Effects of Psychiatric Drugs

These psychiatric drugs are not of small risk but instead cause massive changes in the way the brain functions. Long term studies have indicated that there are severe debilitating and sometimes fatal effects of these drugs. Possible negative effects were minimized or not even discussed at all. There are risks of long term psychological harm, physical harm, social harm and economic harm. Many of these drugs cause symptoms that can themselves be construed as mental illness.The probability of developing Parkinsons’ like symptoms is also great.  

NIDS - Neuroleptic Induced Deficit Syndrome:  
Neuroleptic Induced Deficit Syndrome (NIDS) can be caused by these medications which change in emotional awareness, sense of aliveness, and in the speed, and clarity of thought. The treatment effects felt by many people who have taken these medications are described as feeling like a zombie. Neuroleptic effect is present when the following features are observed:

1. Psychomotor Retardation – motor slowing, body not moving so well
2. Emotional indifference - not being emotionally responsive / not caring
3. Reduced initiative – not showing interest in initiating activity
4. Slowing of thought

As the dose of the medication increases, and more time elapses, it appears that the effects change – from sedative effects, into anti-psychotic effects, and possibly into other less desirable side effects; akathisia (restless leg syndrome), emotional parkinsonism (emotional blunting) and on into some other unwanted side effects. It is not uncommon when the first symptoms appear like apathy, emotional indifference, motor slowing or slow mentation that these were attributed to the underlying condition of the patient (the patient’s disease) when really they are the effects of the medication itself. A patient on these medications can initially demonstrate an improvement in symptoms only to later over time have that initial improvement go away or to only reach a certain point and then plateau or level off. There is also one more important one effect: neuroleptic dysphoria – which is like depression. When this happens when patients are often given even higher dosages of the drugs, leading to even more severe effects.

Many of the symptoms that are used to justify hospital treatment may actually be caused by the psychiatric medications given. So continuation of these medications only creates a self-filling prophecy that furthers the financial goals of the hospital institution and may cause further permanent brain damage.

The Real Truth about Outcomes on Psychiatric Medications

These  drugs, over time, produce these results:
a) They increase the likelihood that a person will become chronically ill.
b) They cause a host of debilitating side effects.
c) They lead to early death.  (Continue Reading)

Full Article & Source:
Effects of Psychiatric Drugs

Hidden camera catches abuse at nursing home; two arrested

Two arrested, nine suspended after families install “granny cams” at New Hope facility. 

Two nursing assistants at a New Hope nursing home have been fired and arrested, and nine others suspended, after family members used hidden cameras to uncover physical abuse.

The two fired employees at Saint Therese of New Hope face possible criminal charges after they were caught on camera allegedly abusing at least two residents. The home suspended nine other nursing assistants on suspicion they failed to report the abuse and used cellphones in residents’ rooms, according to a July 1 letter from Saint Therese obtained by the Star Tribune.

Family members who spotted bruises and cuts on their loved ones installed hidden cameras in their rooms. After watching the video, taken over several weeks, New Hope police on June 23 arrested the two former nursing assistants. The Star Tribune does not generally name suspects until they have been charged.

“They did things that I would not want done to relatives of mine if they were in a nursing home,” said Steven Sondrall, the city attorney, who has reviewed portions of the video. “Inappropriate conduct definitely occurred.”

The extent of the alleged abuse remains unclear. New Hope police declined to share the video and an incident report or to release the names of the alleged victims. In a letter to residents’ family members, Saint Therese referred to the conduct as “abusive” and cause for “great concern,” but provided no details of the misconduct.

“Of course this conduct is intolerable and contrary to all we stand for, which is why the employees involved were dismissed,” wrote Saint Therese campus administrator Dinah Kmetz in the July 1 letter to family members.

Barbara Rode, president and chief executive at Saint Therese, did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday.

Mother moved

Founded in 1968 and affiliated with the Catholic Church, Saint Therese owns four senior living communities in the Twin Cities. The Saint Therese foundation and its affiliates had revenue of $46 million in the 2014 fiscal year.

