law regarding undue influence was summarized by the Florida appellate court as follows:

“When a will is challenged on the grounds of undue influence, the influence must amount to over persuasion, duress, force, coercion, or artful or fraudulent contrivances to such an extent that there is a destruction of free agency and willpower of the testator.” Levin v. Levin, 60 So. 3d 1116, 1118 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011) (quoting Raimi v. Furlong, 702 So. 2d 1273, 1287 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997)). The doctrine of undue influence is based on the theory that the “testator is induced by various means, to execute an instrument which, although his, in outward form, is in reality not his will, but the will of another person which is substituted for that of testator.” In re Winslow’s Estate, 147 So. 2d 613, 617 (Fla. 2d DCA 1962) (citation omitted).

“Undue influence is not usually exercised openly in the presence of others, so that it may be directly proved, hence it may be proved by indirect evidence of facts and circumstances from which it may be inferred.” Gardiner v. Goertner, 149 So. 186, 190 (Fla. 1932) (citation omitted).

The Florida Supreme Court has established a set of non-exhaustive factors for courts to consider on the issue of undue influence or active procurement: (a) presence of the beneficiary at the execution of the will; (b) presence of the beneficiary on those occasions when the testator expressed a desire to make a will; (c) recommendation by the beneficiary of an attorney to draw the will; (d) knowledge of the contents of the will by the beneficiary prior to execution; (e) giving of instructions on preparation of the will by the beneficiary to the attorney drawing the will; (f) securing of witnesses to the will by the beneficiary; and (g) safekeeping of the will by the beneficiary subsequent to execution.  In re Estate of Carpenter, 253 So. 2d 697, 702 (Fla. 1971).

The facts in this case were strong.   In 2007, appellant Demetra Blinn married Richard Blinn when he was 82 years old.  From 2006 on, Richard suffered from progressive dementia.  The evidence showed that Richard’s behavior was inappropriate, he made imprudent financial decisions, his business was failing because of his deteriorating condition, and he sent money to mail-away scams.  In June 2011 Richard was found totally incapacitated.  His daughter, appellee Patty Carlman, was appointed as his guardian.

Patty sought to invalidate Decedent’s April 2, 2008 will.  The April 2008 will left everything to Demetra.  The prior wills left everything to Patty, including a will that was executed eight months after Richard met Demetra.

The appellate court noted that the April 2008 Will was executed “under most suspicious circumstances.”  Two lawyers, a referring lawyer and a drafting lawyer, were involved.  The testimony of the lawyers sharply conflicted regarding the preparation of the 2008 will.  As the appellate court stated: “If both lawyers are to be believed, Richard’s April 2008 will drafted itself and miraculously appeared at the drafting lawyer’s office on April 2.”

Demetra professed no knowledge of the appointment with the drafting lawyer until the morning the will was executed, despite the fact that the drafting lawyer had obtained a copy of Demetra’s earlier will and trust.  Demetra provided the drafting lawyer two “doctor letters” stating that both Demetra and Richard were of sound mind.  The “doctor letters” had been written nine months before the execution of the 2008 will.  The appellate court stated that “This conduct suggests that, on her own, appellant was trying to overcome legitimate concerns about the circumstances surrounding the April, 2008 will.”

In addition, the Florida probate court found that both before and after the marriage Demetra alienated Richard from his family.  Evidence showed that Demetra aggressively pushed the idea onto Richard that his daughter Patty was stealing from him, without any evidence of Patty’s wrongdoing.  Indeed, evidence was presented of a voice message accidentally left by Demetra, where Demetra was screaming at Decedent about how Patty was stealing from Richard. Additional evidence showed that Demetra requested beneficiary changes on life insurance, and directly contacted the drafting attorney’s law firm to send her Richard’s estate planning documents and a durable power of attorney in her favor.  The Florida probate court found that if appellant “were so bold as to openly display such influence over [the decedent], then the court could ‘reasonably infer that similar or greater influence was occurring in the dark during their marriage’  and that decedent was “susceptible to undue influence due to his declining physical state, anxiety disorders depression, and progressive dementia.”

The Florida probate court’s “findings in a will contest shall not be overturned where there is substantial competent evidence to support those findings, unless the probate judge has misapprehended the evidence as a whole.”  The Florida appellate court found that the final judgment invalidating the will was supported by substantial competent evidence and affirmed the judgment.

 Anya Van Veen is a Florida probate lawyer who also handles trust litigation and guardianship litigation.

Full Article & Source:
Florida Will Overturned On Finding of Undue Influence By Surviving Spouse

Bank May be Liable for Failure to Stop Elder Abuse

Jeffrey Skatoff

Written by Jeffrey Skatoff • March 9th, 2015
• Guardianship Litigation,  Resources,  Other Resources,

In what may be a first in Florida, a bank can be held liable for the failure to stop elder abuse arising from the draining of a senior's bank account by an abuser.

In Ginder v. Bank of America, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25562 (M.D. Fla. 2015), Mrs. Ginder, an 81 year old woman, deposited her life savings into various Bank of America accounts.  Just prior to the exploitation described in the lawsuit, the account values were approximately $175,000. The alleged exploiter, Mr. Knight, portrayed himself as an employee of Bank of America and caused Mrs. Ginder to write checks and transfer funds to other people.

Mrs. Ginder alleged that Bank of America had opened suspicious activity reports on the accounts, but failed to notify her or to stop the activity.  Mrs. Ginder also alleged that her daughter had also been in contact with the bank and had warned them of the activity.

