Terri Schiavo's Legacy: The Value of a Life in a Nation That Cheapens It

Terri Schiavo would have been 48 this December 3 … not a major mile-marker among we, the living, but a cause for reflection for those who loved her, and for all those who fought so valiantly to save her, in those terrible years and months and days before she was starved to death, by court order, in March, 2005.

A cause for reflection because, as so many observed and warned us at the time, her death – court mandated, despite the express wishes of her parents and siblings and the best efforts of the President and Congress of the United States – marked a crucial turning point in our nation’s cultural attitude toward life. Perhaps no judicial action since Roe v. Wade has done more to convince ordinary Americans that individual lives are expendable to those pushing for an increasingly callous medical establishment.

In a medical arena where humanity is increasingly supplanted by multi-million-dollar economic interests, life and death decisions become all too easy. Soon, it’s cheaper to pull a plug than to fill a prescription.

Of course, the pressures aren’t only financial. As the lists of patients awaiting transplants grow longer, pressure is mounting in many medical circles to speed along the process of dying, the better to harvest organs for those in need. Rob Stein of The Washington Post reported a few months ago on the increasingly aggressive efforts by the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) to rewrite the rules on when a patient is “dead” and his organs can be removed.

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Schiavo's Legacy: The Value of a Life in a Nation That Cheapens It

Pastor Accused of Financial Exploitation of Elderly Man

Earlier this month, it was reported that a 78-year-old disabled man in Minnesota was financially exploited by his friend and pastor. The elderly man suffers from Parkinson's disease, diabetes and paranoid schizophrenia, and the 31-year-old pastor had apparently befriended the elderly man when he came to his church.

He soon became the man's health care proxy and then obtained a power of attorney over the man's finances, which gave the pastor control over the disabled man's finances and bank account. The pastor then placed the man in a total-care nursing home in which all of the man's needs were supposed to be met.

While he was in the nursing home, from June 2010 to February 2011, more than $16,000 in withdrawals were made from the elderly man's bank account. Several of the withdrawals appeared suspicious, including 130 cash withdrawals from ATMs. Other suspicious activity included fast food purchases, cable television payments and cell phone payments.

During that time period, the disabled man's nursing home's bills were not being paid. He currently owes almost $13,000 and could be evicted for non-payment.

The pastor has been charged with four felony counts of financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult.

California residents who need help with their finances, or whose loved ones need financial management, need be aware of just how critical it is to have a trusted person take care of those responsibilities. As this story shows, however, even a person with a background that encourages trust can turn out to be untrustworthy, so family members and residents should always carefully verify the actions of those in positions of financial trust.

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Pastor Accused of Financial Abuse of 78-Year-Old Disabled Man

Couple Accused of Taking $100K From Elderly Man

Sheriff Sam Craft of Vernon Parish has announced that two people were arrested this week, and they're accused of scamming an elderly nursing home resident out of more than $100,00.00, and then spending the money on cars and other elaborate purchases.

Morgan Elizabeth Walker, 24, and Steven Briggs, 26, both of Rosepine, were arrested by Vernon Parish deputies after a complaint lead to the start of an investigation on November 22nd.

According to Craft, the victim was an 87 year old man from the Leesville area, and the suspects had been taking money from him since June.

Investigators said the allegations revealed that the victim became associated with Walker when she was a caregiver for his wife at an area nursing home facility. Investigators said numerous purchases of large ticket items took place between June and November, including the purchase of two vehicles.

Morgan Walker was charged with six counts of Exploitation of the Infirm, with a total bond of $80,000.00. Steven Briggs was charged with one count of Principal to the Exploitation of the Infirm, and his bond was set of $5,000.00.

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Vernon Parish Couple Accused of Taking $100,000 From Elderly Man

Judge in Mollie Florkey Case Recuses!

Highland County Probate Judge Kevin Greer has recused himself from a case involving a dispute over the guardianship and care of a Hillsboro woman. The recusal occurred following a Nov. 22 hearing regarding the case, according to court documents.

Greer's recusal comes after Jane Branson filed suit in U.S. District Court for Southern Ohio against Greer, her brother, her mother's attorney, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Representing herself, Branson claimed in her suit that her mother, Mollie Florkey, should be released from a nursing home in which she was placed, and also claims she has been denied proper access to Ohio's courts.

Greer said Monday he could re-qualify himself to continue hearing the case based on how, and how quickly, Branson's federal lawsuit is resolved. In the meantime, he has asked the Ohio Supreme Court to appoint a judge to hear Branson's ongoing challenge to the care and guardianship of her mother.

But if the federal suit is resolved, Greer will likely re-qualify himself to preside over the case, because "I have a duty to the taxpayer to do my job" rather than paying a visiting judge to preside.

Branson has attempted to overturn Greer's decision, as well as asking Greer to remove himself from the case, which he refused to do until now.

Also named in the suit is Hillsboro attorney J.D. Wagoner, who is Florkey's attorney.

Full Article and Source:
Greer Recuses Himself From Case on Guardianship

See Also:
Jane Branson Files Suit on Behalf of Her Mother

How to File a Complaint...The Fatal Shot Heard Round the World (part 2)

Mr. David Callahan, III, Guardian Ad Litem in The Conservatorship of Robert Thurman, has an oath and legal obligations to adhere. Considering the egregious nature of the Thurman conservatorship, it’s important that this be made public. The Thurman case also shows a pattern of illegal activities, not to mention ethics violations, in Judge Randy Kennedy’s probate court that are routinely carried out on a day-to-day basis.

