Supreme Court Ruled on "Undue Influence" Case (Melb. Australia)

Supreme Court rules on Betty Dyke's $15m will battle

 By Norrie Ross

February 27, 2009

TWO couples who inherited a share in the $15 million will of an elderly spinster today won a Supreme Court battle to keep the money.

The husband in a third couple was excluded from his share of Betty Dyke’s after Justice Peter Vickery ruled that the old lady was subjected to “undue influence” in his case. 

The dispute centred on wills that left the bulk of her estate equally to Tim and Denise Knaggs, Robert and Sandra Allen, and Gary and Diane Smith. 

Millionaire Ms Dyke changed her will in favour of her neighbours at a time when she was sharing one room of a run-down fibro farmhouse with chickens and had no inside toilet. 

Justice Vickery ruled that a 1999 will made by Ms Dyke was valid apart from her decision to leave a portion to Tim Knaggs. 

The judge ruled that the clause in the will that left $5 million jointly to Mr and Mrs Knaggs should be overturned and that Mrs Knaggs is entitled to the entire sum in her own right. 

This reflected the true wishes of Ms Dyke, he said. 

Justice Vickery said the inclusion of Mr Knaggs in the will was “inconsistent with her long-held dislike of him”. 

At the time the will was made Ms Dyke was heavily dependent on Mrs Knaggs and because of this she fell under the influence of the couple. 

“The influence became undue when both Denise Knaggs and Tim Knaggs became involved in the preparation of Betty Dyke’s 1999 will,” the judge said. 

“The inclusion of Mr Knaggs as a beneficiary resulted directly from a telephone call made by Denise Knaggs to Betty Dyke’s solicitor a few days before she (Ms Dyke) signed the will.” 

The judge found that the Allens and the Smiths did not engage in any conduct amounting to undue influence on Ms Dyke. 

Abridged

SOURCE:      The Herald Sun, Australia

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For those who are interested in the legal findings of the Supreme Court in this case, particularly with regards to "Capacity", "Undue Influence", and Onus of Proof --- Check out the Austlii Report. Lengthy read of approx. 150 pages.

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Bill Proposed to Protect Vulnerable Adults (MN. USA)

Bill Proposed to Protect Vulnerable Adults 02/26/09 (ABC 6 NEWS) – Minnesota lawmakers are introducing new legislation to protect vulnerable adults. Some house democrats say too many disabled or elderly people in Minnesota are being taken advantage of.  We've learned a vulnerable adult care facility in Cannon Falls will shut down March 1st. Goodhue County officials say an investigation revealed emotional abuse of a resident by the center's administrator. Just last week, another case involving a 79-year-old man who prosecutors say was swindled out of nearly a quarter million dollars. Two people, Carolyn Bolden and Lucas James, are facing charges. They're accused of making up stories to convince  the man to give them thousands of dollars over two years. "We're actually attempting to prevent the victimization, and then once something happens, giving the tools that we need to law enforcement and to people in the area to make sure that it doesn't continue to happen. And to prosecute those that have preyed against them,” says Rep. Debra Hilstrom. Last year, there were more than 20,000 reported cases of elder abuse, most of them involving neglect.

SOURCE:     KAALtv.com - Rochester,MN,USA

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Plan Proposed to Curb Elder Abuse Via Fraud (CA. USA)

Benoit proposing plan to curb elder abuse via fraud

DESERT SUN WIRES

 FEBRUARY 24, 2009

A Riverside County lawmaker introduced legislation today that would require individuals who provide services to the elderly and disabled under state-subsidized programs to undergo background checks to screen out potential fraudsters.

Sen. John J. Benoit, R-Bermuda Dunes, said SB 246 would mandate that any
independent contractor working in the state's In-Home Supportive Services
program agree to a background investigation and fingerprint registration.

IHSS is a state-supported program -- administered through county Adult
Protective Services offices -- which extends assistance to low-income elderly
residents, most of whom are on Medi-Cal, as well as the disabled.

IHSS caregivers visit patients in private homes, hotels, hospitals or
health clinics, providing help with meal preparation, housekeeping, grocery
shopping, bathing and grooming, medication dispensation and other domestic
services, according to the California Department of Social Services.

Benoit said greater safeguards should be in place to prevent exploitation of the system.

