New Book: "Against Her Will"

A cautionary tale of elder abuse and the system that perpetuates it. Two years ago John Wyman's mother Carol walked out of a nursing home in Rockford, Illinois. She had been placed there for the convenience of others, not for her own well-being and had suffered mentally, physically and emotionally.

When she ended up at John's home outside of Aspen, Colorado his journey began. Hairdresser by trade, rebel at heart, John took on the challenges of dealing with nursing homes, courts and family members to provide the best possible situation for his mother.

What he experienced woke him up to the inequities and injustices lurking in the systems which have been established to help our older population. He decided to share his story to make us all aware of the catastrophic possibilities that lie in wait if we don't take action to change these systems. A must read for all who may become old.

Available through Amazon

CA: Three Facilities Fined Over Patient Deaths

The California Department of Public Health has issued fines against three nursing homes in Los Angeles County after concluding that poor care led to deaths at each of the facilities.

The three nursing homes got the most serious citations possible under state law, according to the department.

Fountain View Subacute and Nursing Center in Los Angeles must pay $75,000 in connection with the 2010 death of a patient, who suffered a fatal brain injury after falling out of his bed. The health department concluded that the patient, who had a history of falls, was not properly supervised at the nursing home. When he was found on the floor, no one knew how long he had been there, according to the department.

The health department issued an $80,000 fine against the Motion Picture & Television Hospital facility in Woodland Hills. In 2010, a 90-year-old Alzheimer's patient who was in a wheelchair died a week after falling down a stairwell, according to a report. She had previously fallen down the same set of stairs."

And Downey Care Center in Downey was fined $80,000 for failing to monitor a patient's blood glucose level after she was released from a hospital in 2010. The woman died from a diabetic coma.

Source:
Three Nursing Homes in L.A. Fined Over Patient Deaths

Janet Parker: Expanding Network of Abusive Guardianships

In the U.S.A. there has been a growing problem of abuse of the elderly and disabled due to a covert system of guardianship or conservatorship. This covert system of power and control is enforced through the judicial system. It is manipulated for use by fraudsters, abusers and persons wielding undue influence for financial advantage. The wards have lost the right to complain, because they have been stripped legally of all their rights, left defenseless and subject to exploitation by the very people chosen to protect them; they are now invisible and voiceless. There is a growing trend for the courts to appoint total strangers who do guardianship duties as a business for profit. The for-profit guardian is appointed to take over the decision making process and often times given total and absolute control over the life, liberty and property of their wards.

In the U.S.A. the guardianship system offers few procedural protections, and has spawned a profit-driven professional guardianship industry that often enriches itself at the expense of society's most vulnerable members--the mentally ill. Yet despite numerous calls for reform, most states have done little to monitor professional guardians and prevent abuse and neglect. The U.S.A. federal government should play an increased role in the protection of incapacitated persons.

Full Article and Source:
Expanding Network of Abusive Guardianships

See Also:
Medical Whistleblower

NASGA's "An Open Letter to Congress and the White House"

Lawsuit Alleges Insurance Company Cheats Seniors

Santa Monica-based protection advocates Consumer Watchdog filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of an 87-year-old man and other elders they allege were bilked out of thousands of dollars by an insurance company in Pennsylvania.

Attorneys from Consumer Watchdog and the law firm of Shernoff Bidart Echeverria Bentley, LLP filed the lawsuit at the San Bernadino Superior Courthouse.

According to the suit, William Hall, of Upland, Calif., was allegedly cheated out of thousands of dollars by the Senior Health Insurance Company of Pennsylvania, or SHIP, which refused to honor the long-term care policy he had held with one interruption since 1994.

The suit charges that the company told policy holders that they needed to submit paperwork that was not required under their policies and when paperwork was submitted, did not acknowledge its receipt.

The claims are largely for in-home care services, caregivers that help old or infirm patients with daily tasks like dressing, bathing, eating and home chores.

Full Article and Source:
Insurance Company Cheats Seniors, Lawsuit Alleges

DC Class Action Nursing Home Lawsuit to Go Forward

The District has lost an effort to have a federal judge throw out a class-action suit brought on behalf of nearly 3,000 nursing home residents.

Judge Ellen Huvelle on Tuesday rejected the city’s contention that it has complied with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) by providing services to nursing home residents who want to live in the community. The ADA requires states and local governments to provide services to people with disabilities in the most integrated setting possible.

Huvelle ruled that the District’s claims fell short of those requirements on several fronts, including that the city has no meaningful plan to integrate nursing-home residents into community settings.

The case, Day v. the District of Columbia, was brought by University Legal Services, AARP Foundation Litigation and Arent Fox LLP.

Source:
DC Class Action Nursing-Home Lawsuit to Go Forward

Probate Sharks: TX Judge Resigns After Reportedly Caught Sleeping During Testimony

A Texas special education hearing officer resigned after being caught on camera, sleeping during testimony critical to a disabled teenager's future.

Word of the resignation came just hours after Larry Craddock e-mailed FOX 26 News to decline comment on video, still pictures and witness affidavits.

"It was not short little naps. He was actually sleeping for extended periods of time," said Myrna Silver, an education attorney representing the North Texas student involved in the case.

"We dropped water bottles. We tried coughing, we tried jumbling our books to help stir him awake, but it wasn't working," said parent Donna Harvey.

Parents who engage in a "due process hearing" often expend tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees fighting school districts with much deeper pockets.

Most of the time parents lose.

Source:
Texas Judge Resigns After Reportedly Caught Sleeping During Testimony
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ProbateSharks.com: Our mission is to expose and remedy corruption in the Probate Court of Cook County, Illinois. We assist, educate and enlighten families of the dead, the dying, the disabled and the aged to better understand their rights in order to protect themselves from the excesses of the Probate Court of Cook County. ProbateSharks.com is dedicated to networking the human element of people to people. We join together in reforming the corrupt Cook County Probate Court system.