Frustrated by a lack of information, at least one family member already has taken action. On Monday, less than a week after learning of the alleged abuse, Sally Wright said she moved her ailing, 92-year-old mother to a new senior home in northeast Minneapolis.

Wright said she had in recent months spotted multiple bruises on her mother’s arms and legs; but had assumed they were the result of the inevitable bumping that occurs when she is moved in and out of her wheelchair and bed. But now, Wright said she is not sure the injuries were innocent. Her mother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, is incapable of recalling events that occurred more than a day earlier and often struggles to craft complete sentences.

“My God, it’s a terrifying feeling to have a parent with Alzheimer’s in a facility where there is alleged physical abuse,” Wright said. “She can’t tell me if something is not right, and I can’t be there 24 hours a day … so I was left with no choice but to move [my mother]. The trust was gone.”

A rising trend

Although some states place limits on electronic surveillance for privacy reasons, family members increasingly are turning to hidden, round-the-clock cameras as a way to catch neglect and abuse in senior homes. The cameras, often referred to as “granny cams,” can be so small they go unnoticed by staff members. In New York, the placement of hidden cameras in the bedrooms of nursing home residents in 2008 led the arrest of 19 nursing home staff; footage showed workers chatting and watching movies rather than checking on patients.

“It is certainly fair to say that [cameras] are one tool that can be used to protect your loved ones,” said Iris Freeman, board president of the Minnesota Elder Justice Center and adjunct professor at the William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul.

In this case, the hidden camera video footage was vital. The cuts and bruises were not proof of abuse, though family members felt they were too numerous to ignore, police said. Based largely on the videos, the New Hope police have recommended that both former nursing assistants be charged with mistreatment of residents.

The city attorney is awaiting the outcome of a state Department of Health investigation before filing charges.

“Without the video, it would have been a really difficult case,” said New Hope Police Capt. Scott Slawson. “This is a very vulnerable population and they are susceptible to injuries, and it’s always hard to say what the origins of some of those injuries are. … The video gives a very clear view of a slice in time.”

This marks the second time in less than a year that a Saint Therese facility has been investigated for alleged physical abuse. In early 2014, a staff member at Saint Therese at Oxbow Lake, in Brooklyn Park, slapped a resident who suffered from severe dementia. A witness to the incident told state investigators the staff member “laughed a little” after slapping the resident and then walked out of the room, according to a state report.

An investigation by the Department of Health found that the Saint Therese staff member, and not the facility, was responsible for the abuse.

Full Article & Source:
Hidden camera catches abuse at nursing home; two arrested

High praise for 'Perry's Law' and may those who prey on the elderly burn in hell

How hot is hell? If the answer is 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, it's still not hot enough to inflict the deserved level of discomfort on those who prey on the elderly.

Perry Bitzel, 82, and a resident of Gilman HealthCare, has been subjected to a form of hell on earth ever since last summer, when it was discovered a family member had exploited him and robbed him of his life savings.

His grandson, Shawn Bitzel, made the discovery and contacted another family member, former Iroquois County Board member Susan Wynn-Bence, for guidance. It was quickly learned little could be done to get the money back, and there was little financial protection.

The suspected family member still does not face criminal charges in the case. But another avenue toward justice has been pursued, and considerable progress has been made.

Wynn-Bence, who now works for Illinois Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti, arranged a meeting with a pair of local lawmakers, state Rep. Tom Bennett, R-Gibson City, and Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington, to explore what could be done to rectify the matter.

What has evolved from that initial meeting is Illinois House Bill 1588, more commonly known as "Perry's Law.'' It would enable families similar to Bitzel's family to directly proceed in civil court for justice without a criminal charge in place. Previously, such a charge had to be made before a family could turn to the civil courts.

