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Issues for Elders: Guardianship should only be sought as a last resort

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Jill Burzynski
Guardianship is a process whereby a person is deemed legally incapacitated to make certain or all decisions and another person or persons is appointed to make decisions on the legally incapacitated person’s behalf.

Many people are actually incapacitated and unable to make their own decisions, but never have to go through the guardianship process. Having appropriate legal documents in place avoid many guardianships. These legal documents may include trusts, durable powers of attorney and designations of health care surrogate. Most types of trusts do the best job of guardianship avoidance because they take the grantor out of harm’s way when judgment is lacking.

While durable powers of attorney are helpful, they give the agent concurrent authority, leaving the incapacitated person vulnerable both to exploitation and his or her own poor judgment. Even if no legal documents exist and a person is incapable of understanding and thus executing documents, a careful review of the way assets are titled may prove that guardianship may not be necessary.

Some guardianships are necessary, even when legal documents exist, when the incapacitated person rejects efforts to provide assistance and is neglecting his or her own care. The disease of dementia can slowly rob a person of the judgment necessary to live independently.

If discussions about alternative living situations are delayed until the judgment is completely lacking, the incapacitated person cannot take part in decisions about care when care is needed.

Assistance to prevent self-neglect include several options, but are largely driven by finances and the ability for family to assist. Family members may be willing to provide help, but the elder may not want this type of help because he or she may not wish to burden the family with that responsibility. Other times family may not be able to provide the assistance needed due to jobs or other family demands but the elder may have assumed that family would provide all needed care.

Home care by an outside agency can certainly prevent self-neglect but extensive home care is an expensive proposition. Some families try to cut that cost by hiring individuals rather than agencies, but this decision carries a risk of exploitation, unrecoverable theft and tax risks. Other options include care in an assisted living community or (when needed) memory care. An ongoing discussion about alternatives to living alone while a dementia process is in the early stages may prevent a guardianship necessary due to self-neglect.

Guardianships are sometimes necessary because of exploitation or scams. If a senior has named a fiduciary who is not acting in his best interest, a guardianship can rectify the situation. However, guardianship should not be used just because one of the children disagrees with the choice of fiduciary that the senior made. Seniors are often targeted by sweepstakes and scams. Seniors who have financial worries are particularly vulnerable to scams. When efforts to dissuade further participation in scams fails, a guardianship can stop the abuse.

The process of guardianship can be hard on the senior as well as the family. The court appoints an attorney to represent the alleged incapacitated person as well as an examining committee. The committee visits with the alleged incapacitated person and issues a report. The attorney explains the process to the alleged incapacitated person (to the extent possible) and represents the incapacitated person at a hearing. The process is expensive. After the adjudication of incapacity, the guardian has ongoing court responsibilities and is limited in the actions that can be taken without a court order.

Guardianships are absolutely necessary in situations where no alternatives exist to prevent exploitation or neglect. However, planning early in the aging process can be invaluable in avoiding the hardship of a guardianship.

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Issues for Elders: Guardianship should only be sought as a last resort

Franklin Lakes sued over "arbitrary, capricious" denial of senior home application

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Architect Steven Ruiz
FRANKLIN LAKES — The developer that had hoped to build an assisted care facility in the borough is suing the zoning board for what it claims was the "arbitrary, capricious" denial of its application.

Sunrise Development, Inc., is also claiming that the board failed to formalize its denial of the application within the mandated 45-day period. The board voted 4-3 on June 1 to deny the application.

"We believe there remains a large unmet need for high-quality senior care in Franklin Lakes and appreciate the public and board of adjustment’s feedback throughout this process, which we have incorporated into our designs," said Jerry Liang, senior vice president of investments and development for Sunrise. "We look forward to moving closer to our goal of providing local families this need for assisted living and memory care support services."





Calls to borough attorney Robert Davies and zoning board chairman Robert Bavagnoli were not returned.

Franklin Lakes' zoning board held six hearings on Sunrise's proposal to construct a two-story, 88-unit complex on 4.6 acres at the corner of Franklin and Shirley avenues. The proposed 73,207-square-foot structure was to be built on four combined single-family lots, excluding a 1.3-acre wetlands buffer.

