Woman Allegedly Forged Elderly Woman's Checks, Gave Her Vicodin (CA. USA)

By Tonya Strickland

Feb. 11, 2010

A San Miguel woman was arrested Tuesday for allegedly forging checks totaling more than $12,000 and providing a 75-year-old woman with the prescription painkiller Vicodin, authorities said on Thursday.

San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's deputies arrested Jessica Anne Anderson, 29, and charged her with elder abuse, forgery and possession of a controlled substance for sale.

Anderson is reportedly the daughter of the woman’s caregiver. The names of the victim and the caregiver were not disclosed.

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SOURCE:    SanLiusObispo.com
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Seattle Times' 'Seniors for Sale' Finds Elder Abuse By Requesting Manual First (USA)

By Rosland Gammon

Feb 10, 2010

Michael J. Berens of The Seattle Times went inside the world of adult family homes to expose mistreatment and lax regulation. His “Seniors for Sale” series found that when people take seniors into their homes to earn money, “thousands of vulnerable adults have been exploited by profiteers or harmed by amateur caregivers.”

The online presentation has an effective, rotating selection of wrenching quotes, including:

·         “I didn’t complain early enough to save her.”

·         “Patients, in many instances, can be treated like a commodity.”

·         “She said, his bruises were consistent with abuse.”

For the stories, Michael created a database of enforcement actions at the state’s 2,843 adult family homes to determine where the violations occurred.

Today’s Tip: Before you seek specific information through a Freedom of Information Act request, request the organization’s manuals so you’ll know exactly what it tracks.

 “Step one is to understand the system,” he says. “You have to learn every piece of paper they generate.”

He says once you have the paper trail, you can find the sources. As indicated in the“About the series” information, Michael interviewed more than 250 people.

Michael is a projects reporter, but he says beat reporters can do parts of the package he produced. For instance, see whether your state relies on adult homes and how it regulates them. Another avenue to explore: organizations that bill themselves as referral agencies. Check to see how referrals are generated to adult family homes.

Tomorrow: Seattle Times reporter Michael J. Berens talks about how to produce compelling videos.

SOURCE:     Business Journalism.Org

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WNEM TV5 Investigates: Ripping Off The Elderly? (Mich. USA)

An Exclusive Look Into Elder Abuse Task Force

February 11, 2010

Genesee County’s elder abuse task force is credited with saving countless seniors who are abused and neglected every year.

WNEM TV5’s Julie Banovic was given exclusive access to the team -- as it cracked another case in Genesee County.

In 2006, Dr. Dorothy Mulkey, of Flushing, was diagnosed with dementia.

She told WNEM TV5 she trusted Andrea Neil, her former office manager, to be her caretaker.

Not having any children of her own with her husband having recently died, Mulkey depended on Andrea and her husband Steven just like they were family.

"Who would assume that someone with that many years of trust and devotion would turn like that on you,” said Diane Nims, Executive Director of the elder abuse task force.

The doctor paid the Niels to run errands, pick up groceries and even get prescriptions filled. But what Mulkey didn’t know was that the couple was over medicating her.

Authorities said she was drugged so badly she didn’t know her own name.

"It took 12 days to detox this doctor so we could get her back to where she had some recognition and some memory of who she was,” said Genesee County Sheriff Robert J. Pickell.

WNEM TV5 reported that Mulkey was only allowed out of her drugged state on days when she was asked to sign checks.

Authorities said Andrea and Steven tricked her into signing over $3 million.

"I was devastated really,” Mulkey said. "They had me so doped up that I did whatever she suggested. I think she would have probably murdered me in the end.”

The Niels were not shy about spending their newly found $3 million fortune neither.

Copyright 2010 by WNEM.COM.


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SOURCE:    WNEM.COM
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Prosecutor's Office Reviewing Case of Alleged Elder Abuse (WA. USA)

By Chris Henry

February 9, 2010

Allegations that employees of Kitsap Health & Rehabilitation Center took cell phone pictures of nude residents have been forwarded to the Kitsap County Prosecutor’s Office for review.

Administrators at the nursing home reported the alleged abuse to the Bremerton Police Department on Jan. 27. The three employees named in the report have been fired. The state’s Department of Social and Health Services and Department of Health are conducting their own investigations.