To that end, Plaintiff attempts to establish a duty by showing that BOA violated Florida's Adult Protective Services Act (the "Act"). In relevant part, the Act requires any bank "who knows, or has reasonable cause to suspect, that a vulnerable adult has been or is being . . . exploited" to report such exploitation to the Florida Department of Children and Families. The Act defines "vulnerable adult" to include any person over eighteen years of age who is unable to perform everyday activities due to "the infirmities of aging." Id.  The Florida Legislature has illuminated that a primary purpose of the Act's mandatory reporting requirement is to "cause the protective services of the state to be brought to bear in an effort to prevent further . . . exploitation of vulnerable adults." 

BOA does not dispute that Plaintiff is a vulnerable adult within the meaning of the Act or that BOA failed to report that it suspected Plaintiff was being exploited. Instead, BOA argues that the Act does not provide a private right of action for its failure to report.[I]t is true that the Act provides no private right of action for Plaintiff to sue BOA. Mora v. S. Broward Hosp. Dist., 710 So. 2d 633, 634 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1998). However, Count 1 does not sue BOA for violating the Act, but rather sues BOA under a theory of common law negligence. Because Florida courts allow the inference of the breach of a legal duty from the violation of a statute, Kohl, 149 So. 3d at 132, the Court may look to the Act in answering whether BOA had a legal duty to Plaintiff.

Accepting these facts as true, the Court is able to reasonably infer that BOA knew of Plaintiff's exploitation, but failed to report the exploitation to the Florida Department of Children and Families, in violation of the Act. Consequently, the Court is also able to reasonably infer that the Act confers a duty on BOA to act to protect victims of elder exploitation and that BOA breached that duty in this case.

This is the first case to my knowledge that places common law negligence liability on a bank for the failure to stop elder abuse.   

Attorney Jeffrey Skatoff handles elder abuse claims throughout the State of Florida.

Full Article & Source:
Bank May be Liable for Failure to Stop Elder Abuse

Cher Promises To Help 96-Year-Old Woman With Dementia Return Home

McLEAN, Va. (AP) — A judge says a 96-year-old woman whose late-life marriage to a 95-year-old beau made national news should be returned to her longtime northern Virginia home after the musician Cher promised to pay to fix it up.

In a court deposition, Cher said she was inspired last year when she a saw news story about Edith Hill and her newlywed husband, Eddie Harrison.

Hill and Harrison were separated after their marriage became embroiled in a court dispute over whether Hill had the mental capacity to marry her companion. Court records indicate that Hill suffers from mild dementia.

Harrison died in December, just weeks after Hill was taken away to Florida on the recommendation of a court-appointed guardian, but a custody dispute continued over who should care for Hill and where she should live.

Cher said she will help pay for needed upgrades to Hill's family home in Alexandria.

In a telephone interview, Cher expressed frustration that Eddie and Edith had been split up against their wishes.

"This whole thing is a travesty, what happens to old people," she said. "Once they do the repairs and she comes back home, it's going to be bittersweet because she only wanted to be with him."

Earlier this month, after Cher offered to pay for the home improvements, a judge ordered that Hill should return to Alexandria once repairs are complete.

"Mom's coming home!" said Hill's daughter, Rebecca Wright, of Annandale, in a phone interview Tuesday. Wright had been the biggest supporter of Hill and Harrison's marriage.

In December, a court-appointed guardian for Hill, Jessica Niesen, had Hill moved to Florida to live with another daughter. Harrison stayed in Virginia. Later that month, Harrison died.

"He actually gave his life to this effort," Wright said of Harrison and his battle to have his union with Hill recognized and to live with his wife. Wright said he was heartbroken when Hill was moved to Florida and gloomy about his prospects of ever seeing her again. The two had been companions for more than a decade before they married.

The custody case over Hill remains ongoing, despite the judge's order that Hill be returned to Alexandria.  (Continue Reading)

Full Article & Source:
Cher Promises To Help 96-Year-Old Woman With Dementia Return Home

See Also:
Marriage of Newlyweds, Ages 96 and 95, Questioned

Newlywed Man, 95, Dies After Wife Taken Away

Why Elder Abuse Is Everyone's Problem

What you're about to read makes me angry, because it's a true story. A story of elder abuse.

[In 2010], prosecutors in Seattle charged Christopher Wise with the murder of his mother, Ruby. His crime? Letting her rot to death with eight huge pressure sores, several to the bone, while he played Internet poker and lived off her pension. His excuse? She didn't want to go to a nursing home or a doctor; he was just respecting her wishes.

Ruby Wise was imprisoned in her bed by immobility, dementia, and isolation. She moaned and cried out for help continuously in the weeks before her death. Neighbors closed their windows and her son put in earplugs to muffle her cries. No one called Adult Protective Services or 911. It's hard to believe the response would have been the same had the cries come from a child, a younger woman, or a dog.

-- Testimony by Marie-Therese Connolly, Director, Life Long Justice (an elder justice initiative of Appleseed) before the Senate Special Committee on Aging, March 2011

We have an enormous problem with elder abuse, by which I mean the physical, psychological or sexual harm, neglect (self-neglect or by a caregiver) or financial exploitation of vulnerable older people. Elder abuse in all its forms is ugly, painful, costly and simply wrong. The problem is also bigger than most people realize. It's seriously under-reported, but an estimated one in 10 older people experiences some kind of abuse every year.

The most common form of abuse is financial exploitation, what Richard Cordray, director of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has called "the signature crime of the 21st century." Perpetrated by family, "friends," caregivers and predatory outsiders, this problem is sufficiently complex and important that I will devote an entire post to it soon.