The bill only needs the signature of Gov. Bruce Rauner to become law, and Barickman said he is confident the governor will sign it. Hopefully, Rauner will follow through, and if he needs a bit of persuading, consider this piece a nudge, and not only for the sake of Bitzel.

Studies show senior citizens throughout the United States lose a combined $3 billion every year to fraud. That's not enough to erase the massive debt the state of Illinois faces, but it is a huge amount of money, and indicates there are tens of thousands of victims out there.

Who exactly are these people? As Perry Bitzel's grandson, Shawn, said, "They are the ones who put up with more than we have today. They went through the Great Depression, the wars, the economy.''

In other words, many are part of what acclaimed journalist Tom Brokaw described as "the greatest generation,'' those who grew up during the deprivation of the depression and went on to fight and win World War II.

They are genuine heroes, a term you can't use to describe those who take advantage of them in their twilight years. Other words come to mind to identify these low lifes, many of which can't be printed in a family newspaper. How about turning the temperature up to 20,000 degrees when they reach their permanent residence?

 
Full Article & Source: 
High praise for 'Perry's Law' and may those who prey on the elderly burn in hell

Making White House Aging Conference's Ideas Reality

The 2015 White House Conference on Aging (WHCOA) on July 13 was both alike and different from the five previous once-a-decade conferences. It was like them, because it broke new ground. And it was distinct in how it was pulled together and formatted, and in its array of results.

That it was held in July proved significant: It’s the same month we celebrate the 80^th anniversary of Social Security and the 50^th of Medicare, Medicaid and the Older Americans Act.

The conference’s four priority issues — elder justice, retirement security, healthy aging and long-term services and supports — were appropriate focal points for setting policy for the next 10 years.

Yet, perhaps the most distinct thing was how it truly was a “White House” Conference on Aging, directed to an unprecedented degree by the White House.

One significant difference in the 2015 version: Instead of the traditional “delegate” format, there were five regional forums leading up to the national conference for 200 invited guests and more than 600 self-developed “watch parties” around the country registered to witness it live.

The results of the conference are also significant, including an impressive array of public-private initiatives (summarized in this fact sheet). In the aggregate, they will both improve existing aging policy and programs and  create new ways of improving the quality of life for people as they age. No fewer than 20 private-sector actions were announced at the conference. As they are implemented, they offer the real prospect to achieve positive change.

Policy Initiatives And Changes

Also, the policy initiatives announced by President Obama in his well-received remarks represent critically important directions for future aging policy. These include:

Retirement savings: Facilitating state efforts to provide workplace-based retirement saving opportunities through new rules from the Department of Labor.

Justice for victims: The U.S. Department of Justice will commit to train prosecutors from all 50 states to prosecute elder abuse and financial exploitation.

Food for the homebound: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a new rule to allow SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called food stamps) benefits to be used for services that purchase and deliver food for homebound older adults.

Easy access to resources: The Department of Health and Human Services launched Aging.gov to provide older Americans and their families and caregivers a one-stop online shop for government-wide information and resources to help older adults live independent and fulfilling lives.

Supporting victims: Money will be directed from the Victims of Crime Act’s Crime Victims Fund to support social and legal services for underserved crime victims, including elder victims of abuse, financial exploitation, fraud and neglect. (Congress in 2014 voted to increase the funding from $700 million to $2.3 billion, dramatically expanding the amount available.) This action could direct an unprecedented new level of funding into elder abuse victim services.

Intergenerational Emphasis

Intergenerational activities were announced at the conference as well, including a partnership between the Surgeon General and the YMCA to “host intergenerational physical activity events during the first week of August to promote opportunities for young and older Americans to be active together.”

Encore.org, a nonprofit focused on leveraging the experience of adults in midlife and beyond to meet community needs, will be developing a national campaign to “mobilize older Americans’ talent to improve the prospects of vulnerable children and youth.”

Finally, one action which also reflects the changing face of aging was taken by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). It issued guidance confirming that all HUD-assisted and insured multifamily housing must be made available without regard to sexual orientation, gender identity or marital status.