Abridged

SOURCE:     The Desert Sun - Palm Springs,CA,USA

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Nurses Board Approves 103 Resgistrations of Criminal Nurses (Australia)

Victorian Nurses Board approves 103 registrations of criminal nurses

By Grant McArthur

Herald Sun

January 24, 2009

NURSES guilty of manslaughter, sex offences, arson and torturing animals have been allowed to care for the sick and vulnerable in Victoria.

In the past three years the Nurses Board approved registration of 103 nurses who had admitted being found guilty of crimes such as theft, stalking, drug trafficking, possessing child pornography and manslaughter. 

The board cancelled registration of two nurses because of their criminal pasts, while the results on another three nurses are unclear, the Herald Sun reports.

Patient advocates and the Opposition want an immediate investigation of registration of some nurses, as well as the process, in light of documents obtained by the Herald Sun through Freedom of Information requests. 

But the Nurses Board says it is not concerned that at least 103 of Victoria's 86,000 registered nurses have serious criminal records. Its says its investigation processes ensure public safety.

In 2006 it became mandatory for nurses to disclose their crimes when renewing their registration each year. 

Since then the board has been told of: 

A NURSE convicted of manslaughter in 1994 whom it re-registered. 

THREE nurses guilty of indecent assault who had their registration renewed. 

TWO nurses guilty of cruelty to animals. 

THREE nurses guilty of recklessly causing serious injury and others who committed serious assault, common assault, unlawful assault, intentionally causing serious injury and negligently causing serious injury. 

TWO nurses convicted of stalking. 

A NURSE caught with a drug of dependence and taking it into a prison in 2005. 

A HOST of theft, fraud and social security offences. 

In one instance the board renewed a nurse's registration despite being aware of 19 convictions for arson. 

Some offences date back many years, but all were disclosed to the board after 2006. 

Medical Error Action Group spokeswoman Lorraine Long accused the state's medical authorities of placing the interests of nurses above those of their patients. 

"The Nurses Board is looking at the rights of nurses, but the patients are part of this equation and where are their rights? Who is protecting them?" she said. 

Opposition health spokeswoman Helen Shardey demanded the board investigate the most serious offences

Abridged

SOURCE:      The Herald Sun, Australia

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It is extremely important that nurses, have a clean record.  This must be considered a first step towards preventing elder abuse in nursing homes, or other organisations where vulnerable seniors  are left to the mercy of their carers.

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New Billboard Designed to Help End Elder Abuse (WY. USA)

By Baylie Davis

bdavis@wyomingnews.com

CHEYENNE -- About 10 miles north of Cheyenne on Interstate 25, a 48-foot billboard displays a less-than-subtle message.

"Hurting grandmother is elder abuse," it reads.

The words are beside a photo of a wrinkled, gray-haired woman, her eye black and purple with bruising.

In about 15 years of working as a companion to the elderly, Alice Carter said nearly all of her dozens of clients suffered some kind of abuse: verbal, emotional or physical.

It's not always physical abuse, although that happens as well.

In one case, a woman's son would bring her flowers when he came to visit. He would then ask her for a check to pay for the flowers, telling her they cost hundreds of dollars.

But in Carter's current job with the Wyoming Kinship Advocacy, where she has worked for about five years, she has only had one person admit abuse.

"I think one is too many," she said.

Plus, it's a vastly under-reported crime, she said.

Often, the abuser is a family member or in-home care provider. Reporting abuse could mean family repercussions or having to go to a nursing home.

And with increasing numbers of grandparents raising grandchildren, the risk of elder abuse goes up, Carter said.

Carter got guardianship of her granddaughter many years ago when her daughter died. But she was ready to give up when the child was verbally abusive and broke everything in the house.

That's what spurred her to try to make sure both children and adults have happy homes, she said.

"Elder abuse is rising," Dorothy Thomas, the state consultant for Adult Protective Services, said. "We're an aging nation, we're an aging state."

Reports of adult abuse to her agency have gone up over the last several years.

It's also a fairly unknown issue, Thomas added, although that's improving.

Earlier this month, Carter's and Thomas' agencies, along with Community Action of Laramie County, the Department of Health's Aging Division and the Casey Family Programs funded the billboard north of the city.

It took a partnership to find the approximately $4,500 in grants and donations, Thomas emphasized.