Elder abuse experts say a key challenge is that abuse "flies under the radar." Excuses abound, as does a lack of awareness and preparation. It gets excused ("she bruises so easily"), rationalized ("he was going to inherit that money soon anyway") or simply missed by good people in a position to help who didn't know what to look for, or how to intervene.

Perhaps it surprises you to see elder abuse included in this series on older adult health, but in fact they are closely related. We now know that elder abuse has devastating and far-reaching health consequences, and triples the risk of premature death, compared to a group of older adults with similar medical problems who do not experience abuse. Compared with their peers, victims of elder abuse are also three times more likely to be admitted to the hospital and four times more likely to be admitted to a nursing home .

"These things really jar your senses," says Lidia Vognar, MD, assistant professor at Brown University's Alpert School of Medicine, a scholar at the Hartford Center for Excellence in Geriatric Medicine there, and an expert on elder abuse, who often works with Adult Protective Services, the agency primarily tasked with intervention in cases of reported abuse. "We must break down the taboos that surround elder abuse. There is no reason for anyone to be silent."

If there is any good news here, it is that elder abuse has become a domain of increasing scientific scrutiny, with more research, education, and awareness in the past twenty years. In an arena like this, where health care, finances, the law, and social services intersect, knowledge is power, and empowerment is a big part of the solution.

Here are some important things to know:

Who's at risk?
No victim of abuse is ever to blame for mistreatment, but it is true that some people are at increased risk.

As a group, women suffer disproportionately more from abuse, and may suffer more physical and psychological damage from it. The older people are, the higher their risk. Other at-risk groups include people who are socially isolated; people who need a lot of help with activities of daily living, such as bathing, dressing, or using the bathroom; people with disabilities; people who live with someone with mental illness or substance abuse issues; and people with mental impairments or dementia. The last group, those with cognitive problems, faces considerable risk that gets even greater if their disease causes them to "act out" with difficult behaviors.

Who are the abusers?
90 percent of elder abuse and neglect is perpetrated by someone well known to the victim, usually family members, specifically grown children or spouses. While there is no excusing such behavior, and it demands the full available range of prevention and intervention, it is also worth reflecting on why it happens.

The stresses of caregiving, particularly long-term caregiving for someone whose problems may be extremely demanding, can be overwhelming. While important new research reminds us that, for some, even dementia caregiving can be well managed and yield positive experiences, many people who find themselves thrust into the role are ill-equipped for it. Many who never harm the person they are caring for find instead that it takes a terrible toll on their own physical and emotional health. Physical and emotional illnesses are more common, and these dedicated caregivers do not have time or energy to attend to their own health care needs.

So why do some caregivers turn nasty or neglectful, while others never do? The problem is important enough that the National Center on Elder Abuse has a publication dedicated to the topic, Preventing Abuse by Family Caregivers. Factors influencing the likelihood of abuse may include how well caregivers and the person receiving care got along in the past; how the caregivers perceive the job and the amount of support they feel they get from family, social networks, and the community; and whether the person receiving care has shown aggressive or difficult behaviors.  (Continue Reading)

Full Article & Source:
Why Elder Abuse Is Everyone's Problem

Elder abuse definitions updated with House-approved proposal

A bill aimed at improving responses to elder abuse victims got unanimous support from the Ohio House today.

House Bill 24 would update Ohio’s current definitions for elder abuse, which are “ significantly outdated,” said prime sponsor, Rep. Mike Dovilla, R-Berea. Crafted decades ago, they focus on physical abuse, but, increasingly, financial abuse has become just as much of a problem, he said.

The House also voted unanimously to create a new domestic relations judgeship in Delaware County.

This is the third time in three sessions that the House has passed the elder abuse bill, which Dovilla said is the first comprehensive reforms to adult protective services law in two decades.

He noted that the most recent report from Ohio Adult Protective Services found 16,300 reports of abuse, neglect and exploitation of adults age 60 and older. For every report of abuse, Dovilla said, an estimated five are unreported, according to a study requested by Congress.

The bill would create a state-managed registry to help identify patterns of elder abuse.

“For the first time, Ohio will be able to accurately monitor and track the abuse of our senior citizens,” Dovilla said.

The bill would expand the list of people required to report elderly abuse or exploitation to a county department of job and family services. This includes pharmacists, hospital employees, firefighters, bank employees and accountants.

“If it can be caught early, people can be protected from emptied bank accounts, improper transfers of property and unwise investments,” Beth Kowalczyk, chief policy officer for the Ohio Association of Area Agencies on Aging Bank, recently told lawmakers. “Bank employees and financial planners are frequently in a position to see what may be going on in an older adult’s home.”

The bill also would develop an ongoing training program for protective service caseworkers.

“Getting ahead of this is more important than ever,” said Rep. Wes Retherford, R-Hamilton. “ With this bill we can take a proactive approach and get these cases investigated before someone is drained of their life’s savings.”

The bill now goes to the Senate.

Meanwhile, Delaware County, one of the fastest-growing counties in the nation, could add another judge if the bill that passed the House also gets Senate approval.

Rep. Andrew Brenner, R-Powell, said the decision to make the new judgeship a domestic relations position came after talking to attorneys who work in the court, and the current common pleas judges. The new judge would focus on issues including divorces, paternity and child support.

Brenner noted that Delaware County’s population jumped from 66,000 in 1990 to 175,000 in 2010, and is close to passing 200,000. “We are seeing an increased caseload,” he said, noting the Ohio Supreme Court recommended that the judgeship be created. 