Kitsap County Prosecutor Russ Hauge said his department is reviewing the evidence to determine if criminal charges will be filed.

“We don’t know if we can prove a law violation. If we can, we will,” Hauge said.

In addition to the criminal code, state laws protect “vulnerable adults” in residential care centers from abuse, including sexual exploitation, said Gayle Helseth-Kenison, Kitsap County Regional Long-term Care Ombudsman. In a case like this, she said, DSHS investigates the facility to make sure appropriate steps were taken to address and remedy the alleged abuse. The Department of Health, responsible for licensing all medical professionals, conducts a review of the individuals named and has the authority to revoke their licenses.

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SOURCE:     KITSAP SUN

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Inheritance Levy To Fund Social Care Being Considered By Ministers (UK)

Proposals for a levy, thought to be £20,000, would be deducted from the estates of older people when they die

By Patrick Wintour and Randeep Ramesh

guardian.co.uk,

8 February 2010

Radical proposals for a £20,000 compulsory inheritance levy to help pay for Gordon Brown's social care plans may be endorsed by the government before the general election.

The health secretary, Andy Burnham, believes he may get the backing for a compulsory plan from Downing Street, but influential cabinet members are still agonising over whether to be explicit about it on the eve of the poll. They fear the proposal may prove to be too bold to sell to the electorate in the heated weeks before an election.

Some cabinet members close to Brown back the proposals, but believe the government may have cold feet, deferring a decision until after the election in the same way that politically difficult decisions on the future funding of higher education have been delayed until a post-election review.

One cabinet member accepted the decision that had to be made on social care was probably the most difficult the government had to make ahead of the election, including the budget.

The inheritance levy, thought to be £20,000, would be deducted from the estates of older people when they die, replacing a system that forces many pensioners to sell their family homes to fund nursing home bills. Burnham believes the lesson of Barack Obama's failure to win wider support for his healthcare reforms is that he tinkered around the edges, rather than being bold.

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SOURCE:    The Guardian, UK
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Tucson Woman Given 18.5 Years In Prison For Abuse of Elderly Man (AZ. USA)

Tucson Woman Given 18.5 Years in Prison for Abuse of Elderly Man

(Phoenix, Ariz. – Feb. 10, 2010) 

Attorney General Terry Goddard announced today that Linda Darlene Giles, 58, of Tucson, has been sentenced in Pima County Superior Court to 18.5 years in prison for financial abuse of a vulnerable adult and emotional abuse of a vulnerable adult. She must also pay $540,000 in restitution. 

In March 2009, Giles was sentenced to 10.5 years in prison for manslaughter in the death of James Carafas, who was 85 years old. The sentence for abuse will be served concurrently with the manslaughter sentence. 

According to investigators, Carafas had known Giles for approximately 35 years.  At the time his wife passed away in 2003, Carafas suffered from two types of cancer, as well as being both hearing and sight impaired.  Giles moved to Tucson in August 2005 to acquire training to be a nurse’s assistant.  However, she never completed her training. During the 15 months she lived with Carafas, Giles gained control over $3 million in real estate and more than $100,000 in cash belonging to Carafas.

This case was investigated by Pima County Sheriff’s Detective Daniel Preuss and prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General John Evans and Special Assistant Attorney General Ronda Lustman.  For additional information, contact Molly Edwards at (602) 542-8019.

SOURCE:   AG OFFICE, ARIZONA
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The Horrific World of Nursing Home Abuse

The Horrific World Of Nursing Home Abuse - What’s Really Happening and What You Can Do

 February 9th, 2010

 Author: Darrell Weaver

Most of us are naïve when it comes to the prospect of us growing older and needing care when we are older. We often need more care, but none of us ever dream that we will end up in a nursing home. However, when the time comes to decide, the decision is often in the hands of relatives rather than the hands of the individual entering care. We all think we will do what is right by our elderly relatives, but so many people unwittingly do just the opposite because nursing home abuse is so widespread that it is impossible to know beforehand exactly what you are getting your relative into. As a result, there may be a day when you need to call on an elder abuse lawyer for help.

Nursing home abuse is often quite unimaginable and the cases that get to court will almost always reveal details that you never want to imagine happening, let alone come to terms with the fact that they actually do. Nursing home abuse can be horrific but even the slightest incident can often send your elderly relatives spinning off into a world that they have no control over and make their lives hell. An elder abuse lawyer could look into the case you have and offer guidance as to how to proceed with it to get justice for your family member and peace of mind for yourself.

