Man accused of stomping mother on his way to trial in superior court
Jan. 6, 2009
A man accused of stomping his mother and leaving her on the floor of her home with a broken foot and ankle will face a superior court judge for his alleged crime.
January 7, 2009
Elder Abuse: Man Accused of Stomping Mother to Face Superior Court (GA. USA)
Elder Abuse: Unit Created to Pursue Cases (MI. USA)
'Is there anything worse than stealing Grandma's money?'
As baby boomers age,
The names and the details change, but the heartache remains when a son, daughter or other family member financially exploits, physically abuses or neglects an elderly or otherwise vulnerable relative.
Oftentimes, the victim is too ashamed to report the crime. Sometimes the victim is too incapacitated to report it.
As the population ages, an explosion of such cases is likely, Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner said Tuesday in announcing the creation of an elder abuse unit to prosecute crimes against people who are victimized because of their age, vulnerabilities or family relationships.
Some recent examples:
• Lorraine Clark is legally blind and had her eldest son's name put on her checks so he could pay her bills. She didn't learn that Scott Clark was using her money for other things until her phone was disconnected, her medical insurance canceled and her Meals on Wheels stopped coming. Scott Clark, 53, is scheduled to be sentenced for felony theft Jan. 14. He must pay restitution of more than $45,000.
• Lisa Allred's mother gave her power of attorney to pay her nursing home bills after a series of strokes in 2007. Instead, Allred, 48, is accused of bilking her mother of almost $22,000. Her case is pending in Ramsey County District Court.
Grocery Clerk Accused of Stealing Wallets (CA. USA)
By Richard Brooks
Geneva Macon was booked Saturday into Victor Valley Jail for investigation of elder abuse, theft by someone with a prior conviction for theft, and extortion. Detectives say they may add additional charges if it turns out that any of the victim's credit and debit cards have been used as a result of the thefts.
Financial Elder Abuse: Couple Pleads Guilty (CA. USA)
COUPLE PLEADS GUILTY IN CONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD ELDERLY VICTIM
Crime Blotter
January 04, 2009
While the restitution amount will not be definitely established until the defendants are sentenced, the United States Attorney´s Office anticipates seeking a restitution order in excess of $400,000. The remaining co-defendant, Julie Belisle, age 35, is currently scheduled for trial June 1, 2009.
Elder Care: Nursing Home Patient Evicted, Left At Hospital (HI. USA)
Nursing home patient evicted, left at hospital
Florence Ko, 81, says staff wheeled her out without explanation
By Rob Perez
Advertiser Staff Writer
Ko told The Advertiser she had no idea what was happening and where she would be staying when she was taken from Nu'uanu Hale, where she had lived since July 2007, to Straub's emergency room a week before Christmas, wearing only a hospital gown.
"I wish someone (at the nursing home) had the courage to tell me what was going on," Ko said in a brief interview last week from her bed at the '
When she was left at Straub, Ko had no personal belongings except her purse, which contained less than $3 and her cell phone — but not the charger, according to members of her church who have been helping her.
At least one state agency investigated the circumstances surrounding Ko's eviction and determined no elder abuse occurred because she was dropped off at a safe place, a hospital. But the Department of Human Services, the agency that investigates elder abuse, called Nu'uanu Hale's actions related to the drop-off inappropriate and was referring the matter to the Department of Health, which licenses
Nu'uanu Hale was one of six
Abridged
SOURCE: The Honolulu Advertiser
Senior Issues: Health Risk for Over-Medicated Elderly (Australia)
Health risk for over-medicated elderly
· Julie Robotham
· January 5, 2009
ELDERLY people receive no benefit from long-term use of many common medicines, and their health may even improve if they stop taking them, an Australian study has found.
Ceasing to take medicines such as sleeping pills and antidepressants improved people's mental abilities and reduced the likelihood of serious falls, according to the analysis by David Le Couteur, director of the Centre for Education and Research on Ageing at the
In up to 85 per cent of people aged 65 or older, blood pressure was stable for six months to five years after withdrawal of blood pressure medicines, without any increase in the death rate.
Professor Le Couteur said his research was "in some ways a politically motivated exercise" intended to highlight the gulf between the results of drug company-sponsored trials and how elderly people actually fared on the same drugs.
"There's lots of money to show medicines work and very little money to show they don't," said Professor Le Couteur, who works as a geriatrician at
Evidence of the effects of taking multiple drugs was "almost non-existent", he said.
Bad reactions to medication were responsible for up to one-third of hospital admissions of older patients.
Among people 65 and older, 40 per cent were taking five or more medicines.
January 6, 2009
Elder Abuse: Carehome Guilty of Failing Dying Man (Scotland)
By Marion Scott
Exclusive Staff Snub Complaints As Oap Lies In Agony
A GREAT-GRANDAD died in agony after suffering a shocking catalogue of neglect at a nursing home.
William Taylor, 79, was left wracked with pain from an infected bedsore after carers "ran out" of paracetamol.
Bosses ignored his relatives' complaints about treatment until he was at death's door.
Even then it took a doctor to step in and send him to hospital.
A hard-hitting Care Commission report outlined 15 failures at
Daughter Moira Begg, 50, of Alloa, said: "On the day dad was removed from the home, I saw the GP writing a note saying dad would die if he was left at Beechwood.
"They repeatedly failed to treat him properly or carry out simple tests doctors had asked them to.
Financial Elder Abuse: You Never Suspect Your Sibling (CA. USA)
You Never Suspect Your Siblings of Financial Elder Abuse
January 4, 2009.
By Heidi Turner
Abridged
SOURCE: Lawyers and Settlements
By: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
charges of elder abuse and family violence aggravated battery. A probation revocation warrant was issued against
SOURCE: My Fox Atlanta
January 4, 2009
Elder Abuse: Woman Cheated Out of $300,00 (Ca. USA)
Elderly woman cheated out of $300,000; suspect sought
California police looking for Hazel Whitt Mitchell, who may live in metro Atlanta
The
Friday, January 02, 2009
Police in
Hazel Whitt Mitchell, 73, is wanted on a charge of financial elder abuse.
She is accused of scamming another woman, now 93, out of more than $300,000 between 1994 and 2007, said
