Northshore "Live" Cooper's Corner

Bev Cooper is producer and host of North Shore “Live” Cooper’s Corner, a weekly cable Comcast TV program that is broadcast live every Wednesday night from a studio in Highland Park and then shown throughout Lake County. 

Bev has dedicated these programs to those who are victims of Cook County Probate Court.

This is Bev’s 30th year as producer of the show.

Bev Cooper's Contact Information
Email - bev.cooperscorner@yahoo.com
Phone - 224-365-5770

Source:
Northshore "Live " Cooper's Corner

Dismay as Justina Pelletier Custody Case Postponed; DCF Ignores Dr. Phil

There was widespread dismay as Judge Joseph Johnston failed to deliver his ruling in the Justina Pelletier custody case in Boston yesterday. He postponed the case and said he would give a ruling “by Friday.”

Meanwhile the celebrated Dr. Phil announced that he had called the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) on several occasions to discuss the case with them, but they had not returned any of his calls. While this authority ignores Dr. Phil, Justina remains at the Massachusetts Wayside Youth and Family Support Network where she has been since January. This is in spite of a DCF undertaking made nearly three weeks ago that she would be treated by a medical team at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, which is where her family wants her to be.

The judge will also rule later this week on whether Mathew Staver, the Dean of Liberty University School of Law, and founder and chairman of Liberty Council, an international nonprofit organization, is permitted to be the Pelletier’s official lawyer. Staver was appointed late February after a billionaire benefactor came forward on the Glenn Beck radio show with a sponsorship to ensure that Justina gets the best possible legal representation. The DCF is opposing the request.

Additionally, an increasing number of people have joined the struggle to have Justina, who is from Connecticut, returned to the care of her parents. There have been rallies and vigils, and even a TweetStorm on Monday evening that had a reach of 4,717,900 and 13,485,341 impacts. But in spite of this overwhelming support, she remains at Wayside in the custody of the Massachusetts DCF.

A crowd rallied outside the court yesterday carrying banners calling for the release from DCF custody of the Connecticut teenager. There was also a prayer vigil outside the court while the session was in progress. Several people addressed the crowd, including Rev. Patrick Mahoney of the Washington-based Christian Defense Coalition who said this was not “a partisan issue” but “an issue of justice.” State representative Jim Lyons, one of several lawmakers who tried unsuccessfully to force the House of Representatives to get involved in the case, said what was happening “should alarm every parent in America.”

Full Article and Source:
Dismay as Justina Pelletier Custody Case Postponed; DCF Ignores Dr. Phil

Dr. Phil Show:
The Fight over Justina: Medical Child Abuse by Parents or Abuse of Power by a Hospital?

Life and Death in Assisted Living: "Close the Back Door"

On Sept. 30, 2008, an employee at the Emerald Hills assisted living facility in Auburn, Calif., made an entry in a company computer log: “pressure ulcer/wound.”

Joan, who had spent just 19 days in the facility, had developed the wound on her foot. The fall eight days earlier had hospitalized her and left her with bruises and an abrasion on her right temple. This, though, could be much, much worse.

Pressure ulcers — also known as bed sores — can form when a person loses the ability to move about freely. Lying in bed or sitting in a chair for long stretches of time diminishes the blood flow to the skin, causing it to break down and die. A hole grows. If bacteria creep into the wound, the bugs can devour flesh or invade the blood and bones. Pressure ulcers can turn fatal, particularly in older people.

Because of the lethal potential of pressure ulcers, the federal government monitors them closely in the nursing home business. In the eyes of experts, the sores are often an indicator of poor care. Attentive caregivers can prevent many pressure sores by making sure that people don’t spend too much time in the same position.

“We know that most bed sores are avoidable,” said Kathryn Locatell, a forensic geriatrician who investigates allegations of elder abuse for California Department of Justice. “That is the consensus of experts in the field.”

Emerald Hills was supposed to contact Joan’s doctor when she developed the ulcer. But nobody from Emerald Hills called a doctor. No nurse came to salve Joan’s wound. And nobody told Joan’s relatives — her husband, Myron, who lived in the same facility, or her son who lived nearby — about the development.

Joan’s short, painful stay at Emerald Hills seemed to be accelerating her decline.

Full Article and Source:
Life and Death in Assisted Living:  "Close the Back Door
See Also:
Life and Death in Assisted Living:  "A Sinking Ship"

Life and Death in Assisted Living:  "They're Not Treating Mom Well"

Life and Death in Assisted Living:  "The Emerald City"

Life and Death in Assisted Living: "A Sinking Ship"

On Sept. 30, 2008, an employee at the Emerald Hills assisted living facility in Auburn, Calif., made an entry in a company computer log: “pressure ulcer/wound.”

Joan, who had spent just 19 days in the facility, had developed the wound on her foot. The fall eight days earlier had hospitalized her and left her with bruises and an abrasion on her right temple. This, though, could be much, much worse.

Pressure ulcers — also known as bed sores — can form when a person loses the ability to move about freely. Lying in bed or sitting in a chair for long stretches of time diminishes the blood flow to the skin, causing it to break down and die. A hole grows. If bacteria creep into the wound, the bugs can devour flesh or invade the blood and bones. Pressure ulcers can turn fatal, particularly in older people.

