Merced Man Lived With Dead Uncle; Charged With Elder Abuse (CA. USA)

Merced man lived with dead uncle; charged with elder abuse

February 22, 201

By Corin Hoggard

 A Merced County man could face murder charges after sheriff's deputies found his uncle dead. A paper trail shows he spent the dead man's money for nearly a month.

Patrick Lara is jailed right now on charges of involuntary manslaughter and elder abuse. Detectives say he was in charge of caring for his 63-year-old uncle, Adrian Lugo. But when Lugo broke his arm, investigators say Lara left him to die on his bed, and then hatched a plan to profit from it.

Abridged
SOURCE:    ABCLocal
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Care Home Worker Honoured (UK)

21st February 2011

A CARING Redditch woman has been honoured for her work with Droitwich Spa’s elderly residents.

Bernie Simmonds travels from her Redditch home to work at St John’s Nursing Home, St Peter’s Walk, Droitwich.

Her kind efforts for residents at the care facility were recognised when she was awarded a prize at the regional Shaw Star Awards, an achievement that saw her come in the top three in the deputy manager category.

She was presented with a framed certificate, badge and cheque after coming ahead of other carers from 14 homes throughout the West Midlands.

The award ceremony took place at The Solihull Moors Football Club on February 3.

SOURCE:     The Redditch Advertiser, UK
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It is so refreshing to post such a news item. We often hear about outrages elder abuse in nursing homes; yet there are many, many care workers who are hardworking and caring.


I would like to acknowledge the great work done by many home-, family-, and nursing homes workers.


We must try to remember that the few 'bad apples' in the barrel do not infer that the rest are bad too.


............... Andrew




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Elder-abuse Charges Against Man's Wife Dropped (NC. USA)

Elder-abuse charges against man's wife dropped

Ruling does not equal vindication, prosecutor says

Feb. 21, 2011

WILMINGTON 

Prosecutors have dropped the criminal convictions against an 81-year-old woman for abusing her ailing, 83-year-old husband in 2009, citing errors in the prosecution of the case and "changed circumstances."

Shirley M. Wilson is now claiming vindication, saying not only have her convictions for elder abuse and other charges been dismissed, the charges themselves have been dropped, meaning there will be no retrial and no criminal record.

Deputy Attorney General Paul R. Wallace, however, said the result "should not be viewed as vindication."

Abridged
SOURCE:     Delaware Online
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Surge in Elder Abuse Prompts More Investigation, Awareness (HAWAII)

Surge in elder abuse prompts more investigation, awareness

By Rob Shikina

Feb 21, 2011

Honolulu Deputy Prosecutor Scott Spallina recalls a case about a man beating his ailing father whose diaper was heavily soiled about two years ago.

The father sustained a detached retina and died a month later of an unrelated heart attack.

Spallina said the son was thrust unprepared into the role of full-time caregiver and became part of the 60 percent of elder abusers in Hawaii who are related to their victims. The son was sentenced to five years' probation for assault.

"Elder abuse is happening in Hawaii," said Spallina, captain of the Elder Abuse Justice Unit in the city prosecutor's office. "Unfortunately, it's a lot of family members."

For the past two years, the prosecutor's office has seen increasing numbers of elder abuse cases. In 2008 -- when former Prosecutor Peter Carlisle created the elder abuse unit -- it had 37 cases; in 2009 it had 57; and last year it had 102. By the first half of February, the unit had 22 cases, putting it on track to double last year's caseload.

Experts say the increase is probably related to drugs, the bad economy and the growing senior population.

Abridged
SOURCE:    The Star Advertiser






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Children May Be Forced By Law to Care for Chinese Parents (CHINA)

Malaysia Sun

19th February, 2011 

China is said the be thinking of making it compulsory for people to visit elderly family members and not abandon them.

The law would allow parents to sue their adult children if they were not providing for them.

The China National Committee on Ageing has said sons and daughters will need to take responsibility for their parents and help financially. 

Because of China's one-child policy, which has been going for 30 years, the law could mean that a young married couple would need to look after four parents and eight grandparents.

By the year 2040 there will be 400 million Chinese over the age of 60.

Nursing home beds only accommodate a small proportion of the Chinese senior population.

SOURCE:   The Malaysian Sun
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Study Highlights Utah's Elder Abuse Problems (USA)

Study highlights Utah's elder abuse problems

By: The Associated Press

 02/20/11

A new state elder abuse study has found that Utah's seniors lose an average of $1 million weekly to thieves.

The study from the Utah Adult Protective Services found the majority of perpetrators are the children and grandchildren of the state's seniors, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

The report, which was based on 2009 data, found that thefts ranging from $35 to more than $745,000 resulted in overall costs of more than $51 million to seniors, taxpayers, businesses and the government.

It found some $30 million was taken from financial institutions, leaving Utah to pay an estimated $7.8 million to care for elders impoverished to the point that they turned to Medicaid for health care.

Financial theft is Utah's most common form of elder abuse, said Jilenne Gunther, the group's legal enforcement counsel, who reviewed 57 confirmed cases of elder financial exploitation for the report. She estimated that for every 10 actual incidents of abuse, only one was reported.