Full Article & Source:
Elder abuse definitions updated with House-approved proposal

2015 White House Conference on Aging - New York Listening Session

WHO: New York State Office for the Aging, the Association on Aging in NY, AARP New York WHAT: A New York Statewide effort to inform the White House Conference on Aging

WHERE: TBD

WHEN: Thursday, March 26th, 2015 Time—TBD

The New York State Office for Aging, in collaboration with AARP New York, and the Association on Aging in New York (Aging NY) is seeking your participation in a statewide effort to solicit input to inform the 2015 White House Conference on Aging.

RSVP to Sharon.Foley@aging.ny.gov

The listening sessions are designed to collect specific recommendations from stakeholders, which will be summarized and conveyed at the White House Conference on Aging.

The White House Conference on Aging will focus on the following themes:
*Retirement security: Financial security in retirement provides essential peace of mind for older Americans, but it requires attention during our working lives to ensure that we are well prepared for retirement.
*Healthy aging: As medical advances progress, the opportunities for older Americans to maintain their health and vitality should progress. Community supports, including housing, are important tools to promote this vitality.
*Long-term services and supports: Older Americans overwhelmingly prefer to remain independent in the community as they age. To accomplish this, they need supports, including a caregiving network and well supported workforce.
*Elder justice: Seniors, particularly the oldest older Americans, can be vulnerable to financial exploitation, abuse, and neglect. The Elder Justice Act was enacted as a part of the Affordable Care Act and we need to realize its vision of protecting seniors from scam artists and others seeking to take advantage of them.

If you are unable to attend the listening session, please provide your recommendations online: http://www.agingny.org/WhiteHouseConferenceonAging.aspx

New York State Information Gathering to Inform White House Conference on Aging

See Also:
White House Conference on Aging Website

House advances guardianship bill

TALLAHASSEE A House bill that would expand the oversight of professional guardians in Florida cleared the Children, Families and Seniors subcommittee today.

The bill (HB 1225), sponsored by Rep. Larry Ahern, R-Seminole, would create a new “Office of Public and Professional Guardians” in the Department of Elder Affairs to oversee both public and professional guardians. Currently, the DOEA only handles public guardians, who are appointed to care for frail and disabled elders who have no family or cannot afford to hire a professional guardian.
Ahern’s bill is similar to a measure (SB 1226), sponsored by Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, that is moving through the Senate.

Like Detert’s bill, Ahern’s legislation would give the DOEA the authority to certify, oversee and discipline guardians across the state. The bill would also require courts to use a rotating list of professional guardians when making appointments.

Ahern said his bill was prompted by a December series in the Herald-Tribune _ “The Kindness of Strangers: Inside Elder Guardianship in Florida” _ that detailed cases of people who believe they were denied due process in court and afterward in guardianship cases.

“This is a modernization that will help, I believe, our elders be protected and also just having some more transparency and oversight of how their money is spent and the reasons why it gets spent,” Ahern said.

Full Article & Source:
House advances guardianship bill

Bill to increase mandatory retirement age for judges advances to House

HARRISBURG – A bill to amend the state constitution and raise the mandatory retirement age for Pennsylvania judges from 70 to 75 has taken another step closer to reaching the voting booths this week.

Pa. State Rep. Kate Harper, R-Montgomery

The proposal was approved by the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, said Rep. Kate Harper, R-Montgomery, prime sponsor of the measure. The bill now goes to the full House for its consideration.

Because it is a constitutional amendment, the same legislation must be adopted in two consecutive sessions of the General Assembly before it can be voted on by Pennsylvania citizens.

“Forcing a judge to retire simply because he or she meets a certain age can actually be a detriment to the justice system because we lose that judge’s knowledge and experience on the bench,” Harper said.

“I believe it is in the best interest of the Commonwealth to give capable judges the option to continue their service, and my legislation will ultimately put that question to the voters.”

Harper’s House Bill 90 seeks a ballot question to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to increase the mandatory retirement age for justices, judges and justices of the peace from 70 to 75. The identical measure passed both the House and Senate in 2013. If it passes both chambers again in the 2015-16 legislative session, it would be placed on the ballot for the voters to decide.

The Judiciary Committee on Tuesday also adopted House Bill 89, which would implement the increased retirement age if the constitutional amendment is approved by voters.

Harper noted the current mandatory retirement age was put in place in 1968. Since that time, the average life expectancy has increased from age 70 to age 78, and many people are living well into their 80s and 90s.

At a public hearing on her proposal in 2013, a doctor testified about the mental acuity of older judges, noting that there is no sharp decline of mental functioning between age 70 and 75 and that the prevalence of dementia was relatively small. Harper noted there are processes in place through the Judicial Conduct Board and the Court of Judicial Discipline to remove judges of any age who are no longer competent to serve.

Thirty-three states, plus the District of Columbia, require mandatory retirement of judges at ages ranging from 70-75. In addition to Pennsylvania, 16 other states are considering bills that address mandatory retirement, in most cases either to increase the age or to remove it. In the federal courts, there is no age limit for serving as a judge.

Several Pennsylvania judges have attempted to settle the matter through civil suits against the previous governor. The primary argument is that the mandatory retirement age represents a violation of their civil rights.

In Driscoll v. Corbett et al., Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas Judge John J. Driscoll, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Senior Judge Sandra Mazer Moss and colleague Judge Joseph D. O’Keefe wanted the mandatory retirement provision nullified and declared invalid, and have the court enjoin the defendants from enforcing the provision.