A Vision For Secure Aging

Collectively, these proposals and others announced at the conference have the potential to better frame a national aging policy for the future. The vision of future aging policy is to empower all Americans as they age to: achieve economic and health security, age in place and at home as long as possible, be free from the scourge of elder abuse and prevent becoming victims of ageism through discrimination in the workplace, health care, housing or in receiving services.

This vision recognizes and respects the changing faces and cultures of older Americans, from the dramatic increases in minority older persons to the increased presence and visibility of the LGBT communities of older adults. Finally, this vision includes a multi- and intergenerational community for Americans to grow old in, representing collaborations between younger and older Americans.

The prospect of real change emanating from this White House Conference on Aging is contingent, however, on full implementation of the proposals announced and other actions, such as reauthorization of the Older Americans Act, further implementation of the Affordable Care Act to strengthen Medicare, greater national attention to long-term care and ensuring that Social Security is strong now and in the future.

The 2015 White House Conference on Aging, like those before it, provides an opportunity to shine a spotlight on something all Americans can relate to — aging.

Yet it is also about the opportunity for advocacy to affect change in aging policy and programs. The conference’s theme, after all, was “Empowering All Americans as We Age.”

The next decade, when the ranks of older adults swell as boomers continue to age, is a crucial time for programs and policies to adapt to meet the needs of this growing — and changing — population.

Full Article & Source:
Making White House Aging Conference's Ideas Reality

Groups awarded for elder abuse prevention

FRANKFORT, Ky. (July 16, 2015) — Two community groups have received awards from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) to help their efforts to stop elder abuse.

Kentucky River Council Against the Maltreatment of Elders (CAME) received a Public Awareness Initiative award for $400 and Big Sandy Elder Abuse Council was awarded $250.

CAME and Big Sandy are two of the state’s network of 24 Local Coordinating Councils on Elder Abuse (LCCEAs), which covers 93 counties. The councils provide focused education to their communities to protect the elder population from abuse, neglect and financial exploitation.

CAME operates in Breathitt, Knott, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Owsley, Perry and Wolfe counties. In the past year, CAME has hosted a Senior Safety and Advocacy Day, sponsored a children’s poster contest and launched its annual prevention campaign, which included council representatives’ visits to area senior centers.

The Big Sandy Council includes Floyd, Johnson, Martin, Magoffin and Pike counties. Its work over the past year includes providing fans, brochures, posters and children’s coloring books with a prevention message to churches, businesses, health fairs and other events.

Big Sandy partnered with the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund (AppalReD) for a Domestic Violence/Elder Abuse Awareness conference in October, and about 130 people attended. The theme of the meeting was that domestic violence has no age limit. Proceeds from a silent auction at the conference went to the Big Sandy council and AppalReD.

Kentucky received nearly 24,000 calls to report abuse, neglect and exploitation of people age 60 and older for state fiscal year 2014.

In Kentucky, reporting suspected abuse, neglect or exploitation is the law, and it’s confidential. The toll-free reporting hotline is 1-877-KYSAFE1 (1-877-597-2331).

Full Article & Source:
Groups awarded for elder abuse prevention

Carthage man to stand trial on three felony counts

A Carthage man waived preliminary hearings this week in Jasper County Circuit Court on charges of financial exploitation of an elderly person, possession of a controlled substance and possession of burglary tools.

Associate Circuit Judge Joe Hensley ordered Ferman M. Yoder, 29, bound over for trial and set initial appearances for the defendant in separate trial divisions in the financial exploitation case on July 27 and in the case involving the drug and burglary tool charges on Aug. 17.

Yoder is accused of exploiting a 67-year-old Joplin man on an agreement to build the victim a machine shop more than a year ago at an address south of Joplin in Newton County. The defendant allegedly obtained a $1,000 deposit from the victim to buy materials and subsequently tapped him for two more deposits of $1,000 and $1,800 without performing any work, according to a probable-cause affidavit.