The goal of the billboard is to raise the public's awareness about the issue of elder abuse. It will stand for 11 months.

Despite what some have described to her as a somewhat shocking image, Carter said the bruised woman is one of the more "gentle" messages they considered.

"We've seen far worse," Carter said.

SOURCE:     Wyoming Tribune - WY,USA

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Teen Jailed Over Sex Attack on Woman, 82 (Australia)

 February 25, 2009

 A Sydney teenager who cannot remember raping an 82-year-old woman in broad daylight after a drunken night out will spend at least three years in jail.

Robert El-Chammas, 18, from Ermington, admitted to sexually assaulting the elderly woman at a park in Anzac Avenue, West Ryde, in the early morning of May 11 last year.

Judge Peter Johnstone sentenced him today to a maximum of five years in jail with a non-parole period of three years.

The teenager, who earlier told the NSW District Court at Parramatta he was ashamed of himself, wiped away tears as the judge handed down the sentence.

The court heard El-Chammas got drunk for the first time ever on the night of May 10, consuming six mixed vodka drinks and spending about $200 on shouts at Kings Cross nightclubs.

El-Chammas said he had no recollection of the attack in which he threw the woman to the ground, punched her several times and raped her.

Reading from the facts before sentencing the teenager, Judge Johnstone said El-Chammas continued assaulting the victim even when approached by a member of the public.

Witnesses in nearby apartment blocks heard the woman's screams and called police who chased El-Chammas as he tried to flee with his pants down.

There was no apparent reason for the attack on the elderly woman, Judge Johnstone said.

"The only explanation is ... that the accused must have been very, very drunk," he said.

In sentencing El-Chammas, Judge Johnstone said imposing the maximum non-parole period would not be appropriate.

"There are factors that call for a departure from the standard non-parole period," he said.

"The fact that this was the first and only offence this offender has committed, his extreme youth, his prospect of rehabilitation and the unlikelihood of his reoffending."

The seriousness of the offence was lessened by the absence of other aggravating factors like planning, abduction or the use of a weapon, the judge said.

He said the teenager had also shown his remorse from the outset and had expressed shame to police, doctors and the court.

During sentencing submissions, El-Chammas was asked by his barrister Ian McClintock SC whether he would have attacked the woman while sober.

Abridged

SOURCE:    The Age Newspapers (Australia)

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Opening Eyes to Elder Abuse (MO. USA)

State hotline available for reports of injury, neglect and exploitation

by Erin Wisdom

February 24, 2009

Agnes, 85 years old, lost her husband last year.

Due to her arthritis and congestive heart failure, Agnes moved in with her 55-year-old daughter, Emily. The situation is difficult for all of them.

Sometimes Emily feels as if she’s at the end of her rope — caring for her mother, worrying about her college-age son and about her husband, who is about to be forced into early retirement. Emily has caught herself calling her mother names and accusing her mother of ruining her life. Recently, she lost her temper and slapped her mother. In addition to feeling frightened and isolated, Agnes feels trapped and worthless.

This scenario, given by the American Psychological Association, illustrates the phenomenon of elder abuse, which an estimated 2.1 million Americans experience in some form each year.

“It’s sad, because it’s usually someone close to them” who is being abusive, says Karen Worthington, the area supervisor for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services’ division of senior and disability services. “That’s hard, because they trust those people.”

She adds that the four social service workers in her division each receive about eight to 10 abuse reports to look into each month in Buchanan County. Many times, the cases called into the Department of Health and Senior Services’ elder abuse hotline — (800) 392-0210 — are ones of self-neglect, reported perhaps by a neighbor who notices the unkempt appearance or confusion that could indicate a person is no longer capable of caring for herself.

Although this kind of neglect seems to be more common here than physical or emotional abuse, Ms. Worthington says, a kind of abuse she’s seen increase over the past year is financial exploitation. In response, the Department of Health and Senior Services has created a program, Missourians Stopping Adult Financial Exploitation (MOSAFE), to alert banks to indicators that elderly or disabled clients are being taken advantage of.

“If someone you know has never withdrawn a lot of money, but all of a sudden she’s coming in with someone new and withdrawing a lot, that might be a red flag,” Ms. Worthington says.