A use variance was required because the properties were in a residential zone where senior facilities are not allowed. The developer claimed that another borough property, which was zoned for senior facilities, was unsuitable because of its dimensions and terrain.

In response to concerns that the building façade facing Shirley Avenue would overwhelm the residential neighborhood, Sunrise had provided an alternative design that reduced the frontage along that street.

But residents attending the hearings still objected to the application, questioning the adequacy of on-site parking for staff and visitors, and the ability of management to control illegal and on-street parking they said they have photographed at other Sunrise facilities.

Residents also challenged the need for the facility, estimating there were 16 senior facilities within a 10-mile radius. Sunrise, however, presented testimony that customers preferred placing their relatives no more than six miles away on average, and that there were no such facilities in the borough. 

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Franklin Lakes sued over "arbitrary, capricious" denial of senior home application

Fatally Flawed Justice System: The Monopoly of the Corporate BAR Associations

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“There is absolutely nothing in the Constitution for the United States authorizing, or otherwise directing the creation of these self protecting unions that have monopolized our judicial system at every level and use that monopoly to profit at the public’s expense. And, there is nothing authorizing the incorporation of these specialized unions or of the Supreme Court itself. Yet here we are in the grips of these corporate entities who have monopolized the very judicial system meant to protect America from just such things.”
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by  Marti Oakley 

In every state and on the Federal level, the BAR Associations have established a monopoly on our courts and our so-called judicial system. The existing Sherman Act: the Clayton Act and FTC Act only become active when the monopolized systems that have been established harm consumers. I can think of no other more harmful monopoly to the American public overall, than what passes for the judicial system in America and its associated BAR unions that not ony control and own our courts, but also profit mightily from doing so. The law is what they say it is regardless of what the law might actually be.

The Sherman Act outlaws “every contract, combination, or conspiracy in restraint of trade,” and any “monopolization, attempted monopolization, or conspiracy or combination to monopolize.” Long ago, the Supreme Court decided that the Sherman Act does not prohibit every restraint of trade, only those that are unreasonable. Obviously, the Supreme Court has decided that the monopolies that exist in our courts are not unreasonable. Especially since they too, participate in that monopoly. 

Q: Do you believe the monopolies on our courts at every level via so-called BAR Associations are unreasonable?

When individuals go to all the expense and time of acquiring a degree in law, why should they then be required to pass some contrived test, many times at great expense, to acquire a union card (The BARS are UNIONS) permitting them to work in the field they trained in or to practice their trade in any court room in this country? No union card? No access to the courts. Didn’t pay your BAR union dues for access to the courts they monopolize? Too bad for you!

Even the Supreme Court of the United States has established itself as its own BAR. To be heard in this highly politicized “court”, you must be a member in good standing for four years in another BAR union before you can apply to appear in their closed union shop called the Supreme Court.

Why Is The United States Supreme Court Listed as a Private 

Corporation On DUN & BRADSTREET? 




From: John-Henry Hill Law blog

Not only is the United States a corporation, but the “Judicial Branch of US Govt” is also a Delaware Corporation (Delaware SoS file number: 3383789), listed in Dun & Bradstreet: 

The following is the DUNS number for JUDICIAL BRANCH OF US GOV: DUNS number: 956858625”, as well.

The “Judicial Branch of US Govt” (corporation) includes: “U.S. GOV’T LAW COURT ADMIN SUPREME & U.S. DISTRICT, APPELLATE, VETERANS PROBATE, BANKRUPTCY, STATE(S) COURTS, INC.”
 
So our courts from the Supreme Court down to state courts are corporate “policy” (as in police) courts.” 

About the Court https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/about.aspx

“EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW” – These words, written above the main entrance to the Supreme Court Building, express the ultimate responsibility of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Court is the highest tribunal in the Nation for all cases and controversies arising under the Constitution or the laws of the United States. As the final arbiter of the law, the Court is charged with ensuring the American people the promise of equal justice under law and, thereby, also functions as guardian and interpreter of the Constitution.

Equal Justice Under the Law? Really?

