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  ELDERLY WOMAN "KIDNAPPED" FROM FAMILY CALIFORNIA (Submitted by Advocate Sources from California) I have newsworthy information for you. It has to do with nursing home atrocities and the willing complicity of the Alameda County Public Guardian's office. (CALIFORNIA) It's a real scandal that is ongoing and pervasive. The Public Guardian's office actively colludes with bad nursing homes to suppress complaints and ensure that money under their control continues to flow, unimpeded, to the nursing homes, no matter how horrendous the neglect and abuse. When family members complain about the poor conditions, the Public Guardian attempts to intimidate the family members, even to the point of threatening to bar them from visits. In our case, it is even worse: After my client refused to stop complaining about poor care, the public guardian wrote a letter to the nursing home requesting that they bar her from visiting and when my client came to visit, she was threatened with physical violence and arrest if she did not leave. Shortly after that, a friend of the family and another family member came to visit, found the mother suffering from severe infection, and filed a complaint with the Department of Health. A few days later, the mother was secretly transferred to another nursing home under an assumed name, with instructions from the Public Guardian that she was to receive absolutely NO visits from anyone. The Public Guardian did this with NO COURT ORDER, on her own initiative, in violation of several federal and state regulations. When the family members attempted to find out the mother's whereabouts, the Public Guardian's office refused. Instead, the Public Guardian's office told the family that the mother's clothes were being donated to charity (since she, presumably, would never leave the mystery nursing home alive). My client even called the coroner to find out if her mother was dead. Susan Guberman-Garcia, Attorney at Law Phone: 510-792-2639 Voicemail: 510-405-4016 Fax: 510-405-2016 Email: susangg@dnai.com For Story on This Situation See: The Gate www.sfgate.com Please See Archives Woman Files Suit Against Guardians Of Elderly Mother Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, January 14, 2000 San Francisco Chronicle QUOTES"GUARDIAN" "A person lawfully invested with the power, and charged with the duty, of taking care of the person and managing the property and the rights of another person, who, for some peculiarity of 'status', or defect of age, understanding, or self-control, is considered incapable of administering his own affairs" BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY (Revised Fourth Edition, 1968) "'Defect of age' clearly refers to incompetence by reason of being too young. Unfortunately, some guardianship statutes also include being old as eligibility criterion." (Quoted from "ISSUES IN PUBLIC GUARDIANSHIP", Winsor Schmidt, Robert Bickel, William Bell, Kent Miller, and Elaine New This papers was given at the 28th Annual Southern Conference on Gerontology on May 17, 1979 in St. Petersburg Fla. The complete research, 'PUBLIC GUARDIANSHIP AND THE ELDERLY' by W. Schmidt, K. Miller. W. Bell, and E. New has been published by Ballinger Publishing Company, Cambridge, Massachusetts) "The consent and active participation of the ward should be obtained whenever possible, and infringements on ward's independence should be sharply minimized. In short, flexibility should be built into statutes regulating guardianship and the courts should remain constantly aware of the need for flexibility in decision-making regarding such arrangements." (from ISSUES IN PUBLIC GUARDIANSHIP) "The Benjamin Rose Insitute study seemed to indicate that, compared to a control group, even the best protective services, and staff for the group receiving services could not avoid a higher death rate and a higher institutionalizaion rate than for the group for whom nothing was done (Blenkner and Nielson,1971)." (From ISSUES IN PUBLIC GUARDIANSHIP) "A study of mental patients released from Alabama's mental institutions by court order concluded that 'family members adjusted expectations and accepted the patient home' when the state did not provide the alternative of a mental hospital (Leaf, 