Because the negotiations with the defendant and transfers of money took place in Carthage and Joplin, the charges were filed in Jasper County rather than Newton County, according to the affidavit.

The other case involves a traffic stop and arrest June 10 of this year near Stone's Corner north of Joplin. A Jasper County sheriff's deputy found Ferman in alleged possession of a bag containing crystal ice, or methamphetamine, two Xanax pills, a screw driver, gloves, radios, hand tools, flashlights, scope and reflective tape.

Full Article & Source: 
Carthage man to stand trial on three felony counts

HIPAA’s Use as Code of Silence Often Misinterprets the Law

How do people use, misuse or abuse Hipaa, the federal regulations protecting patients’ confidential health information? Let us count the ways:

 ■ Last month, in a continuing care retirement community in Ithaca, N.Y., Helen Wyvill, 72, noticed that a friend hadn’t shown up for their regular swim. She wasn’t in her apartment, either.

Had she gone to a hospital? Could friends visit or call? Was anyone taking care of the dog?

Questions to the staff brought a familiar nonresponse: Nobody could provide any information because of Hipaa.

“The administration says they have to abide by the law, blah, blah,” Ms. Wyvill said. “They won’t even tell you if somebody has died.”

■ Years ago, Patricia Gross, then 56, and a close friend had taken refuge in a cafe at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, where Ms. Gross’s husband was dying of cancer. She was lamenting his inadequately treated pain and her own distress when a woman seated at a nearby table walked over.

“She told me how very improper it was to be discussing the details of a patient’s treatment in public and that it was a Hipaa violation,” Ms. Gross recalled.

■ In 2012, Ericka Gray repeatedly phoned the emergency room at York Hospital in York, Pa., where her 85-year-old mother had gone after days of back pain, to alert the staff to her medical history. 

“They refused to take the information, citing Hipaa,” said Ms. Gray, who was in Chicago on a business trip.

“I’m not trying to get any information. I’m trying to give you information,” Ms. Gray told them, adding that because her mother’s memory was impaired, she couldn’t supply the crucial facts, like medication allergies.

By the time Ms. Gray found a nurse willing to listen, hours later, her mother had already been prescribed a drug she was allergic to. Fortunately, the staff hadn’t administered it yet.

Each scenario, attorneys say, involves a misinterpretation of the privacy rules created under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. “It’s become an all-purpose excuse for things people don’t want to talk about,” said Carol Levine, director of the United Hospital Fund’s Families and Health Care Project, which has published a Hipaa guide for family caregivers.

Intended to keep personal health information private, the law does not prohibit health care providers from sharing information with family, friends or caregivers unless the patient specifically objects. Even if she is not present or is incapacitated, providers may use “professional judgment” to disclose pertinent information to a relative or friend if it’s “in the best interests of the individual.”

Hipaa applies only to health care providers, health insurers, clearinghouses that manage and store health data, and their business associates. Yet when I last wrote about this topic, a California reader commented that she’d heard a minister explain that the names of ailing parishioners could no longer appear in the church bulletin because of Hipaa.

Wrong. Neither a church nor a distraught spouse is a “covered entity” under the law.

Last month, Representative Doris Matsui, Democrat of California and co-chairwoman of the Democratic Caucus Seniors Task Force, who has heard similar complaints from constituents, introduced legislation to clarify who can divulge what and under what circumstances. The proposed bill would require the Department of Health and Human Services, which last year issued new Hipaa “guidance,” to make that statement part of its regulations and to create model training programs for providers and administrators, patients and families.

“A lot of times it’s just misunderstanding what is and isn’t allowed under Hipaa,” Representative Matsui said in an interview.

So, what is and isn’t?