In Tilson v. Corbett et al., Montgomery County Court Judge Arthur Tilson argued that the constitutional requirement is at odds with the Pennsylvania Constitution’s guarantee of equal rights. He, too, wanted the provision nullified and declared invalid.

The named defendants in both cases were Gov. Tom Corbett, Court Administrator Zygmont A. Pines and Pennsylvania Secretary of State Carol T. Aichele.

The court — which noted a “degree of discomfort” in presiding over the cases, as its members might benefit from a ruling in favor of the judges — sided with Attorney General Kathleen Kane, who represented Corbett and the other defendants.

Kane’s office argued that the judges’ claims should be presented to the state legislature, which can initiate a remedy in the form of a new constitutional amendment.

Full Article & Source:
Bill to increase mandatory retirement age for judges advances to House

Watching Out For Our Wards

Understanding the pitfalls and positives of guardianship

To those who haven’t witnessed it first-hand, guardianship may sound like a heroic assignment in which bigger, stronger, more seasoned protectors keep individuals unable to fend for themselves out of harm’s way.  But the reality is far less ideal.

More and more cases are being assigned to professional guardians because round-the-clock responsibility for another individual’s life is often more than a family member or well-intentioned friend can bear.  We’re just seeing the earliest waves of a mounting tsunami that could send enormous numbers of individuals unnecessarily into guardianship and place unbearable stress on even the most willing and able professionals.

NGA Standards
The National Guardianship Association’s (NGA) standards and certification process ensure that professionals who take on guardianship responsibilities do so with both commitment and competence and that they’re suited to tackle the most important aspect of these cases—preserving the dignity and quality of life of the ward.

But while a certified professional guardian has demonstrated the skills and commitment necessary to take on the profound obligation of seeing to a ward’s welfare, his capacity to do so isn’t limitless.  In fact, the NGA states in its Standards of Practice that “the guardian shall limit each caseload to a size that allows the guardian to accurately and adequately support and protect the person, that allows a minimum of one visit per month with each person, and that allows regular contact with all service providers.”

Duties
In a healthy arrangement, a guardian should:

• Evaluate and act on each situation on a case-by-case basis, carefully considering those whose lives hangs in the balance as individuals.
• Be ready, willing and able to care about the ward, including demonstrating an understanding of the responsibilities that accompany the guardian’s role. Those responsibilities often range from things as straightforward as deciding where the ward will live to more complex and potentially overwhelming issues, such as deciding whether cancer care should continue or life support should end.
• Avoid over-burdening himself with too many cases, by aligning with a qualified third-party source of professional guardianship.  Such partners should put the needs and stated desires of the ward above all else and be able to remain objective in making decisions that affect the ward’s estate and quality of life.
• Have a succession plan in place, so that the death or departure of an individual or business won’t leave the ward unattended, whether for a short period while a new guardian is assigned or for a longer period if the situation goes undetected.  (Continue Reading)

Full Article & Source:
Watching Out For Our Wards

Illinois Representative David Harris Introduces Three Bills in the 2015 Legislative Session

During the 2014 legislative session, Representative David Harris (R, 53rd District), working with NASGA Director Sylvia Rudek, introduced HB5573, a bill aimed to empower and strengthen Power of Attorney and advance directives.

Despite overwhelming support NASGA received in feedback from victims, families, and guardianship stakeholders, sadly HB5573 was stalled in the Rules Committee.

Representative David Harris

Representative Harris’ commitment to protect the elderly and disabled citizens of Illinois was not dissuaded.

This year, Representative Harris, again conferring with Sylvia Rudek, has introduced three bills to the 2015 legislative session:

 HB2504 concerns the length of temporary guardianship and provides that an extension of the temporary guardianship may be granted, if specific conditions are met, for no longer than 90 days from the date of original appointment.

HB2505 provides that a temporary guardian shall have limited powers and duties (instead of “all the powers and duties”) of a guardian of the person or estate which are enumerated by court order.

HB2506 provides that unless a guardian of the person or a disabled adult is specifically authorized by court order, the guardian shall not restrict the personal rights of the ward, including, but not limited to, the right to receive visitors, telephone calls, and personal mail.  Hearings are scheduled to discuss and debate the bills.

NASGA enthusiastically supports Senator Harris’ efforts and very much appreciates his concern and legislative action on behalf of the elderly and disabled of Illinois and victims of unlawful and abusive guardianships.

READ the Full Text of HB2504

READ the Full Text of HB2505

READ the Full Text of HB2506

TRACK All Bills From Representative Harris

See Also:
NASGA on HB5573

NASGA Members in Legislative Action

Attorney discipline: 7 punished in South Florida

The Florida Supreme Court disciplined 7 South Florida attorneys in recent actions brought by The Florida Bar. The actions:

• Herbert Wingfield Biggs, of Jupiter, was suspended for one year, effective 30 days from a Nov. 20 court order. Biggs failed to supervise a non-lawyer with whom he had a business relationship. When Biggs was absent from his law office, handling matters in Nevada, the non-lawyer, a convicted felon, solicited business, accepted funds from clients, used Biggs' letterhead and forged the attorney's signature. Further, Biggs shall pay restitution of more than $53,000 to two clients.

• James Whitcomb J. Carpenter, of Fort Lauderdale, was suspended for 90 days, effective Dec. 23, after modification of the Dec. 4 court order. Further, Carpenter shall attend ethics school and comply with other conditions. After the death of his stepfather, Carpenter initially failed to correctly identify all of the potential beneficiaries to the probate court.