R.I.P. Pro Se Litigants Before the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has finally revised its rules to prevent a non-lawyer from arguing before the Court.

When the Supreme Court issued its new rules for the Court in July of 2013, it curiously included rule 28.8. The move by the Court merely codified its standard practice of denying requests by non-lawyers ( no BAR union member) to argue their cases. In fact, the last time a non-lawyer managed to get in front of the Court was in 1978

Antitrust law only springs into action against a monopoly when it destroys the ability of another company to enter the market and compete. But! Since all courts and BAR Associations operate as corporations, does this not make them businesses operated with one fiduciary duty? That duty is to make a profit. 

Q: Does it not also make them invested competitors against the pro se litigant?

The key question, of course, is whether a particular monopoly is harming consumers – or merely harming its competitors for the benefit of those consumers.

Q: Who would be the competitors these closed union shops are competing with?

A: The pro se litigants who have realized that the thousands of dollars demanded for representation will likely produce few results. Because of this, they have chosen to learn the law and represent themselves.
 
The answer isn’t as simple as “big equals bad”, or “competitor harm equals consumer harm.” Instead, courts must rely on complex economic analysis to determine whether consumers, not just competitors, have suffered harm.”

No they do not. They simply have to rely on the Constitution and the laws that are in compliance with it. But, as these “courts” have decided unilaterally that the Constitution applies only if and when it is to their benefit, or one of their corporate contractors, they have lost any relevance or reasonable excuse for their continued existence.

The Constitution provides no provision for the courts to declare themselves immune from prosecution for wrong doing or for their obvious pandering to their own members of their specific union.. Neither does it make any provision for the establishment of these unions or the monopolies that have resulted in what are supposed to be the people’s courts of law. 

If you or I cannot claim “ignorance of the law”…why is a judge or attorney allowed to? Aren’t they supposed to be experts in the law? Supposedly, this is the reason they voted to give themselves immunity. Otherwise they might be afraid to hand down certain rulings….like those where they ignored the law or where they knowingly violated the very principles that put them on that bench.

Practicing Law without a license

The Constitution does not say that we need to have a license to access the law. That is a self-protective declaration used to keep non-union members out of the courts. What it does say is that we are allowed to have representation i.e., someone who acts on our behalf. Not a word is said about hiring a BAR union member who will charge you unimaginable fees just to gain access to that court.

In Summary

We need to end the BAR Associations and return the law and the access to the courts to the people. No one should be forced to pay exorbitant fees to closed union BAR members to access the courts. What is the first question many judges ask before any court begins proceedings? “Has your attorney been paid?”. And that would concern that judge for what reason? 

Neither does any judge have the authority to order anyone to “hire an attorney”. Yet it happens everyday in court rooms across America.  (Click to continue)

Full Article & Source:
Fatally Flawed Justice System: The Monopoly of the Corporate BAR Associations

Daughter of Holocaust Survivor Al Katz Asks for Help

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Al Katz, a Holocaust survivor now deceased, was a snowbird from Indiana who went to Florida on year and he always did -- only this time he never came home. On his profile on NASGA's Victims page, his daughter, Beverly Newman, stated,

Al Katz speaking to his guardian
"In Florida State guardianship, Dad was locked up, at 89 years old, in the dismal, isolated basement of a metropolitan hospital, with a no-contact order, separating him for weeks from his family and friends. He relived the Holocaust here in Manatee Memorial Hospital, with fierce, penetrating fears of abandonment and confinement, his worst fears come true. I, his daughter, just outside the thick metal doors, was ordered to leave the premises by the police guarding the poor old man from the touch he needed for comfort.

Three weeks behind locked electronic, guarded doors, my Father relived, flashbacked to the Holocaust, when his adored parents and baby brother were murdered in mass killings of Jews. He could not help his own cherished family, and I could not help him 70 years later."

Al Katz passed in 2009, but his daughter now living in Florida, is still in litigation and the case is not settled.  Beverly states, "they have said they will have me arrested here in Florida and shipped back to Indiana like a criminal, which is likely to cost me my life."  She also states she is being retaliated against, intimidated, and the truth is being obscured.