It can take many forms. It could be hateful words or snide comments. It could be rough handling. The food could be tampered with. There is any number of behavioural and physical signs of abuse that could be combined to make your relatives life a living hell. This may not even happen to your relative, but if it does, an elder abuse lawyer would be waiting to help you.

Author: Darrell Weaver is a elderly abuse & neglect related legal expert, to learn more, visit his elderly abuse & neglect injury related legal blog:http://nursinghomeneglect.blogspot.com

Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Darrell_Weaver


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SOURCE:    Best Article.Com
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Charges That Nursing Assistant Stole Pain Patches From Residents Of A Retirement Home (

By Jenna Portnoy

OF THE MORNING CALL

February 9, 2010

A nursing assistant fed her drug habit with used pain patches she peeled off of two female residents at a retirement home in Telford last month, a borough police lieutenant testified during a preliminary hearing Monday.

Andrea Markland, 26, of Quakertown was ordered to face trial in Bucks County Court on charges she stole Fentanyl patches prescribed to two women in their mid-80s, one of whom has since died. Markland, who is free on unsecured bail, did not speak during the 20-minute hearing before District Judge Charles Baum.

''To think what she did could have caused this woman pain in her last days' Telford police Lt. Randall Floyd said after the hearing.

He said Markland should not be eligible for a first-time offender program because of what he called the violent nature of the crime. Although the incident was not uncovered through the county's elder abuse task force, the county puts special focus on such crimes.

Copyright © 2010, The Morning Call

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SOURCE:     The Morning Call
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Elder Abuse Case Forces Two Arrests (FL. USA)

By ameliaprivateeye 

February 8, 2010

The Fernandina Beach Police Department is investigating an elderly abuse case connected with the death of Ms. Betty Johnson. The Fernandina Beach Fire Rescue was dispatched via 911 to an unresponsive ninety-four year old female at 1002 South 10th Street on Friday, February 5, 2010. Upon arrival fire department personnel found Ms. Johnson to be severely dehydrated and unresponsive. She was immediately transported to Baptist-Nassau Emergency Room for life saving treatment.

Upon arrival at Baptist-Nassau ER Ms. Johnson was found to be in an extremely poor state of health, her condition was listed as critical. She had numerous pressure sores across her body that were consistent with a person being in the same position for a long period of time. The police were advised that the injuries found on Ms. Johnson were consistent with severe neglect. At 8:50 PM Betty Johnson was pronounced dead.

Mrs. Johnson had been living with her Grandson, Giovan Johnson (thirty-three years of age), and his wife, Latasha Johnson (twenty-nine years of age) at 1002 South 10th Street since December 2009. They were considered Johnson’s caregivers for at least the past three or four months. Prior to living in Fernandina Beach she had been a resident of a nursing home in North Carolina.

Giovan Johnson and Latasha Johnson were arrested and charged with Elderly Abuse/Neglect and are being held on a $100,002.00 bond.

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SOURCE:    Search Amelia.Com
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Genesee County Could Front Money to Non-Profit Elder Abuse Company For Payroll (NY. USA)

Genesee County could front money to nonprofit elder abuse company for payroll

By Ron Fonger | Flint Journal

February 08, 2010

The private nonprofit company that runs county Sheriff Robert Pickell's Elder Abuse and Exploitation Prevention program will apparently be fronted money for payroll and other expenses by the county taxpayers.

The county Board of Commissioners has tentatively agreed to provide a two-month cash advance to Integrated Community Services to help the organization make payroll.

Pickell and ICS Executive Director Diane Nims said in a memorandum to commissioners that without the advance, the company is otherwise providing services several weeks in advance of being reimbursed with money from the countywide senior citizen services property tax.

"Because of the (small) size of this organization and due to it having few other funding sources, cash flow for this organization has become critical," the memo from Pickell and Nims said.

Commissioners approved a cash advance of $34,500 to ICS last week during a committee meeting, but members are not scheduled to give the cash advance final approval at their meeting on Feb. 23.

Some commissioners asked Pickell questions about the cash advance but it was approved unanimously in the committee meeting.

SOURCE:    MLIVE.COM

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