Girl brain dead after surgery: Terri Schiavo family joins fight over Jahi McMath

The family of Terri Schiavo has joined the battle over Jahi McMath, a 13-year-old girl on life support who has been declared dead by doctors.

"Together with our team of experts, Terri's Network believes Jahi's case is representative of a very deep problem within the U.S. healthcare system -- particularly those issues surrounding the deaths of patients within the confines of hospital corporations, which have a vested financial interest in discontinuing life," the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network said in a prepared statement.

The organization said it has been overseeing the efforts of several groups to help get Jahi transferred out of Children's Hospital Oakland and brought "to a safe place."

Jahi's family said Tuesday it had found a facility in New York willing to take her. The Oakland hospital "refused to agree to allow us to proceed in that matter," Jahi's uncle Omari Sealey said.
The hospital denied the accusation.

"We have done everything to assist the family of Jahi McMath in their quest to take the deceased body of their daughter to another medical facility," hospital spokesman Sam Singer said.

"To date, they have been unwilling or unable to provide a physician to perform the procedures necessary, transportation, or a facility that would accept a dead person on a ventilator. Our hearts and thoughts go out to them in this tragic situation, but the statements being made by their attorney and some family members are misleading and untrue."

Family attorney Christopher Dolan had accused the hospital of being "hell bent" on ending Jahi's life.
A judge has declared Jahi brain dead as well. Doctors say there's no chance she will come back to life.

Omari Sealey, Jahi's uncle, said Wednesday that the family still hopes to move her to another facility.
He accused the hospital of starving his niece by not using a feeding tube to provide her with nutrients.

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Girl brain dead after surgery: Terri Schiavo family joins fight over Jahi McMath

Tragedy follows scandal, and not for the first time

Lisa Willardson is sworn in
before testifying at the
disciplinary hearing of
Family Court Judge Steven Jones
on Dec. 4.

The news broke Friday morning that former Clark County prosecutor Lisa Willardson was dead. It was as shockingly unexpected as it was predictable. Another attorney in a high-profile scandal found dead. David Amesbury, suicide, Homeowners Association imbroglio. Nancy Kwon, suicide, also HOA scandal-related. David Schubert, suicide after crack cocaine conviction. Now Willardson? Was the woman at the heart of Judge Steven Jones’ fall from grace the latest in a long list of shamed attorneys who suffered public humiliation and then ended it all?

Willardson caught the attention of colleagues (who caught it on camera) when Judge Steven Jones, whom she appeared before in her official capacity, fondled her knee under a table. That led to her firing at the hands of then-District Attorney David Roger, who also filed a complaint against Jones with the judicial discipline commission.

Willardson sued the D.A, continued seeing the now-suspended judge and began her own campaign for a seat on the family court bench. Hardly the actions of a defeated, suicidal woman. Yet friends and colleagues posting on her Facebook page hinted Willardson took her own life, with one attorney noting it was a lesson for all. Another poster spewed venom at the two attorneys who exposed the lovesick couple, as if Willardson’s colleagues should have allowed the tryst to flourish, even as public integrity eroded.

The coroner says Willardson died on the day after Christmas, just hours after word came down that the Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission ruled her relationship with Jones violated judicial rules. According to news reports the judge returned from Utah when Willardson failed to answer text messages that morning. Was she incapacitated all day and unable to answer? Jones says he found her dead, slumped over a toilet. The coroner said she died at 6:40 p.m. But if she hadn’t returned messages all day, did she even know of the commission’s findings, reported just before noon?

By most accounts Willardson was a talented, passionate and committed advocate for abused and neglected children.

Now, she’s likely to be best remembered for being found dead by her legally troubled lover, who she once described in an email as “freaking hot.”

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Tragedy follows scandal, and not for the first time

Happy New Year?

 HAPPY NEW YEAR?

NOT IF CONGRESS DOESN'T KEEP ITS PROMISE!

In 42 U.S.C. 3001 of The Public Health and Welfare law, Congress made the following declaration:

"The Congress hereby finds and declares that, in keeping with the traditional American concept of the inherent dignity of the individual in our democratic society, the older people of our Nation are entitled to, and it is the joint and several duty and responsibility of the governments of the United States, of the several States and their political subdivisions, and of Indian tribes to assist our older people to secure equal opportunity to the full and free enjoyment of the following specific objectives:

“(6) Retirement in health, honor, dignity - after years of contribution to the economy.

“(10) Freedom, independence, and the free exercise of individual initiative in planning and managing their own lives, full participation in the planning and operation of community-based services and programs provided for their benefit, and protection against abuse, neglect, and exploitation."