Beverly asks for both help and prayers.  And she asks that as many people as possible share her plea for help so hopefully an interested investigative reporter will step up and bring sunshine on her case.  Beverly can be reached at HelpElders@gmail.com.

See Also:
NASGA:  Al Katz, IN/FL Victim

Aug. 1: Greitens' Budget Cuts Hit Missouri Nursing Homes

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Click to Watch Video
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. –- Gov. Eric Greitens’ budget cuts take effect in Springfield nursing homes Tuesday, Aug. 1. The $251 million cut to Missouri’s budget translates to half a million dollars gone at just one of Springfield’s many nursing homes.

Keith Steenbergen, the administrator for Glendale Gardens Nursing and Rehab, expects to make tough budget calls day by day, with each harder than the previous.

"Today starts a very difficult period for our industry,” Steenbergen said.

It’s the day Gov. Greitens' budget cuts to Medicaid reimbursement take effect in Springfield, and all across the state. The building received a 3.5 percent cut to Medicaid reimbursement, which amounts to $5.37 gone per resident on Medicaid per day.

"It adds up pretty quick, that's anyone who receives Medicaid funds,” he said. “So for our facility itself, over a year, it's getting close to half a million dollars."

Most administrators, like Paige Wheeler at Life Care Services, agree that nurses should be the last to go.

"We have to try to look at what we can do to not compromise quality of care when our reimbursement rates are consistently less,” Wheeler said.

Steenbergen says it could happen.

"Unfortunately if it continues like it’s going right now, nursing will be affected as well,” he said.

Residents might also have to go. Along with the budget cuts come a harsher point system to determine who’s eligible for Medicaid. The lower your number, the healthier you are.

"Until now, residents needed a 21 on the scale to be admitted into a skilled nursing facility and receive Medicaid services in Missouri. Starting Tuesday, they'll have to be a 24 to be eligible, and in some cases as high as a 27.

"A 21, truly, in our scope, is someone who's needing 24-hour care,” Steenbergen said.

No residents should lose Medicaid services Tuesday, even with a score of 21. That would potentially happen the next time they’re assessed.

"Generally those assessments, I believe, take place on a six month basis,” Wheeler said.

For now, homes will have to choose what they and their residents can live without.

“Administrators are responsible for that,” Steenbergen said.

The Missouri legislature will be back in session in September to potentially override or veto the legislation. Steenbergen told KOLR10 he’s staying in touch with his state representative until then.

Full Article & Source:
Aug. 1: Greitens' Budget Cuts Hit Missouri Nursing Homes

No Spouse, No Kids, No Caregiver: How to Prepare to Age Alone

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When Carol Marak was in her 30s, she asked herself whose life she wanted: her brother's – the life of a successful and well-traveled businessman – or his wife's – the life of a woman whose career better accommodated raising three children.

The answer was a no-brainer: "My brother was in a position I wanted," says Marak, now a 64-year-old editor at SeniorCare.com who lives in Waco, Texas. Although she had been married and divorced earlier in life, at that point she had no kids and "made a very conscious decision" to keep it that way, she says.

Plenty of Marak's peers did the same thing. According to a 2012 study in The Gerontologist, about one-third of 45- to 63-year-olds are single, most of whom never married or are divorced. That's a whopping 50 percent increase since 1980, the study found. What's more, about 15 percent of 40- to 44-year-old women had no children in 2012 – up from about 10 percent in 1980, U.S. Census data shows. "My career was No. 1 in my life," says Marak, who worked in the technology industry for years.

But today, Marak and her single, childless contemporaries are facing a repercussion of their decision that never crossed their minds as 30-somethings: "How in the world will we take care of ourselves?" she asks.

Dr. Maria Torroella Carney, chief of geriatrics and palliative medicine at North Shore-LIJ Health System in New York, is asking the same thing. In research presented this year at The American Geriatric Society's annual meeting, Carney and her colleagues found that nearly one-quarter of Americans over age 65 are or may become physically or socially isolated and lack someone like a family member to care for them. Carney calls them "elder orphans."

"The risk of potentially finding yourself without a support system – because the majority of care provided as we get older is provided by family – may be increasing," she says.