1977)" (From ISSUES IN PUBLIC GUARDIANSHIP) "When patients are found to have become mentally disordered, their former wishes cannot simply be ignored or discounted. Guardians must express the wishes they honestly believe dependent patients would have expressed." (Dickens, Bernard M., Legal aspects of the dementias. {Department of Law}. In The Lancet, March 29, 1997, v349, n9056, p948 {3}.) "Guardians' powers to exercise their own judgment affords them no right, however, to advance self-interest, to indulge personal convictions, or even to be altruistic such as by approving invasive or distressing research." (Ibid) "Indeed, researchers observed that support and involvement of family in the decision-making process were related to the quality of the decisons about the care of the older persons (Coulton, Dunkle, Chow, Haug, Vielhaber, 1988)." In this study, "It is important to note that although 79 percent of the guardians were family members, the majority of wards whose guardians were not relative (80) percent had family members available. So there was opportunity for involvement by family members in the guardianship process even though the guardian eventually appointed was a nonrelative." (From "Pathways to Guardianship",) See Bibliography Some third party guardianships do not include the concerns and wishes of the family. this study shows importance to the elderly that family input be included. UNIFORM GUARDIANSHIP AND PROTECTIVEPROCEEDINGS ACT (1997) Drafted by the NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF COMMISSIONERS ON UNIFORM STATE LAWS FOR ANOTHER STORY OF AN ELDERLY PERSON VICTIMIZED BY PATERNALISTIC SYSTEMS UNDER THE GUISE OF "BEST INTERESTS" http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ridge/6212/index.html ANOTHER STORY...... SEE "WOMAN FEARS HOMELESSNESS" Tahoe Daily Tribune on September 4, 1998. by Sarah Gonser Tribune Editorial Assistant. This woman is now in a nursing home where she does not want to be. Her family have attempted to remove her to home care. Can not our society find solutions that are not so black and white or polarized? No one should have to endure what amounts to incarceration under some a priori presumptive demand under the dubious disguise of "best interest" AND ANOTHER WESTWORD.COM"CHANGING OF THE GUARD" After Eighteen Months As A Ward of the Court Letty Milstein Finally Gets Her Day In Court  NURSING HOMES....IS IT THE BEST SOLUTION?Pervasive throughout the accounts and testamonies, of the elderly, warehoused in nursing homes against their will, is the a priori assumption that a nursing home is always and without a doubt, the avenue whereby the "best interests" of that person will be served. Generally, there is no in-depth assessment as to the necessity of placement, whether an environment, less restrictive, could be a possibility, the appropriateness of a particular facility to the person, nor does the assessment include an evaluation of the elderly's need for informal family and friend support systems. Further, once placed, the chances for reevaluation at any point in the future as to a different placement and any chance or possibility of rehabilitation to the point of returning to a normal lifestyle, even with community supports, are slim. The following are news stories, testamonies, links, and studies examining the current crisis in nursing homes in America. Read them and ask yourself, "Are we doing our elderly the justice they deserve in presuming that nursing home placement is always and/or unquestionably in their "best interests?" NURSING HOMES STATUS 2000STAFFING SHORTAGES ARE PROBLEMATIC THROUGHOUT THE US Staffing rules advocated for nursing homesU.S. should step in to set minimum levels, advocates say NURSING CRISIS, "Disappearing Nurses"(11/26) "The segment was a realistic portrayal of the dire state of nurse staffing and its impact on the quality of patient care. THE INAPPROPRIATE AND OVERUSE OF PSYCHOTROPICS IS A WIDE-SPREAD PROBLEM.LIEBERMAN ON USE OF PSYCHOTROPIC DRUGS IN NURSING HOMESFROM ILLINOIS LAWIn re C.E. (No. 73605, May 19, 1994), Ill. 2d , N.E.2d . 2-107.1 constitutional. Federal constitutional right to refuse exists under "liberty" interests; 2-107. 