• Michael Ralph Casey, of Oakland Park, was disbarred following a Nov. 21 court order. Casey is accused of defrauding hundreds of investors worldwide out of approximately $20 million. In September 2012, he was charged in federal court, with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. On April 29, Casey failed to appear for a court hearing and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest by the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida. The FBI Wanted poster indicates that Casey "should be considered armed and dangerous."

• Robert James Julia, of Miami Lakes, was suspended for six months, effective 30 days from a Nov. 20 court order. Further, Julia shall pay restitution of $3,000 to one client. Julia engaged in improper business dealings with a long-time family friend. As a result of him taking a tax loss that was attributable to the investor, Julia received tax benefits to which he has not entitled.

• S. Tracy Long, of Delray Beach, was suspended for one year, effective 30 days from a Nov. 20 court order. Long shall also pay restitution totaling $11,500 to three clients. In one instance, Long hired non-lawyers to provide paralegal services and market foreclosure defense and loan modification and shared fees with them. In another case, Long was retained to help clients with a foreclosure matter. They continued to pay him, believing that he was working on saving the home. The clients were subsequently forced to vacate the premises.

• Louis Randolf Townsend Jr., of West Palm Beach, was suspended for 91 days, effective 30 days from a Dec. 17 court order. Townsend was found in contempt for practicing law while suspended.

• Stuart Barry Yanofsky, of Plantation, is to be publicly reprimanded following a Nov. 14 court order. Yanofsky was found in contempt for failing to respond to Florida Bar inquiries in a timely manner.

Full Article & Source:
Attorney discipline: 7 punished in South Florida

Bill would ban nursing home inspections in court cases

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — One patient choked to death, another claimed he was raped. WREG has uncovered new and very disturbing details about problems at a local nursing home.

The On Your Side Investigators also discovered these same details could be kept secret.

An inspection report from federal and state health surveyors shows Signature Healthcare at St. Peter Villa in MidTown Memphis was hit with more than 20 deficiencies in August of 2014.

Read full report here.

The survey shows one resident choked to death after the facility failed to provide the proper diet, neglected to monitor the patient during meals, and never even attempted a maneuver to stop the choking.

It also reveals Signature Healthcare at St. Peter Villa “failed to thoroughly investigate” an alleged rape.

The resident wasn’t sent to the ER for a rape kit, and the nursing home never even notified police.

The On Your Side Investigators recently uncovered problems at another Memphis nursing home owned by the same company.

Dozens of viewers contacted WREG after our report on Signature Healthcare at Saint Francis.

One wrote in an email, “My grandfather died in the care of the staff at Signature Nursing home.”

Another said in a Facebook message, “My mother was Resident #5 in the story you did last night about Signature Healthcare. So glad you have put this out there.”

However, details like the horrific ones in the surveys we revealed could soon be kept secret, if a bill sponsored by Tennessee State Senator Brian Kelsey and Representative Leigh Wilburn becomes law.

Senate Bill 889 would prohibit survey and investigation results from being used as evidence in malpractice cases.

Read bill here.

Cameron Jehl is a Memphis Attorney who has sued nursing homes before. He opposes the proposed legislation.

“If the nursing homes violates federal law and federal regulations, they’re required to comply with in order to keep and take care of the elderly, then they should be held accountable for their actions,” Jehl said.

However, Senator Kelsey says attorneys will sometimes misuse negative survey results to paint nursing homes with a broad brush, rather than focusing on a single incident that led to a injury or fatality.

“I think we have to look at the instances when this information should be available and what are the instances in which it’s being used in a way that’s not exactly the full and 100 percent truth,” Kelsey said.

The bill also addresses ads that law firms often run in newspapers about problems at nursing homes.

It stipulates that if the ad mentions a deficiency, it also must be noted if and when the deficiency was corrected.

Proponents say the advertisements, often run by out of state law firms, don’t always include timely information.

When asked about using inspections in court cases, and how such evidence could be used on behalf of a plaintiff to reveal a pattern of problems that the nursing home has been made aware of, Senator Kelsey told WREG, “This is really just the beginning of the conversation. This bill will be amended when it goes through the committee process. It will get a full hearing.”

Jehl added, “These nursing homes, when they neglect and abuse the elderly, they have to be held accountable.” (Continue Reading)

Full Article & Source:
Bill would ban nursing home inspections in court cases

Ohio Supreme Court: New guardianship rules start June 1

Court-appointed guardians across Ohio will all have to follow the same set of basic requirements starting June 1 as they manage the affairs of Ohioans who are deemed unable to care for themselves — children, the elderly and people with mental disabilities.

The Ohio Supreme Court released a set of standards yesterday that will become the new minimum requirements for guardians statewide. Those rules had been left up to individual probate courts in Ohio’s 88 counties.

The new rules require training, monitoring and background checks and say that guardians must meet with their wards at least every three months.

A court-appointed committee had studied the issue for more than eight years before releasing a draft set of rules for guardians last spring — just as TheDispatch published an investigation in May that revealed how the state’s patchwork quilt of local rules has failed Ohioans.

The series, “Unguarded,” available online at Dispatch.com/unguarded, found widespread problems with the way some guardians were managing the care of their wards, including instances of abuse, neglect and financial exploitation.

The court pulled back the draft after receiving more than 100 pages of comments, prompted in part by the Dispatch series.