42 U.S.C. Sec. 3002 defines various terms applicable in guardianship as follows:

“(20) The term ‘fiduciary’-
(A) means a person or entity with the legal responsibility-
(i) to make decisions on behalf of and for the benefit of another person; and
(ii) to act in good faith and with fairness; and
(B) includes a trustee, a guardian, a conservator, an executor, an agent under a financial power of attorney or health care power of attorney, or a representative payee.”

FOR OUR VULNERABLE ELDERLY AND DISABLED - AND FOR THEIR FAMILIES WHO ARE FORCED TO FIGHT FOR THEIR FREEDOM AND SAFETY - CONGRESS MUST NOW MAKE GOOD THAT DECLARATION!

In Churn of Assisted Living Deals, An Island of Misery

(©iStock.com/1joe)

The one-story beige building on Southwest Hill Road in McMinnville, Ore. – an old mill town between Portland and Salem – has seen plenty of trouble over the years of its operation as an assisted living facility.

Two men have been jailed for committing sex crimes inside its walls. Residents of the facility have repeatedly assaulted one another. There has been at least one case of severe, near-fatal neglect. To be sure, then, the building has been something less than the refuge it has held itself out to be for local seniors, many of them afflicted with dementia. State records have chronicled the damage.

The episodes of violence and neglect inside the McMinnville facility, if sad, are not particularly unique. Page through the regulatory records and court files of any state and one will come across such horror stories.

The history of the facility itself reflects a larger reality of the assisted living business. Hundreds of such facilities -- some exemplary, some deeply troubled -- change hands each year, many of them scooped up by the large chains that have come to dominate this swiftly expanding industry.
Such deals typically well serve the large companies that drive them. Often enough, however, they do little to improve conditions in places like the facility in McMinnville, where ownership turmoil can compound the unaddressed problems that undermine care.

In less than three years, the McMinnville facility came under the ownership of three different companies, including two of the most prominent chains in the country. The first, Sunwest Management, collapsed under nearly $2 billion in unpaid debt, a spectacular implosion that led federal prosecutors to label the company a Ponzi scheme and file criminal fraud charges.

The second was a three-way joint venture between Blackstone, the private equity firm, Emeritus Senior Living, the nation’s largest assisted living company, and a real estate company. As part of the deal, Emeritus took over the operation of the facility, dubbing it Emeritus at Osprey Court.

The joint venture held onto the property for a few years before selling it in 2012 to a real estate investment trust with a vast portfolio of health care properties. That trust immediately leased the facility back to Emeritus. Today, Emeritus, under close scrutiny from Oregon regulators due to the continued problems in McMinnville, has decided to subcontract the facility’s operations to an outside firm.

Throughout all the changes, there has been one constant for the elderly people who call the place home: dubious living conditions.

Just last April, citing the facility’s “chronic” inability to follow state laws, the Oregon Department of Human Services, which regulates assisted living in the state, moved to revoke its license and shutter it permanently.

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In Churn of Assisted Living Deals, An Island of Misery

Suspect Strikes Plea Deal in Elder Abuse Case

A woman who pleaded guilty Friday to stealing more than $500,000 from an elderly man with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease will be sentenced to three years of felony probation and is ordered to pay full restitution. Rosemary Baugh, 57, was charged with financial elder abuse and perjury, and faces 11 years and eight months in prison if she doesn’t comply with the terms of her plea deal.

Rosemary Baugh

Prosecutor Brian Cota explained after Friday’s hearing that while the probation sentence may seem somewhat lenient (considering the circumstances of the crime and the amount of money involved), the victim’s family and the District Attorney’s Office agreed it made legal and financial sense because a good portion of the stolen money is recoverable, lengthy and costly civil cases will be avoided, Baugh suffers from mental health problems, and the victim would likely not want to see her imprisoned. “Notwithstanding those issues,” Cota said, “this would have been a prison case.”

Baugh was arrested November 27 after an investigation by the Santa Barbara Police Department’s Property Crimes Unit discovered she had taken a small fortune from the 80-year-old victim. Baugh became his caretaker following the death of his only local relative in 2011. The two had known each other for many years prior and lived together at one point approximately two decades ago. Once she became his caretaker, however, Baugh used the victim’s money to buy a mobile home, shop online, make multiple purchases per day from QVC and the Home Shopping Network, and pay for psychic services. When out-of-town relatives recently visited the victim, they found him sickly, malnourished, and living in squalor.

As part of her plea deal, Baugh agreed to relinquish ownership of the mobile home — worth approximately $250,000 — back to the victim and his family and vacate it within 30 days. Cota said Baugh had given her daughter $100,000 to purchase property in Texas and that those funds are in the process of being returned as well. Baugh must also provide a full accounting to a civil court attorney of how she spent and gave away the money, Cota said.