Because of the lethal potential of pressure ulcers, the federal government monitors them closely in the nursing home business. In the eyes of experts, the sores are often an indicator of poor care. Attentive caregivers can prevent many pressure sores by making sure that people don’t spend too much time in the same position.

“We know that most bed sores are avoidable,” said Kathryn Locatell, a forensic geriatrician who investigates allegations of elder abuse for California Department of Justice. “That is the consensus of experts in the field.”

Emerald Hills was supposed to contact Joan’s doctor when she developed the ulcer. But nobody from Emerald Hills called a doctor. No nurse came to salve Joan’s wound. And nobody told Joan’s relatives — her husband, Myron, who lived in the same facility, or her son who lived nearby — about the development.

Joan’s short, painful stay at Emerald Hills seemed to be accelerating her decline.

Full Article and Source:
Life and Death in Assisted Living:  "A Sinking Ship"

See Also:
Life and Death in Assisted Living:  "They're Not Treating Mom Well"

Life and Death in Assisted Living:  "The Emerald City"

Life and Death in Assisted Living: They're Not Treating Mom Well

When the ambulance crew arrived, about 8:20 p.m., Joan Boice was in the TV lounge, face-down on the carpet. Her head had struck the floor with some velocity; bruises were forming on her forehead and both cheeks. It appeared she’d lost her balance and fallen out of a chair.

But no one at the assisted living facility could say precisely how the accident had occurred. No one knew how long Joan had been splayed out on the floor. She had defecated and urinated on herself.
Worried that Joan might have injured her spine, the emergency medical personnel gently rolled her over and placed her on a back board. They pumped oxygen into her nostrils.

It was Sept. 22, 2008 — just 10 days after Joan had first moved into Emerald Hills.

No Emeritus employees accompanied Joan to the hospital. And even though Joan’s husband, Myron, was living in the facility, the Emeritus workers didn’t immediately alert him that Joan had fallen and hurt herself. Joan, confused, injured, and nearly mute, ended up in the local hospital by herself, surrounded by strangers.

California law requires assisted living companies to conduct a “pre-admission appraisal” of prospective residents, to ensure they are appropriate candidates for assisted living.

But Emerald Hills took Joan in without performing an appraisal. It wasn’t for lack of time. The Boices had signed the contract to live at Emerald Hills more than two weeks before Joan moved in.

Full Article and Source:
Life and Death in Assisted Living:  They're Not Treating Mom Well

See Also:
Life and Death in Assisted Living: The Emerald City

Life and Death in Assisted Living: "The Emerald City"

Joan Boice needed help. Lots of it. Her physician had tallied the damage: Alzheimer’s disease, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, pain from a compression fracture of the spine. For Joan, an 81-year-old former schoolteacher, simply getting from her couch to the bathroom required the aid of a walker or wheelchair.

The Alzheimer’s, of course, was the worst. The disease had gradually left Joan unable to dress, eat or bathe without assistance. It had destroyed much of the complex cerebral circuitry necessary for forming words. It was stealing her voice.

Joan’s family was forced to do the kind of hard reckoning that so many American families must do these days. It was clear that Joan could no longer live at home. Her husband, Myron, simply didn’t have the stamina to provide the constant care and supervision she needed. And moving in with any of their three children wasn’t an option.

These were the circumstances that eventually led the Boice family to Emeritus at Emerald Hills, a sprawling, three-story assisted living facility off Highway 49 in Auburn, Calif. The handsome 110-bed complex was painted in shades of deep green and cream, reflecting its location on the western fringe of the craggy, coniferous Sierra Nevada mountain range. It was owned by the Emeritus Corp., a Seattle-based chain that was on its way to becoming the nation’s largest assisted living company, with some 500 facilities stretching across 45 states.

Emeritus at Emerald Hills promised state-of-the art care for Joan’s advancing dementia. Specially trained members of the staff would create an individual plan for Joan based on her life history. They would monitor her health, engage her in an array of physically and mentally stimulating activities, and pass out her 11 prescription medications, which included morphine (for pain) and the anti-psychotic drug Seroquel (given in hopes of curbing some of the symptoms of her Alzheimer’s). She would live in the “memory care” unit, a space designed specifically to keep people with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia safe.

Full Article and Source:
Life and Death in Assisted Living:  The Emerald City

Coming up July 30 on Frontline: Life and Death in Assisted Living

More and more elderly Americans are choosing to spend their later years in assisted living facilities, which have sprung up as an alternative to nursing homes. But is this loosely regulated, multi-billion dollar industry putting seniors at risk? In a major investigation with ProPublica, FRONTLINE examines the operations of the nation’s largest assisted living company, raising questions about the drive for profits and fatal lapses in care.

Source:
Life and Death in Assisted Living

See Also:

READ chapter 3 of Joe Roubicek's new book in progress, "KILL MOM, KILL DAD:  Disposing of the Elderly for Profit" on the subject of second generation drugs in nursing homes.

Financial Exploitation of the Elderly