Abridged

SOURCE:      St. Joseph News-Press MO,USA

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Gay Pensioners and Disclosure to Centrelink, Elder Abuse? (Australia)

Gay pensioners required to out themselves to Centrelink

By James Carleton for Radio Australia

Feb 19, 2009

From July 1, Centrelink will recognise gay and lesbian relationships for the first time, but for same sex-couples receiving Centrelink payments, that hard-won equality comes at a price.

Under the changes, some may get less money, or lose their payments altogether, if their partner earns more than the income threshold.

And they will now be obliged to disclose their homosexuality to Centrelink.

For old-age pensioners in particular, that's raising concerns.

Gerontologist Jo Harrison says it is a traumatic prospect for some of the gay and lesbian pensioners she works with.

"It's a huge problem, even if it is kept secret by Centrelink, because we're talking about people who have lived lives where in their 20s they were arrested and bashed," she says.

"In their 30s they were subjected to shock treatment, in their 40s they had a lobotomy, in their 50s their were constantly discriminated against, in their 60s they experienced prejudice.

"Their entire life structure has been built around hiding, keeping the great silence and absolutely not having to, under any circumstances, out themselves to anyone.

"Now along comes a government department requiring them to declare [their sexuality]. And if they don't declare, or they lie and say, 'We're not a couple', then there is a threat of ultimately prosecution.

"It's dangerously close to elder abuse."

The issue is further complicated because many seniors in same-sex relationships do not consider themselves to be gay or lesbian.

Abridged

SOURCE:     ABC NEWS (Australia)

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County No Place for Elder Abuse (PA. USA)

County no place for elder abuse

February 23, 2009

By Carolyn M. Tenaglia

Regional Ombudsman Coordinator

To the Editor:

Recently, there has been a lot of activity in the Schuylkill County law enforcement community as they try to respond to the increasingly more prevalent crime of elder abuse.

This month, Republican-Herald readers learned of a local couple sentenced for misappropriating personal funds of an elder, a local waitress accused of a similar crime and a former long-term care professional charged with swindling the residents entrusted to her care.

It would be really easy to become angry and to think that Schuylkill County is a hostile place for elders. But, actually, the opposite is true.

All of this activity is because Schuylkill County has taken a stand against elder abuse. The social service, government and law enforcement communities have created an organization that is working to increase community awareness and law enforcement’s response to suspected abusers.

The Schuylkill Elder Abuse Prevention Alliance Inc. was created approximately three years ago to try to address the increased incidents of abuse that were being experienced by seniors in Schuylkill County.

It has not been easy. Raising awareness requires us all to take a long, hard look at our problems. It requires training and re-learning strategies that may no longer be effective. It necessitates the discussion of difficult, embarrassing and painful topics — having people you trust take advantage of you, for example. It forces us to take a stand and stare down those who want to do harm.

But, despite the challenges, we have responded to the problem. Recently, a loud and clear message can be heard over the disappointment and fear. That message is: “We will NOT tolerate elder abuse in Schuylkill County.”

Potential abusers are now fully aware that Schuylkill County is equipped to identify and prosecute such abuse. These growing “pains” have been necessary in our collective efforts to better protect our elders. And, out of those struggles has emerged a system that can be more responsive to the people we serve.

I am a proud member of SEAPA and I would like to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues for a job well done. I would like to congratulate our local law enforcement, our district attorney and his staff and the staff of the Schuylkill County Office of Senior Services. Your tireless investigation and prosecution of abusers/suspected abusers makes a huge difference in the quality of life experienced here in Schuylkill County.

I ask everyone to be supportive of the efforts of SEAPA. Please consider participating in one of its excellent training opportunities. Please keep our annual “Silver Ribbon Campaign” in mind as spring approaches. Please educate yourselves about how and when to report suspected elder abuse so we can continue to make Schuylkill safer for all of us.

SOURCE:     Republican & Herald - Pottsville,PA,USA

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Granny Scammed Over Period of 25 Years (Australia)

I'm totally against abuses of any kind. But, since this blog is about Elder Abuse, I will post articles and news items on this issue.

Granny scammers have been around for a long time.  Thought I have heard it all, but a email alerted me to a story run by A Current Affairs program in Australia.  

A granny believes that she has millions of dollars awaiting her collection, from London, New York and many other places.  The catch - she has been sending large sums of money, all over the world because she was told that by paying those "fees" she would collect the millions. Apparently, friends and family members have lost money through this sad saga.