The committee work started in 2007 after national news stories raised an alarm about the lack of oversight in guardianship cases. While Ohio was one of the first states to form a committee to study the issue, much of the rest of the country raced ahead with comprehensive state standards.

Julia Nack is one of the state’s few certified master guardians and the director of the volunteer guardianship program at the Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging. She both commented on the draft rules and was part of the committee tasked with redrafting the rules based on that feedback.

She called yesterday’s decision by the court historic but cautioned that it is a first step.

“In general, these are positive steps forward, but not as rigorous as the national standards envision,” she said.

She would have preferred for the court to require guardians to visit wards more frequently than the four times a year outlined in the rules, for example, adding that the national model calls for monthly visits. But she concedes that the new rules are better than the previous standard, which required no visits.

In an unexpected move, the court also decided to make the rules apply to relatives who serve as guardians, according to a court news release.

Nack and other advocates had fought to make family members follow the same guidelines as lawyer guardians who charge a ward’s estate to perform the work, but that requirement was one that many of the state’s probate judges resisted.

Many judges on the committee that helped draft the rules said they feared they would not be able to find enough people to do the work if the rules were too stringent.

But feedback that the Supreme Court received also pointed out that many judges did not want to administer two classes of guardians.

Applying the rules to family members represents a sea change in Ohio, Nack said, and a long-overdue recognition of the power that guardians — family members or not — hold over the lives of the people in their care.

In fact, the Dispatch series provided numerous examples of family members who mistreated, neglected or stole from the relatives in their care.

It also showed that the lack of oversight by courts across the state allowed unscrupulous guardians — family members and court-hired guardians, including some lawyers — to take advantage of their wards.

One lawyer, Paul S. Kormanik, was indicted on 11 charges in January. One is a first-degree felony accusing him of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, a violation of Ohio’s RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said at the time.

Kormanik, who once was responsible for more than 400 court-appointed wards, already was awaiting trial on two felony theft charges. He was re-indicted on those two charges in January, and nine charges were added.

Investigators with O’Brien’s office and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office said Kormanik stole nearly $50,000 from four wards between 2009 and last year. The indictment says Kormanik, 65, hid assets from the court that belonged to wards and deposited them into his own accounts.

While the new rules could have gone further, Nack said, they provide improvements, including a training requirement for all current and newly appointed guardians, an ongoing education requirement, better monitoring of professional guardians who oversee more than 10 wards, a requirement that guardians undergo a criminal background check and a prohibition against appointing as guardians nursing homes or in-home care providers who are paid to serve the ward.

“I’m dancing around my office,” Nack said yesterday after learning that the rules would be implemented this year.

Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor said in a news release that the rules align Ohio with standards set by the National Guardianship Association and raise the level of professionalism among guardians in the state.

“We know this has been a long process, but we have never lost sight that the ultimate goal is to provide our probate courts with effective means to ensure the safety and well-being of people who need our protection,” O’Connor said.

Full Article & Source:
Ohio Supreme Court: New guardianship rules start June 1

Judicial public access committee has no public members, won’t answer questions

The Colorado Judiciary’s Public Access Committee, which has no members of the general public on it, is scheduled to finalize rules about access to judicial administrative documents in April, years after department judges exempted the judicial offices from transparency laws.

Teresa Tate, assistant legal counsel, said the subcommittee is expected to finish its work at the end of March at the request of Chief Justice Nancy Rice.

“It’s been a priority for the Judicial Branch,” she told the full committee Friday. “The Chief Justice elevated the priority.”

The rules are necessary because in 2012 the state appellate court ruled that the judicial department isn’t subject to state open records laws, which cover all other Colorado government agencies. The department apparently is writing its own rules without checks, balances or input from anyone but judicial employees.

After the meeting, Tate refused to answer questions about why it took nearly three years after the appellate ruling to formulate rules. She asked security to intervene and stop the questioning.

But it might not be up to the judiciary to write its own rules and policies as lawmakers are starting to take notice of the judiciary department, which is supposed to interpret and uphold state laws, exempting itself from transparency statutes.

“I think you bring up a valid point, with all the judicial department agencies exempt, does it make sense to just do the public defenders’ offices and not the whole of judicial,” state Rep. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora, said last week. “You raise some important concerns.”

Fields has sponsored a bill this session requiring the judiciary’s public defender’s office to comply with open records laws.

State Sen. Kent Lambert, R-Berthoud, and state Rep. Tim Dore, R-Elizabeth, also expressed concern when they learned from Watchdog.org that judicial officials decided to exempt themselves from state law.

After the meeting, state Supreme Court Justice Monica Marquez, who chairs the Public Access Committee, left the meeting flanked by a deputy and refused to answer questions about the committee’s actions or why it includes no public members.

The rules for administrative records are in five parts, Tate told the Public Access Committee, including definitions, exemptions, timetable and process for seeking redress. Part two asserts that the records are assumed open unless there is an exemption.

Those basics seem to mirror state open records laws but even if they do, the judicial rules could be changed anytime by judicial officials without legislative oversight.

Tate told the committee that all judicial offices, except the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline, are participating in writing the access rules, though apparently there are no members of the public involved in those deliberations either.

“We’re working thoughtfully to create a rule that is open and really works well,” Tate said at the meeting.

Taxpayers paid Tate $76,200 and Marquez $144,687 last year, according to a state personnel database.

Marquez was up for judicial retention last year, winning with about 68 percent of the vote, according Judgepedia.org. So she won’t come before voters again for another decade.

The full Public Access Committee is scheduled to discuss the rules April 8.