Again, Mr. Callahan, III, in my opinion, is the least deserving of this public scrutiny, but he did and does have a legal obligation to report to the various authorities what he has witnessed and been made aware of. He also had the obligation as Guardian ad Litem to protect Robert Thurman from the atrocities that followed the Petition for Conservatorship.

Another thing to keep in mind, the probate courts are the biggest business in America, dwarfing any business, because the wealth of the nation eventually passes through probate. See what I’m getting at? So, that’s why they do their actions in such a self-contained manner. In order to maintain “ownership” of the biggest business in the world, they can’t “out” themselves on what is going on.

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How to File a Complaint...The Fatal Shot Heard Round the World (part 2)

How to File a Complaint...The Fatal Shot Heard Round the World (Part 1)

Now here’s the zinger and the power “we, the people” possess but are kept in the dark: If the attorney, with knowledge of, DOES NOT report the violation of The Rules of Professional Conduct or the Judicial Code of Ethics, WE, as observers, have the right to file a complaint against the attorney who has not reported the violation as well as the attorney(s) who committed the original violations. In other words, if the attorney witnessing the violation does not report (file a complaint, charges, etc.), he becomes, in fact, an accessory (co-conspirator) to the breaking of the rules of violation of ethics (if the BPR does their job and takes appropriate action according to the rules and their standard of discipline).

ARE YOU GETTING WHAT THIS MEANS?

If you, as an observer and citizen of the United States, witness or are made aware, and can prove unethical and/or illegal conduct on the part of an attorney or judge, and if the attorney(s) involved in the matter have not corrected the error/breach/rule-breaking, then you, as an observer (you don’t even have to be involved in the case or “have a dog in the fight”) can report the violation to the appropriate governing body, including the attorney(s) who have failed in reporting the misconduct.

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How to File a Complaint...The Fatal Shot Heard Round the World (part 1)

Scan Reveal PVS Patients are Aware

Scientists have used a portable device that tracks changes in brain waves to communicate with people in a vegetative state, some of whom have been locked in their bodies for more than a year.

In a study published last year in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers showed it was possible to communicate with and detect awareness in people in a vegetative state using functional magnetic resonance imaging or fMRI.

The researchers instructed 16 people in a vegetative state to imagine they were making a fist with their right hand or wiggling their toes, and then measured brain activity while electrodes were attached to their scalp.

"It was possible to detect that these patients were actually aware" despite being diagnosed as being "entirely unconscious" using standard clinical assessments, said Professor Adrian Owen of the Center for Brain and Mind at the University of Western Ontario. Findings from the newer study were published in the British journal Lancet on Wednesday.

Patients in a persistent vegetative state have periods of wakefulness, but they are completely unresponsive and are thought to be unaware.

"We don't actually know how many vegetative patients there are. It's now possible to find that out," said Dr. Damian Cruse of the University of Western Ontario, who led the study.

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Scans Reveal Vegetative Patients Are Aware

'Overprescribed: The Human and Taxpayers' Costs of Antipsychotics in Nursing Homes'

Today, U.S. Senator Herb Kohl, Chairman of the Special Committee on Aging, held a hearing examining the widespread inappropriate use of antipsychotics among nursing home residents suffering from dementia, high costs to taxpayers and the efforts to find safe and effective alternatives.

“When properly prescribed, antipsychotics can offer beneficial treatment for individuals suffering from mental illness,” Kohl said. “However, we have a responsibility to patients and their families to ensure that elderly nursing home residents are free from all types of unnecessary drugs, and we have a responsibility to taxpayers to be certain that they are not paying for drugs that are not needed.”

The hearing highlighted two recent investigations by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS OIG) that looked at the prevalent use of atypical antipsychotics in the face of a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “black box” warning and the high costs to taxpayers.

In examining medical records over a six-month period, Daniel Levinson, Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, testified that 14 percent of all nursing home residents, or nearly 305,000 patients, had Medicare claims for atypical antipsychotic drugs and that half of these claims should not have been paid for by Medicare because the drugs were not used for medically accepted indications. He said that for one in five drug claims, nursing homes dispensed these drugs in a way that violated the government's standards for their reimbursement.

Full press release and source:
Alternatives to Overuse of Antipsychotics in Nursing Homes Focus of Senate Hearing

Watch the Hearing

Wife of Missing Doctor Seeking Conservator for Husband's Funds

The search for a missing Nashville surgeon in Dekalb County has long ended, and now a court document shows his wife holds out little hope for his return.

Dr. William Coltharp, a 55-year-old cardiothoracic surgeon at Saint Thomas Hospital, went missing Oct. 2 while kayaking on Center Hill Lake. He last told his wife he’d be home for dinner, but didn’t show up. His kayak was found the next day about a mile from where he was last seen.

Dekalb County Sheriff Patrick Ray said the search has been called off, but they’re not yet giving up hope he might be alive.

But according to documents filed in Davidson County’s probate court, Coltharp’s wife isn’t as optimistic.

“He is believed to have died on Center Hill Lake, but his remains have not yet been found,” reads a line in paperwork Nicole Coltharp filed to begin dealing with more than $120,000 associated with her husband’s estate. She’s asking a conservator be appointed on his behalf.

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Wife of Missing Doctor Seeking Conservator for Husband's Funds