Unbelievably naive? Judge for yourself.  The video is titled: 'Deal with the Devil'

Watch the video

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Man, 71, Beaten and Bitten (CA. USA)

Lake County elder abuse: Man, 71, beaten and bitten

By GLENDA ANDERSON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

February 19, 2009 .

A Kelseyville man has been arrested on suspicion of breaking into the home of a 71-year-old Clearlake man, then beating and biting him.

David Moreno, 39, is believed to have attacked and threatened to kill the older man after accusing him of speaking badly of him, said Clearlake Police Lt. Mike Hermann.

The name name of the injured man is not being released because he is a victim of elder abuse, he said.

A man went to the older man’s home just after 9 p.m. Tuesday and began banging on the door and yelling threats, Hermann said.

When the victim refused to let him in, a man identified by police as Moreno tried breaking the door then broke a window.

The intruder chased the man, began beating him and bit his right hand, he said. Two other people in the house intervened and the attacker fled with a purse that was later recovered. Moreno was booked into the Lake County jail by police following a foot chase, Hermann said.

Moreno, listed in booking documents as a landscaper, remained jailed Thursday on suspicion of elder abuse, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, resisting arrest and making criminal threats.

SOURCE:    The Press Democrat

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Look After Your Parents in Punjab or Go to Jail (Punjab, India)

 

Tribune News Service

 

January 19, 2009

 

India

 

Days before his son and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal would be sworn in as his deputy, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has given sanction for implementation of the Punjab Maintenance of Parents and Senior Citizens Act. The law provides for efficacious provision of maintenance of elderly people.

According to the Act, parents and senior citizens above 60 years of age can now legally demand sustenance from their wards. And to ensure the rule is followed, the Punjab government has notified setting up one-member tribunals at the sub-divisional level throughout the state.

Defaulting wards or heirs could be fined up to Rs 5,000 or given three months imprisonment or both, depending upon the gravity of the defiance of tribunal orders. Besides, appellate tribunals would be set up at the district level.

The sub-divisional magistrate would have to pass orders within 90 days of the receipt of application. The Act has also been kept free from advocacy, as the aggrieved parents, grandparents or senior citizens can prefer their application before the District Social Welfare Officer, who has been recommended to act as applicant’s attorney before the tribunal.

Notably, Punjab has become the fifth state after Tripura, Maharashtra, Goa and Himachal Pradesh to implement the Act, with retrospective effect from August 27 last year.

Once the tribunal is satisfied that a senior citizen — parent or grandparent — is unable to take care of himself and there is neglect or refusal of maintenance on the part of the children or relative, it may direct one or all children or relatives to pay to the applicant a monthly maintenance allowance, the upper limit of which shall be Rs 10,000.

Abridged

SOURCE:   The Tribune News Service

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Pitfall for Investigators in Tara Nursing Home Case (GA. USA)

Pitfall for investigators in Tara Nursing home case

Reported by: Brooke Kelley, bkelley@wtoc.com

Feb 21, 2009

THUNDERBOLT, GA (WTOC)--A small pitfall for investigators in the Tara Nursing home case. You must remember the two cousins accused of taking the identities of dozens of residents at the Thunderbolt facility. Some of the charges had to be dropped in this case.

Thunderbolt investigators say Tamara Smith and Teresa Robbins stole the identities and personnel information from 43 people half who were staying at Tara nursing home.

Charges range from identity theft to fraud, but Captain James Pierce with Thunderbolt Police Department will not be able to charge the two with elder abuse.

"It was discovered that we can't pursue the elder abuse counts because do not apply to residents of long term care facility," said Pierce.

26 elder abuse counts will now have to be dropped.

The victims range in age from 60 to as old as 100 years old.

Abridged

SOURCE:     WTOC - Savannah,GA,USA

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Elder Care: Age Bank to Boost Care for Elderly (China)

Age Bank boosts care for China's elderly citizens

Updated Sun. Feb. 8 2009 10:28 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

In a novel experiment to deal with China's massive elderly population, a businessman has developed a so-called age bank, whereby volunteers care for aging neighbours and then bank the hours for their own care when they grow old.

Traditionally, Chinese families have lived under one roof so younger generations can care for their elders.