Abridged
SOURCE:      The Washington Examiner
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Widow Faces Abuse Charges in Elder Husband's Death (USA)

Widow faces abuse charges in elder husband's death

February 20, 2011

By SARAH BURGE
The Press-Enterprise

A 45-year-old woman who married a much older Temecula man has been charged with 17 felonies, including grand theft and elder abuse, after investigators say she drained her husband's bank accounts, took out a fraudulent life insurance policy on him and tormented him till his death last summer at the age of 74.

Authorities estimate that Shawna Verdugo stole and was given $500,000 belonging to her husband, Johannes "John" Holzel, court records say. Verdugo, of Oceanside, has pleaded not guilty. A hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence for her to stand trial was scheduled for April during a Friday hearing at the Southwest Justice Center in French Valley.

Abridged
SOURCE:       The Press-Enterprise
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Roswell Police Uncover Disturbing Case of Elder Abuse (USA)

Roswell police uncover disturbing case of elder abuse

02/18/2011

By: Joe Bartels, KOB Eyewitness News 4

Roswell police say they've uncovered one of the most disturbing cases of neglect and abuse they have ever seen.

Investigators say Tracy York, 37, and her brother Darrell Lawrence, 29, kept their mother in horrific conditions in a Roswell home for up to two years. Lawrence was arrested Friday morning. His sister Tracy remains on the run.

Earlier this month, Mary Ford, 58, was taken to the hospital.

Hospital staff called police due to Ford's condition.

Investigators say Ford was covered in human waste and had urine soaked bandages.

The bandages on her arms were on so long; her skin began to grow into them.

Abridged
SOURCE:     KOB.COM


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County Official: Elder Abuse is Underreported (USA)

Tulare County official: Elder abuse is underreported, could get worse

Feb. 19, 2011

Eighty-seven-year-old Kay has been financially taken advantage of and neglected for several years, she says. She says it's a consequence of getting older.

"My money disappears all the time, and I go to the bank and get some more," Kay said. "I guess it's all just a part of getting old. People lift your money."

The Times-Delta/Advance-Register is using only first names of elderly people mentioned in this story in order to protect their identities.

Kay has had money taken from her bank account twice and shown up at the Visalia Senior Center bleeding from an untreated injury because she doesn't have transportation to the doctor. In fact, Kay can't remember the last time she saw a physician about any ailment. Senior center staff members have tried to contact Adult Protective Services, but the agency has yet to help Kay, staff says.

A supervisor from Tulare County Adult Protective Services was unavailable for comment. However, Health and Human Services e-mailed a response to questions.

"The policy of Tulare County Adult Protective Services is to prevent and remedy the abuse, neglect or exploitation of elder and dependent adults who are unable to protect their own interests and who are at risk of harm," said HHSA spokeswoman Allison Lambert, by e-mail. "APS seeks to maintain the individual's safety whenever possible in his or her environment by strengthening his or her capacity for self-maintenance, through the direct provision of services, or by linking the individual to appropriate services."

The HHSA response did not include answers to questions about whether it provided assistance to Kay.

Abridged
SOURCE:      The Visalia Times Delta


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Elder Abuse On The Rise In Oklahoma (USA)

Elder Abuse On The Rise In Oklahoma

Feb 18, 2011

Elder abuse is a growing problem in Oklahoma. We now have more eighty and ninety year olds because of modern medicine.

But as they grow older, caretakers are abusing them, nearly as much as children are abused in our state. Newschannel 8's Kim Jackson says now there is an effort to educate families.

There's a lot of information on elder abuse. It can be financial, physical or even sexual. The suspects can be people you love, or perfect strangers.

Nate Waters is not a senior citizen, but he is disabled, and he's lived in three nursing homes.

"My mother's boyfriend broke my neck and basically left me paralyzed,"said Waters.

"He was nineteen years old then, back in 1997. Today, he's educating support workers about abuse and how he was treated at one point

"They kind of physically were a little rough with me and stuff like that and said crazy things to me," he explained.

Once,  he reported the abuse, only to have one caregiver tell him, stop being a snitch, he said.

"And told me don't ever tell on her employees. And I felt like wow I'm trapped. And that was a very scary feeling," he said.

That feeling and the abuse is compared to child abuse, even domestic violence.

"It starts with isolation, financial abuse, moves into physical and maybe even sexual and then the apologies," said Dr. Laura Dempsey Polan, of Life Senior Services.

She says make sure your loved one has someone who checks them, so they are not isolated from the outside world. The  best prevention, is to safeguard your own life, while you can.

"We can start right now to turn our health around if we have health issues. We can put our finances in place and get a will in place and do all those protections today," she said.

Waters is a professional speaker and entrepreneur. He's forgiven his mother and her now husband. And Nate has another goal, to walk again.

"I know I will, with faith and determination, I know I will get there.

Here's something to remember, the health department keeps a record of abusers. So before you hire someone to care for someone you love, do a background check.

SOURCE:    KTUL
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