Federal Judge Puts Internet Pioneer in Civil Lockdown

When Jeff Baron came to Washington this month, he was wearing a borrowed suit.

Once upon a time, the Internet pioneer -- who taught himself computer programming and created innovative software to register domain names -- lived the good life in a Dallas suburb.

His company, Ondova, was a cash cow, pulling in $1.5 million in profit each month.

It all started unraveling when Baron, now 44, hired some high-powered Texas attorneys to help manage his holdings, and he was approached by a potential business partner who promised to turn Ondova into the next Google.

Baron admits he was naive and failed to perform due diligence as his lawyers set up an "elaborate" network of businesses offshore and his erstwhile partner turned out to be a convicted felon who sold porn online.

After a lengthy series of legal battles, Ondova was eventually forced into bankruptcy. But it wasn't until Baron found himself in the Dallas courtroom of U.S. District Judge Royal Furgeson that his real nightmare began.

At a June 19, 2009, hearing in his civil case, Judge Furgeson warned Baron that "failure to comply" with a previous court order to renew Ondova's domain names would be considered "contempt, punishable by lots of dollars, punishable by possible jail, death. ... You are a fool, a fool, a fool to screw with a federal judge, and if you don't understand that, I can make you understand it. I have the force of the Navy, Army, Marines and Navy (sic) behind me."

A shaken Baron agreed to give up half of his Internet assets to "buy peace." In 2010, he signed a Global Settlement Agreement for all outstanding claims against him. "There were 1,500 filings. I complied with the settlement agreement 100 percent," he told The Washington Examiner.

On Nov. 14, 2010, three days after Baron "mildly" objected to what he characterized as inflated legal bills, Judge Furgeson made good on his threat, issuing an ex parte order that placed all of Baron's business and personal assets, including his $1.2 million individual retirement account and a $60 million juvenile diabetes trust fund -- and incredibly, Baron himself -- into receivership. Baron's former attorney, Peter Vogel, was given "exclusive control over any and all Receivership Parties, which term shall include Jeffrey Baron."

Full Article and Source:
Federal Judge Puts Internet Pioneer in Civil Lockdown

Hospital Execs Charged in Medicare Scam for Steering Elderly Residents to Mental Health Clinics

The Houston Chronicle reported this week on a new criminal case being launched against hospital executives for running an apparently $116 Medicare scam. Our Illinois nursing home abuse attorneys know that the situation is yet another reminder that when it comes to elder neglect money truly is the root of all evil. According to allegations being made in the criminal case, a senior general hospital executive was apparently involved in a kickback scheme that bilked taxpayers out of well over a hundred million dollars in funds. The fraudulent actions sent money to patient recruiters and nursing home owners in exchange to sending those patients to mental health clinics run by the general hospital.

The charged executive managed the day-to-day operations of the hospital’s clinics. The bizarre accusations suggest that the executive also bribed “patients with cigarettes, food, and coupons redeemable at the hospital’s ‘country stores’ in order to entice them to therapy.” Of course the facility stood to gain financially from having these seniors and disabled community members use their particular services, regardless of whether they needed those services or not.

The specific charges against the man claim that, along with co-conspirators, he submitted$116 million in claims to Medicare for mental health services that were not need or not even provided. The patients were steered to the facility by paying off those who made decisions about where to send patients. In one case a recruiter was paid $5,000yearly. In another case a recruiter was apparently given $300 for every patient that he directed toward one of the clinics managed by the hospital administrator. Other allegations implicate a nursing home. Apparently, the executive paid the owner of the facility nearly $4,000 in exchange for the owner referring residents to the hospital in question.

These situations cannot be tolerated. The only way to make sure things change is to hold those who engage in these practices fully accountable. Private citizens have a role to play. When you suspect a nursing home near you is not committing the resources necessary to keep patients safe please do not remain silent. Report the situation to state officials, visit with elder advocacy group, and contact legal professionals to understand what can be done to demand changes and ultimately save lives.

Full Article and Source:
Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog: Hospital Executives Charged in Medicare Scam for Steering Elderly Residents to Mental Health Clinics

Families Protect Loved Ones in Old Age

Your aging mother can no longer drive and forgets to turn off the stove. It's no longer safe for her to live on her own, but taking her into your home simply isn't realistic.

For the many Americans who find themselves in the described situation, nursing homes provide the best option for elder care. Forty-three percent of Americans over the age of 65 will spend part of their life in a nursing home, according to the The United States Government Accountability Office. As the U.S. Census Bureau predicts that, by 2050, the population of Americans aged 65 and older will reach 89 million, it's safe to assume that the demand for high-quality elder care will only increase.

Unfortunately, many nursing homes and adult family homes are overburdened, leading to a lower quality of care. Cases of elder abuse and neglect in nursing homes often pop up in the media.

In Tacoma, Wash., adult family home resident Nadra McSherry died in pain when her caretakers did not tell her family, doctor or nurse that McSherry had developed an infected bedsore. Bedsores are often a sign that a facility does not have enough staff to meet the number of patients, as preventing them involves moving patients every few hours, something that overwhelmed caretakers may struggle to accomplish.

McSherry's family sued the adult family home, Narrows View Manor, as well as the Department of Social and Health Services, which allowed the home to remain open despite numerous past health violations.

"Stories like Nadra McSherry are all too familiar," says Hagens Berman's Tony Shapiro, the lead attorney. "It's up to the families to take action and protect their mom or dad."

Full Article and Source:
Families Protect Loved Ones in Old Age

See Also:
BoomersBewareOfGuardianshipAbuse