However, it is estimated that in 40 years, a third of China's population - about 440 million people - will be over the age of 60, and many may not have relatives to care for them.

The businessman, a former land developer named Feng Kexiong who was himself facing retirement, came up with the idea of having younger volunteers put in time caring for the elderly and then cashing out those hours when they need assistance in their later years.

"In this day and age, all the young people go away to work," Feng told CTV News. "And with so many elderly, this age bank was the way to go."

After four years, the bank now has 250 clients and thousands of logged volunteer hours in just a single neighbourhood.

Twenty other cities across China have also opened their own age banks.

© 2009  All Rights Reserved.

Abridged

SOURCE:     CTV.CA

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A innovative way of caring for the elderly.  Perhaps other countries should look at this new approach.

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Crossing Guard Accused of Hitting Mother-in-Law (

Crossing guard accused of hitting mother-in-law with stop sign

Friday, Feb 20 2009, 9:37 pm

By Rob Parsons/Staff writer

 

A Willows school crossing guard faces possible assault charges after she allegedly beat her mother-in-law with her school-issued stop sign.

Julie Huntington Price, 44, and the alleged victim, 77-year-old Gay Ramsey, were walking to Price's traffic post around 7:20 a.m. Thursday when they began arguing for unknown reasons, according to a statement from the Willows Police Department.

The argument escalated to the point that Price struck Ramsey with her handheld stop sign and shoved her to the ground at the corner of Villa and Laurel streets, Willows police Chief Bill Spears said.

"The incident seems to have sparked from an old issue between the two concerning some financial arrangements," Spears said Friday.

A friend took Ramsey to Glenn Medical Center, where Spears said she was treated for a head contusion and a broken hand. Ramsey was released from the hospital a short time later, he said.

Spears said Price claims Ramsey was the aggressor, but based on the statements from an independent eyewitness, he said police have no plans to seek any criminal complaint against Ramsey.

"At least at this time," Spears said.

Price was booked into Glenn County Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, battery and elder abuse, all felonies. She posted a $42,000 bail bond about six hours later and was released, a jail spokeswoman said.

"There's an incredible amount more to the story than what the police are saying," Price said Friday. "However, my lawyer has advised me not to speak out at this time."

Abridged

SOURCE:    Willows Journal - CA, United States

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Free Talk on Elder Abuse (CA. USA)

Free talk on elder abuse 

Julia Wyson, coordinator of the Financial Abuse Specialist Team in Ventura County, will give a free presentation on elder abuse at 11 a.m. Fri., March 6 at the Moorpark Active Adult Center, 799 Moorpark Ave.

Wyson will discuss the prevention, recognition and reporting of financial abuse of elders and dependent adults.

She will screen a 25-minute video titled "Fighting Financial Fraud" and offer free local resources and directories.

For more information or reservations, call (805) 517-6261.

SOURCE:     Moorpark Acorn News

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Elder Care: Red Cross Resorts to GPS System (

Spain: The Red Cross Resorts to the GPS System to Stand Up to Alzheimer's (January 29, 2009)
(Article in Spanish)
The Red Cross will start a pilot program to test monitoring devices that will provide the coordinates of the elderly who wear them. Using GPS technology, the device sends a signal to a dispatcher whenever the carrier passes his or her pre-programmed zone. The Red Cross Contact Center then communicates with his or her family or caretakers. The service will cost 38 euros per month and will be discounted for low-income families. 

SOURCE:   Global Aging.org

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Two Arrested for Elder Abuse (CA. USA)

by Tiffany Revelle -- Staff reporter

02/18/2009

LAKE COUNTY -- Two Kelseyville residents were arrested on charges of elder abuse in separate incidents during the weekend, according to reports from the Lake County Sheriff's Office (LCSO).

Deputies responded to a 9-1-1 call Friday at approximately 10:50 p.m. from Sylar Lane resident Jill Louise Mainer, 43, who reported her roommate had fallen and then hung up the phone, according to LCSO Captain Jim Bauman.

The roommate, 72-year-old Ivan Neuharth, answered when dispatchers called back. Neuharth said Mainer had ordered him to get on his hands and knees and told him she was going to kill him, according to Bauman. Neuharth did not get down on the floor, and told dispatchers Mainer had left the house with a hammer in her hand.