1 narrowly tailored to address State's parens patriae concern for well-being of those unable to make rational choice, provides due process to avoid concerns of psychotropic medication's serious side effects and misuse by staff; 2-107.1 "permits" substituted judgment consideration and recipient's wishes, when competent, "will often be very relevant..."  See Medscape Medscape Pharmacology Expert Column Adverse Drug Reactions in Geriatric Nursing Facility Residents James W. Cooper, PhD, RPh, BCPS, CGP, FASCP, FASHP [Medscape, 2000. © 2000 Medscape, Inc.] UNRECOGNIZED AND UNMANAGED DYSPHAGIAA study noted in Geriatr Nurs 1999;20:77-84, found in its evaluation, forty-five of the 82 residents (55%) had some degree of dysphagia, ranging from mild to profound, but only 10 of these 45 residents (22%) had been referred for a dysphagia evaluation. Unmanaged and unrecognized dysphagia may lead to dehydration, malnutrition, aspiration pneumonia, and asphyxiation. Geriatric Nursing OnlineMarch/April 1999 • Volume 20 • Number 2 Dysphagia Among Nursing Home Residents Jeanie Kayser-Jones, RN, PhD, FAAN Kathryn Pengilly, MA NEGLECT"Ants in Your Pants" "Shameful Neglect Of Elderly And Minority Cancer Patients"AUTONOMY VS.PATERNALISMThere must be a healthy tension between these two concepts and all avenues explored before someone's rights to a normal life are butchered because of age, health, or lack of funds. There are alternatives available that are not so drastic. They must be explored and reasonable alternatives sought in EVERY case. They might be difficult, inconvenient, time-consuming even risky, but worth the effort. To not engage in efforts to minimize the loss of freedoms to vulnerable populations, is ultimately trampling on all of our rights to freedom, dignity and the pursuit of happiness. The right to make personal choices must not be compromised simply because of age, health or the possibility of risk! Rights must be protected! America owes that to its people! PLEASE TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION NOTIFY YOUR MEDIA CONTACTS AND WRITE YOUR CONGRESSMAN CONGRESSLET THEM KNOW "WE,THE PEOPLE", WILL NOT CONDONE ACTS OF BARBARISM AGAINST OUR ELDERLY LOVED ONES THAT ARE GESTAPO-LIKE IN NATURE THE ANTI-FAMILY PATERNALISTIC APPROACH TO ELDERLY CARE AND DECISON-MAKING MUST STOP NOW! BRING OUR ELDERLY LOVED ONES HOME TO THE HEARTS OF THEIR BELOVED FAMILIES! THE ELDERLY INCARCERATED AGAINST THEIR WILL IN THE PRISONS OF HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS ARE, IN ALL REALITY NO DIFFERENT THAN POWS THE ELDERLY, THE MENTALLY ILL, THE VULNERABLE WERE NOT BORN AND RAISED IN THE GULAG. THEY HAVE A RIGHT TO ........LIVE........ AND ........ DIE........ AS AMERICANS CITIZENS WITH THEIR FREEDOMS STILL INTACT! FOR FURTHER READING“COMMUNITY AWARENESS AND RESPONSE: ABUSE AND NEGLECT OF OLDER ADULTS”Published by authority of the Minister of National Health and Welfare Reprinted 1993 DISCUSSION ON ETHICSELDER ABUSE, CONTEXT AND ETHICSBy John Hartwig Hartwig's article is an excellent point to begin examining the issue of elderly abuse. Care of Elders in the Community: Moral Lives, Moral Quandaries By Martha Holstein and Phyllis Mitzen, guest editors AUTONOMY AND ELDER RIGHTSABUSES OF GUARDIANSHIPWESTWORD.COMA Family Affair By Steve Jackson GREAT RESOURCE!MAD NATION"Fighting the Use of Conservatees in Research in LA County" MAD NATIONActivist Maxine Hayden responds to the LA Draft Proposal THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALDINVESTIGATION: PUBLIC GUARDIANS For their own protection They take people from their families to protect them. But it is not always for the best. BEN HILLS investigates Guardian authorities accused of abusesDate: 19/06/99 By BEN HILLS SPOKANE.NET Judge orders review of guardian's filesGuardianship Services will be checked for shoddy, missing paperwork Jonathan Martin - Staff writer LAS VEGAS SUN Former DA Marshall gets probation By Cy Ryan SUN CAPITAL BUREAU SUN-SENTINEL NEWS (FLORIDA) Guardian advocates urge system reform(Note additional articles) AGING AND ETHICAL ISSUES Ethics Bibliography+http://www.uvm.edu/scutler/ethics.html READ THIS Do Existing Laws Adequately Protect The Estates of Infirmed Seniors vs Fraud, Duress & Undue Influence?p FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT "Saving Grace" grace@vcn.com |
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