The consequences are profound. According to Carney's work, older adults who consider themselves lonely are more likely to have trouble completing daily tasks, experience cognitive decline, develop coronary heart disease and even die. Those who are socially isolated are also at risk for medical complications, mental illness, mobility issues and health care access problems.

"You could be at a hospital setting at a time of crisis and could delay your treatment or care, and your wishes may not be respected [if you can't communicate them]," says Carney, also an associate professor at Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine.

Take "Mr. HB," a 76-year-old New York man described in Carney's research as "a prototypical elder orphan." After attempting suicide, he arrived at a hospital with cuts on his wrist, bed sores, dehydration, malnutrition and depression. He lived alone and hadn't been in contact with any relatives in over a year. His treatment was complicated, the researchers report, in part because he was too delirious to make clear decisions or understand his options. He wound up at a nursing facility with plans to eventually be placed in long-term care.

But growing older without kids or a partner doesn't mean you're doomed – just as aging with kids and a partner doesn't mean all's clear. "We're all at risk for becoming isolated and becoming elder orphans," Carney says. You could outlive your spouse or even your children, find yourself living far from your family or wind up in the caretaker role yourself if a family member gets sick. Keep in mind that 69 percent of Americans will need long-term care, even though only 37 percent think they will, according to SeniorCare.com.

Plus, there's no way around the natural physical and mental declines that come with age. "Everybody has to prepare to live as independently as possible," Carney says. Here's how:

1. Speak up. 

Marak wishes she had talked more with her friends and colleagues about her decision not to become a mom early on. That may have given her a jump-start on anticipating various problems and developing solutions to growing older while childless. She advises younger generations to  discuss their options openly with friends – married and single, men and women – before making a firm decision.

"We discuss our psychological issues with professionals. We discuss our money strategies with financial experts," Marak says. "Why not talk openly about family concerns and what it means to have or not have children? So many of us go into it with blinders on." 

2. Act early. 

How early you start planning for your future health depends partly on your current condition – and your genes, says Bert Rahl, director of mental health services at the Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging. "If your ancestry is that people die early, you have to plan sooner and faster," he says.

But whether you come from a family of supercentenarians or people who have shorter life spans, it's never too soon to save for long-term care, whether it's by investing in a home, putting aside a stash for medical emergencies or "whatever you can do to have a nest egg," Marak says. "Life is serious, especially when you get old. Don't get to [a point] when you're 60 and now you're having to scramble to catch up."

Still not motivated? "Everybody wants some control in [their] life," Rahl says. "If you don't plan, what you're choosing to do is cede that control to somebody else – and the likelihood that they're going to have your best interests at heart is a losing proposition."

3. Make new friends and keep the old.

Your social connections can help with practical health care needs, like driving you to the doctor when you're unable. But they also do something powerful: keep you alive, research suggests. In a 2012 study of over 2,100 adults age 50 and older, researchers found that the loneliest older adults were nearly twice as likely to die within six years than the least lonely – regardless of their health behaviors or social status.

Connections can also help ward off depression, which affects nearly 20 percent of the 65-and-older population, according the National Alliance on Mental Illness. "One of the things that keeps people from being depressed is to be connected," Rahl says. "The more social activities you have, the more friends, the more things you can do to keep your body and mind active – that's the best protection you have against mental illness."

4. Appoint a proxy. 

Who is your most trusted friend or relative? "Identify somebody to help you if you're in a time of crisis, and revisit that periodically over your life," Carney suggests. Make sure that person knows your Social Security number, where you keep your insurance card, which medications you take – "the whole list of things somebody needs to know if they're going to help you," advises Dr. Robert Kane, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center on Aging.

Before you start losing any cognitive capacities, consider designating that person as your durable power of attorney for health care, or the person who makes health care decisions for you when you're no longer able.

If no one comes to mind, hire an attorney who specializes in elder care law by asking around for recommendations or searching online for highly rated professionals. Unlike your friends, they have a license to defend and are well-versed in elder care issues. Most of the time, Rahl's found, "they're trustworthy and will do a good job for you."