Mainer was booked at the Lake County Jail on felony charges of making criminal threats, disrupting a telephone line and elder abuse. Bauman said Mainer is not believed to have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and the reason for her behavior is unknown. She is held on $10,000 bail.

Afraid for her safety, Lehmann decided to pursue charges against her son, according to Bauman. Waldon was arrested pursuant to a private citizen's arrest. Bauman said there is no limit on reporting elder abuse, which is always charged as a felony during an arrest and booking

Abridged

SOURCE:     Lake County Record-Bee

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AG Announced Arrested of 3 Nursing Home Empoloyees (CA. USA)

News Release

February 18, 2009

Brown Announces Arrests of Nursing Home Employees Who Drugged Patients for Staff’s Convenience

BAKERSFIELD –Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the arrests of a nurse, physician, and a pharmacist of a nursing home for “forcibly administering” psychotropic medications for their own convenience, rather than for their patients’ therapeutic interests, actions that are alleged to have resulted in the deaths of three residents. 

“These people maliciously violated the trust of their patients, by holding them down and forcibly administering psychotropic medications if they dared to question their care,” Attorney General Brown said. “This is appalling behavior, which amounts to assault with a deadly weapon.” 

Earlier today, California Department of Justice special agents arrested three individuals: 

• Gwen Hughes, the former Director of Nursing at the skilled nursing facility of the Kern Valley Healthcare District in Lake Isabella, Kern County on charges of elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon. 

• Debbi Hayes, the former pharmacist at the Valley Healthcare District, on charges of elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon. 

• Dr. Hoshang Pormir, a staff physician at Kern Valley Healthcare District, who was serving as the medical director of the skilled nursing facility, on charges of elder abuse. 

Upon taking over as Director of Nursing in September 2006, Gwen Hughes ordered that Alzheimer’s and other dementia patients be given high doses of psychotropic medications to make them more tranquil and easy to control. She ordered the administration of these medications to patients who argued with her, were noisy, or who were otherwise disruptive. Two patients who resisted were held down and forcibly given injections. 

Ms. Hughes is also alleged to have directed Debbi Hayes, the hospital pharmacist, to fill prescriptions for these psychotropic medications. Hayes wrote and filled these prescriptions without first obtaining a doctor’s approval. 

Dr. Hoshang Pormir approved these psychotropic medications only some time after they had been administered and without examining the patients first and determining whether these psychotropic medications were medically necessary. 

Several of these patients are alleged to have had medical complications as a result of being given these psychotropic medications, including lethargy and the inability to eat or drink properly. It is believed that that three patients died and one patient suffered great bodily injury as a result. 

Criminal charges were filed in Kern County Superior Court. The defendants are being held in Kern County Jail in Bakersfield. They will be arraigned on Friday. If convicted, the defendants could face up to 11 years in prison. 

The case is being prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse, with the co-operation and assistance of the Kern County District Attorney’s Office. 

To report elder abuse or Medi-Cal fraud, call the Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse’s hotline at (800) 722-0432. 

Abridged

SOURCE:   AG of California USA

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Selfless yet betrayed by an NHS which would sink without them

By HELEN CLARK
18th February 2009

Yesterday, I switched on the radio to hear the former TV newsreader John Suchet speaking with moving eloquence about Alzheimer's. 

His account - and his admission that he had kept the illness secret for several years to spare his wife the 'betrayal and discourtesy' of publicly disclosing it - held a special potency for me. 

I felt hugely grateful to him for speaking out, and thereby giving voice to legions of silent sufferers and their carers.

I understand the anguish that dementia brings to those who live with it - and their families. Plus, I know that nationwide there is a stoic, ill-supported brigade of unpaid carers - partners, children, grandchildren - whose devotion is saving our Government millions of pounds each year. Without these carers, the NHS would go under.

And throughout those agonising years I, a former Labour MP, watched this Government prevaricate, postulate and pennypinch, while denying to those who need it the care they deserve. Last week, Health Secretary Alan Johnson compounded the problem by unveiling a document which trumpeted its intention to install a 'dementia adviser' overseeing a network of 'memory clinics'.

What use is this to carers and sufferers? We do not need to be fobbed off with such patronising and insulting initiatives. We need money to fund research, help and remuneration for those selfless souls who daily sacrifice their own lives to look after their loved ones.