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Suspect Strikes Plea Deal in Elder Abuse Case

Ex-Texas judge gets 4 years for corruption

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — A federal judge on Friday sentenced a former West Texas county judge and a local businessman to four years in prison each on public corruption charges.

 

Anthony Cobos, who was the highest administrative official in El Paso between 2007 and 2010, pleaded guilty in September to taking bribes from local businessman Lorenzo Hilario Aguilar in exchange for his vote and influence to steer a $40 million county bond refinancing contract to an investment bank. U.S. District Judge Frank Montalvo handed Cobos a $10,000 fine Friday, in additional to the prison sentence, while Aguilar will have to pay $50,000.

 

Cobos apologized for his actions and his "defiance" during the investigation.

 

"I ask for forgiveness, I am a changed man. ... I pray for leniency," he said, adding that as a result from the indictment he had the opportunity to recommit his life to Christ.

 

Montalvo was not easily swayed.

 

"I'm having a difficult time taking this statement as truthful," Montalvo said as he questioned the veracity of statements made by Cobos to probations officers about his drug and alcohol use. Montalvo's questions escalated into a back and forth with Cobos about his use of marijuana for more than 20 years.

 

Montalvo also doubted Cobos' valuation of the worth of his income tax return business. With a profit of $7,700 dollars and $60,000 in wages paid to Cobos and his wife, Montalvo said Cobos "grossly undervalues the business" at $5,000.

 

Aguilar's statement of contrition also fell flat before Montalvo. Aguilar said he has about $800 worth of furniture in his house. According to the El Paso appraisal district the house is worth $370,000.

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Ex-Texas judge gets 4 years for corruption

Tonight on T.S. Radio: Probate Court: Human Trafficking and Milking the Helpless

Join us this evening for news on the epidemic of probate and family court corruption occurring across the nation.

 Probate courts are facilitating the abuse, neglect and financial exploitation of elderly individuals who have committed the new age crime of aging with assets.

 Professional guardians and unethical attorneys are gaming the system and getting rich off the elderly, and disabled adults. No assets? Not a problem! You are virtual cash cow in the federal and state subsidy, grant, and benefits programs. Keven and Theresa will join us from Florida later in the show to discuss the new data base they are building to track corruption from city to city, state to state.

We will take phone calls the last 30 minutes of the show.

5:00 PST … 6:00 MST … 7:00 CST … 8:00 EST

LISTEN to the show live or listen to the archive later

When 'life support' is really 'death support'

(CNN) -- Two young females, both brain dead without warning, remain on ventilators while their devastated families challenge the judgments of their hospitals.

In one situation, the family believes a miracle is possible, and wants to prolong the patient's biological functioning. In the other case, the family wants to disconnect the patient to honor her wishes. But both families are facing obstacles.

 

The way we talk about neurological death has created a misperception, ethicists say: that "brain death" is somehow not as final as cardiac death, even though, by definition, it is.

 

The term "life support" exacerbates the problem, too, because those who are brain dead do not have a life to sustain, said Arthur Caplan, director of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center. This seems to be a fundamental problem in both cases that have entered the national spotlight, he said.

 

"I think these cases have been botched, horribly," he said. "They're giving the impression that dead people can come back to life."

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When 'life support' is really 'death support'

Bond reduction denied in ‘financial exploitation’

Thomas Terry

Local businessman Thomas Terry has been denied a bond reduction.

 

Thomas Terry, 62, is charged with five Class A felony charges of financial exploitation of the elderly. The charges involve the five of the 42 affected investors who were over the age of 60 at the time the alleged crime occurred.

 

On Thursday, Terry’s attorney Stephen Welby asked Associate Circuit Court Judge Wendy Wexler Horn to deduce Terry’s bond from $250,000 cash or surety to a $10,000 bond.

 

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Pat King argued against a bond reduction, stating that he felt the current bond was probably too low for what Terry is charged with.

 

Terry’s charges are Class A felonies which, if convicted, can carry a sentence up to 30 years or life in prison. King said he thought the reason the legislature made these felonies so severe is because the charges deal with the elderly and “about people’s life savings that won’t be replaced.”

 

He said Terry had been through numerous investigations and had been walking around free for about five years. Now, he said, Terry will be on trial for his life.

 

The judge told Welby that she felt the bond was entirely appropriate and denied the motion for a bond reduction. Welby then asked the judge to consider a 10 percent bond but she also denied that request.

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Bond reduction denied in ‘financial exploitation’