5. Consider moving.

Marak is on a mission: "to create my life where I'm not transportation-dependent," she says. She's looking to move to a more walkable city, perhaps a college town where she's surrounded by young people and can stay engaged with activities like mentoring. She also hopes her future community is filled with other like-minded older adults who can look out for one another. "I want to … set up my life where I'm not living alone and isolated," she says.

Adjusting your living situation so that you can stay connected to others and get to, say, the grocery store or doctor's office is the right idea, says Carney, who cares for a group of nuns who live communally and has seen other adults create communities that act like "surrogate families," she says.
"Think: Where do you want to live? What's most easy? How do you access things? How do you have a support system?"

6. Live well.

Marak is lucky: She's always loved eating healthy foods and walking – two ways to stay as healthy as possible at all ages. "Some of the foods that we eat are really, really bad for the body," she says. "That's one of the major causes of chronic conditions – and not exercising."

Keeping your brain sharp is also critical if you want to be able to make informed decisions about your health care, Rahl says. He suggests doing activities that challenge you – math problems if numbers trip you up, or crossword puzzles if words aren't your forte. "The old adage, 'If you don't use it, you lose it,' is 100 percent correct," he says.

Full Article & Source:
No Spouse, No Kids, No Caregiver: How to Prepare to Age Alone

Man with Alzheimer's on a mission to save his music

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PORTLAND, Ore. -- To welcome us to Portland, Oregon, 67-year-old Steve Goodwin would like to play one of his songs for you.

You have no idea how much he would like to play one of his songs for you.

"It made me almost hate the piano. But then I realized it's not the piano's fault, it's this thing that's going on in my brain," he said.

Three years ago, Steve was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. He had to give up his job as a software designer, but his wife Joni says the cruelest part is the toll it's taking on the music he composed.
hartman-otr-saving-music-0804-transfer-frame-421.jpg
Steve trying to remember songs at the piano
CBS News
"Losing the songs would be like losing him," she said.

Steve and Joni have been married 47 years, and along the way, Steve composed more than two dozen songs, mostly for her. He played them daily, and they became the soundtrack of their lives.

Joni Goodwin
Unfortunately, he never wrote down most of them. So when his memory started failing -- and the songs started fading -- there was no way to get them back. Until a family friend, a professional pianist, offered to launch a rescue mission.

And so, for the past two years, Naomi Laviolette has been reconstructing his compositions note by note.

"I said if he can at least play through it, even in pieces, I can learn it," Naomi said.

And of course they're recording the songs, never to be lost again.

"I realized there was a part of him that wasn't going to fade away," Joni said.
But this may be the best part: With Naomi's help, Steve was able to write a new song.

Although he forgets entire conversations, and can no longer add even single-digit numbers, somehow his mind dreamed up this.

Alzheimer's steals a lot, but today we score one for the beauty left behind.

Full Article & Source:
Man with Alzheimer's on a mission to save his music

Battling Dementia: A Mother and Son’s Incredible Journey

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You can still catch a few glimpses of the old Molly Daley, from before the dementia diagnosis two years ago, when she laughs for no reason, when she hugs her son and tells him she loves him, or when she pretends to box with her youngest grandson, wearing pink gloves and a padded helmet.

That’s the Molly who enjoyed drinking a cold beer with her dinner, going on road trips, and lending a hand to her friends and neighbors.

But that Molly is now elusive, more often replaced by a vacant gaze hiding the suffering as the disease slowly takes over her brain.

Image: Molly and Joey Daley at Christmas in 1988

Molly and Joey Daley at Christmas in 1988. Courtesy Joey Daley
"That look of confusion, where she’s trying to process what’s going on, it’s just like a blank stare and that gets worse over time," her son, Joey Daley, told NBC News. "It’s like, just a little bit, dementia has taken a little bit more of her away."

Such is the agonizing nature of what's called "Lewy body dementia," which Joey Daley began chronicling in January through a painfully honest YouTube series centered on his mom.

Molly, 66, was diagnosed in 2015, and Daley found himself yearning for more information from other caregivers like him about what to expect as the disease worsened.

When he found resources lacking, he decided to put the spotlight on Molly and their own family’s struggle — reaching the hearts of millions who have watched the videos around the world in the process.