Full Article & Source:
Judicial public access committee has no public members, won’t answer questions

Tonight on T.S. Radio: Gerald's Story: Nursing Home and Drug Abuse of an Elderly Man

Patrice Gilgan joins us this evening to expose the abuse and drugging of her father at the hands of doctors and nursing home workers in two different facilities in Orange County, California. 

The first instance of abuse both physical and with drugs occurred at Irvin Cottage Board and Care where Gerald had been sent to recover from brain surgery.  Gerald was drugged within 24 hours of admittance to the home with massive doses of Haldol, Seroqel and overdosed on morphine.  There was no prescription for the morphine.  Cottage Board and Care is operated by St Joseph Hospice, a Catholic enterprise.

At a second facility, Villa Valencia Skilled Nursing, (a St Michael Hospice and another Catholic owned  enterprise), Gerald was given 7 different drugs.  None of these drugs were to be used on brain injured or individuals suffering from dementia.  When Gerald was finally freed from this facility and hospitalized again, it took more than two weeks for him to respond due to the massive drug overload in his system.

Videos of Gerald, and of some of the abuse he endured are available on the you tube channel;  Ireland Dallas.

Gerald Gilgan was a retired New York City Fire Fighter. 

This man did not deserve this callous treatment.  No one does.  Yet it happens to the elderly every day here in the US.

7:00 EST

LISTEN LIVE or listen to the archive later

See Also:
Drugging Dementia:  Are Antipsychotics Killing Nursing Home Patients?

Elder Abuse Caught on Tape

R.I.P. Dad - Justice Will be Served

Rana Goodman: Guardianship Bill SB262 Finally a Reality

This is a link to the complete bill that is intended to replace the existing guardianship bill.

As I have said all along, although many changes need to be made to the Family Court system, removing the residency requirement was a starting point for each and every victim family member that Dan and I have been working with these long months.

Thanks to the support of all of you that have signed the petitions and backed us up, our voices WERE HEARD, it has been done and much more.

Each time we spoke with the legislators working on this issue, each time we wrote about it in the paper, we pushed things that needed to be fixed.

This week in Carson City we thought it would be more of the same, but it was so gratifying to see all of that work become an actual bill.

Dan and I went to Carson City armed with copies of The Vegas Voice, we were pleasantly surprised to see copies on the desks of most of the legislators we had come to lobby. It seems guardianship was a hot topic.

By the time we arrived for our appointment at the Attorney General's office and sat down to talk, Mr. Winne flipped open his file and copies of the paper were clipped inside there too.

Dan and I glanced at each other wondering if that was good or bad and Mr. Winne said that it was the constant stories in the paper that brought the investigation forward. At this point they are collecting information from all the victims they can.

Full Article and Source:
Guardianship Bill SB262 Finally A Reality

READ SB262

See Also:
The Vegas Voice - Rana Goodman:  Private Guardians vs. Family

Steve Miller: Jared E. Shafer, Las Vegas Private Guardian and His Judges Fall Under Investigation

Elderly and disabled people being robbed of their assets by sociopathic private guardians with the help of crooked family court judges. This all sounds like the plot for a sequel to the B movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but unfortunately in today's Las Vegas, it's all very real and beginning to unfold on the local evening news.

The stories of the gruesome acts against the weakest of the weak were first told here on AmericanMafia.com, and now are about to make national news thanks to the efforts of KTNV TV CONTACT 13 producer Kean Bauman and investigative reporter Darcy Spears, VEGAS VOICE publisher Dan Roberts and political editor Rana Goodman, and the efforts of the National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse.

After writing over a dozen articles on this sad subject, I'm proud to say the story has been picked up by other investigative reporters, therefore I have linked to their reports in this column.

Bauman and Spears' fearless report aired on Las Vegas Channel 13 News Friday, March 6, turned Las Vegas upside down.

The TV report followed a series in the VEGAS VOICE, Las Vegas' newspaper devoted to the interests of our valley's vast senior population.

I say fearless because the subjects of these reports are some of the most politically connected people in our city. They are supported by a team of completely corrupt local attorneys who help them bilk the wealth of unsuspecting seniors and disabled people who have the misfortune of having no relatives living in Nevada who can become their guardian in the event they are deemed incompetent by a local family court judge.

But its not just victims with out of state relatives who are affected. If there's enough wealth involved (poor people are not provided guardians by the court), and there is family living in Nevada, the Family Court almost always finds another reason to ban the family from handling their Nevada loved one's finances.

Accusations of drug abuse, alcoholism, bad credit, being unfit, being an exploiter with no relationship with the relative, or "They are just after the money" are used in court so a private guardian can hang on to a sizable estate. The guardians use whatever excuse suits them to make sure the family will not ever have any power, and the judges always comply with the for-hire guardian's wishes. They use the same script with all families.

Appointed Guardianship Commissioner Jon Norheim obviously doesn't read briefs or motions, just rules time and again in favor of his friends the guardians. In one instance, Norheim approved an order for payment of services for an unrelated person from the account of one of Jared E. Shafer's "wards."

He didn't even check to see if the person who was named on the payment was related to the ward whose account was charged, or if Shafer was double charging, Norheim just blindly signed the order. This unrestricted power of attorney sanctioned by the court is what creates the Invasion of the Body Snatchers atmosphere I mentioned earlier.

Full Article and Source:
Jared E. Shafer, Las Vegas Private Guardian and His Judges Fall Under Investigation

See Also:
'Jared E. Shafer's Bad Laws Legalize the Bilking of Las Vegas Retirees'