Family members can provide information, as Ms. Gray attempted to do. “How does keeping information confidential stop you from listening to someone?” said Eric Carlson, the directing attorney for Justice in Aging, a legal advocacy group in California. “There’s no Hipaa privacy consideration there.”  (Continue Reading)

Full Article & Source:
Hipaa’s Use as Code of Silence Often Misinterprets the Law

Ex-official: guardianship system 'isn't that bad'

Elizabeth Diana Indig reacts

By Colton Lochhead
Las Vegas Review-Journal

Clark County‘s guardianship system, which has left thousands of elderly and mentally incompetent residents vulnerable to financial abuse, "isn‘t that bad," according to a man who has worked in "and financially benefited from"€” the system for over 35 years.

Three of the state‘s top judges don‘t share that view. They commissioned a Supreme Court panel aimed at fixing what they see as a troubled process that has seen some guardians drain hundreds of thousands of dollars from the accounts of elderly and mentally incompetent Nevadans.

Private Professional Guardian Jared Shafer caused an uproar during the 26-member panel‘s first meeting Wednesday in a courtroom at the Regional Justice System in Las Vegas. One woman shouted, "You used the money to pay lawyers!"

Many who attended the meeting stood in front of the group and explained that their family members who had been made wards of the county had been exploited by their guardians.

"The guardians are in control, and the family court is facilitating the fleecing of the wards by blindly rubber stamping anything they filed due to lack of personnel, time, research and oversight," said Elizabeth Indig, whose mother is in the middle of a guardianship dispute. "It should be that the court is in control and the guardians are the facilitators of the system."

Longstanding problems with the system that handles about 8,500 adult guardianship cases in Clark County each year were exposed in a series of Las Vegas Review-Journal articles published in April. Highlighted cases showed a lack of oversight by the courts, such as failing to require guardians to file annual accounts of wards‘ finances as required by state law.

Shafer appeared to take offense at comments about private guardians and also a Review-Journal article that highlighted the plight of one of his former wards, World War II veteran Guadalupe Olvera.

Those who have spoken out recently about guardianship issues are the "10 percenters who didn‘t get what they wanted," said Shafer, who was the Clark County public administrator and public guardian for more than 20 years before starting his private practice in 2003.

"I‘ve been doing this for 35 years," Shafer said. "And until a couple cases came up, there‘s never been a problem with the system."

After speaking, Shafer walked out of the court room.

Deputy Clark County District Attorney Jay Raman, who prosecutes most of the county‘s guardianship and elder exploitation cases, has seen evidence that contradicts Shafer‘s view.

Fees charged by private guardians, he said, deserve some focus. Statewide they range from about $40 to upwards of $250 an hour.  (Continue Reading)

Full Article & Source:
Ex-official: guardianship system 'isn't that bad'

Former county judge, lawyer sentenced on bribery charges

Angus McGinty (right) outside federal court Wednesday

(Photo: Matthew Craig)
SAN ANTONIO -- A former state district judge and an attorney were both sentenced to prison Wednesday as part of a federal corruption probe inside the Bexar County Courthouse. Angus McGinty, who resigned his position in 144th District judge in 2014, was sentenced to two years in prison. Attorney Al Acevedo was sentenced to one year and one day in prison.

McGinty was indicted on 2014 on charges of conspiracy to commit federal bribery, one count of bribery, one count of extortion and 12 counts of honest services wire fraud. The indictment alleged that McGinty solicited and accepted bribes from San Antonio lawyer Alberto Acevedo Jr. over a nine-month period in 2013.
McGinty resigned on Feb. 14, 2014, a month before Acevedo plead guilty to bribery. In his plea, Acevedo admitted he engaged in corruption by influencing McGinty with things of value.

On Wednesday, a judge offered McGinty some time to spend with his family and serve his prison sentence after Christmas but McGinty didn't take it. He said he just wants to get his sentence over with. He said it's about moving forward now with his family.

"Forward. What we're enduring is nothing compared to what other families have endured. We'll be fine," said McGinty.McGinty thanked the people who supported him in the last year and a half. He also, thanked the judge who sentenced him and the remarks he made in federal court.

Full Article and Source:
Former Judge, Lawyer Sentenced on Bribery Charges