Unless those of us who have close experience of this wicked disease speak out, the Government will continue to ignore its duty. And the nation's silent army of carers will continue to be exploited. I'm fed up with platitudes and empty initiatives. I believe the Government and the NHS betrayed my mother and my mother-in-law.

On behalf of these two wonderful women, I now beg the Government to give fair recompense to those who care for relatives at home. It is a thankless, heartbreaking task, and it demands true recognition and proper financial remuneration.

Abridged

SOURCE:   The Daily Mail, UK

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A touching article. Please go to source for full-text. I believe that the same sort of thing is occurring around the world.  Unless the rest of us keep speaking out for the voiceless, the issues will be "swept under the carpet".

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Care Home Administrator Charged

BY PETER E. BORTNER
STAFF WRITER

February 18, 2009

ORWIGSBURG 

The former administrator of Pinebrook Personal Care Center is headed to Schuylkill County Court after waiving her right to a preliminary hearing Tuesday on charges she stole almost $17,000 from the facility and four residents.

Sharon L. Haley, 55, of 302 Millstone Drive, Mountville, formerly of Reading, left without saying anything after Magisterial District Judge James R. Ferrier bound over for court five counts each of theft, theft by deception and theft by failure to make required disposition. All charges are felonies.

Ferrier allowed Haley to remain free on $10,000 unsecured bail pending further court action.

Trooper First Class Denny Grimm of the state police Bureau of Criminal Investigation in Harrisburg charged Haley with taking the money in five stages between Jan. 1, 2006, and Aug. 21, 2007, while she was administrator of the center, 2 Woodbridge Road, Pinebrook, West Brunswick Township.

Those actions, according to police, included:

• Writing $8,950 worth of checks against the Pinebrook Resident Trust Fund bank account. Haley cashed those checks and kept the money for her own use, recording the checks either as void or written to a fictitious person or entity, according to police.

Assistant District Attorney A.J. Serina and Assistant Public Defender Christopher W. Hobbs, Haley’s lawyer, each declined to comment on the case.

Abridged

SOURCE:     The Republican Herald

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Battery Alleged in Abuse of Mother (CA. USA)

Battery alleged in abuse of mother

By Staff Reports

02/18/2009

WILLOWS — A 59-year-old Maryland woman has been arrested on suspicion of causing multiple injuries to her 93-year-old mother at her Willows home.

On Thursday a caretaker for the elderly woman called police to report a friend who takes care of the victim found her on the floor of her home suffering from multiple injuries.

Police responded and found the elderly woman sitting in a recliner. She was found to have injuries to her head, face, shoulders, knees and lower legs, and was transported by ambulance to Glenn Medical Center in Willows.

The woman's daughter, Susan Ivy, of Bel Air Ha, Md., was also found at the residence and taken into custody after questioning. She was booked into the Glenn County Jail in Willows on suspicion of elder physical abuse. She subsequently posted a bond on $35,000 bail and was released.

Adult Protective Services was notified and responded to Glenn Medical Center to open an investigation.

SOURCE:    

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Elder Abuse Network Offers Help (On. Canada)

Group educating public on how to recognize guises

By PEGGY ARMSTRONG,

LINDSAY POST REPORTER

February 18, 2009

KAWARTHA LAKES -Abuse of the elderly takes many guises, but Karen Anderson is determined to educate the public on how to recognize them and how to prevent physical, financial and emotional misuse.

Anderson is coordinator of the Haliburton Kawartha Lakes Elder Abuse Prevention Network. In her quest to protect some of the community's most vulnerable citizens, she has had a brochure printed that explains some of the forms that abuse can take and signs that a senior citizen may be experiencing it.

She presented the new brochure to the Committee Of the Whole (COW) last Tuesday and gave a presentation to councillors on the network's goals and accomplishments.

Anderson is taking "a two-pronged approach," she told The Lindsay Post prior to her presentation. "I have my five minutes with council," she said, to provide an overview of the network. In the fall she plans to launch the second prong, to go back to council and present what the network has accomplished and then lay out what financial assistance the network needs to remain viable.

To contact the Elder Abuse Prevention Network call 324-7323 or 1-800-461-0327. The website iswww.community-care.on.ca

Abridged

SOURCE:    The Linday Post

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