“Before these videos, you couldn’t explain it to people,” Daley said, adding that he couldn’t watch his mother deteriorating without giving the ordeal some purpose.

Now, after the ongoing series sprouted a grassroots network of caregivers and supporters called Molly’s Movement, Daley, 46, said the videos have been the most rewarding thing he’s ever done.

"I had no idea it would touch that many people," he said.

Dementia with Lewy bodies is the second most common form of the disease in older adults after Alzheimer’s, affecting more than 1.4 million Americans. Abnormal clumps of a protein building up in brain cells cause the disease, which is characterized by a gradual loss of cognitive functions.

Patients experience visual hallucinations, REM disorders that cause them to physically act out dreams, and tremors like those in Parkinson’s disease. But unlike Parkinson’s, Lewy body dementia affects wider swaths of the brain, interfering with a person’s everyday life and their ability to carry out typical activities or solve problems.

About three years ago, basic tasks like paying bills, driving a car or taking medication became challenges for Molly, who at the time was living alone in Columbus, Ohio. Then, after an infection landed her in the hospital, her children stepped in. She now lives closer to her family in a nursing home in nearby Dublin, where her son and daughter visit on alternate days, taking her out for shopping trips, the occasional pedicure or haircut, and family dinners.

Image: Dementia

Daley sits with his mother at his home in Dublin, Ohio. Maddie McGarvey / for NBC News
Daley never knows what state of mind his mom will be in on each visit. Sometimes she’ll welcome him with a smile and small talk. Then there was the time he watched her using one toothbrush to brush another, having seemingly forgotten how to brush her teeth. Or the time she kept asking if the shower was a way out of the room.

But most often, he’ll find her crying, distraught and shaken up by a bad dream she is convinced actually occurred in real life, as she struggles to find the words to explain what she thinks is wrong.

"Dementia’s like an onion. You peel off the layers of the memory on the outer layers until you get to the core, where you’re just a child again," Daley said. "It’s suffering to death."

There is currently no way to prevent dementia or stop its advance. There is no "cure." And the only way to even get a definite diagnosis is through autopsy after a patient's death.

About one-third of all Medicare beneficiaries who die in a given year have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, according to 2014 Medicare claims data analyzed by the Alzheimer’s Association. And data from the Lewy Body Dementia Association suggest that the disease may account for up to 25 percent of cases of dementia.

"[Lewy body dementia] is probably the most common disease you’ve never heard of," said Dr. James Galvin, an expert in cognitive health, memory loss, Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy body dementia, and related disorders.

Galvin said the disease is poorly understood and under-studied in comparison to Alzheimer’s, which is due in part to the difficulty in pinning down a diagnosis. A survey from the Lewy Body Dementia Association shows that on average, it took physicians four office visits to make the diagnosis. This lack of knowledge can isolate caregivers further.

To help combat that, Daley created a Facebook group that now has more than 31,000 members, many of whom are caregivers for people with dementia. They use the platform to share stories, seek advice and give out words of encouragement.

Image: Dementia

Daley helps his mother at his home in Dublin, Ohio. Maddie McGarvey / for NBC News
Periodically, Daley, who is an entrepreneur and works from home, uses the money earned from Molly’s Movement t-shirt sales or donations to organize giveaways for caregivers in the group. The prize is a relaxing night out or, in the case of a 16-year-old girl caring for her grandmother, a shopping trip.

"[The giveaway] is the type of thing my mom would do," he said, adding that he gets about 100 messages every day from people pouring their heart out to him or thanking him for his eye-opening videos.

Any type of support that reduces the feeling of isolation is essential, as caregivers can often forego their own needs when helping dementia patients.

“A caregiver is the invisible patient,” said Dr. Galvin.

But Daley, like many others, shrugs off concern for his own well-being. As his movement grows, so do the demands on his time. The married father of three said he will have to do "more work when everyone’s asleep."

His mother, who was a single parent of two while working two jobs as he was growing up, is his inspiration. One video at a time, he is building her legacy.

As his mother’s dementia gets worse, Daley wonders how much longer he’ll be able to keep recording, especially once she becomes unable to speak. He acknowledges that it will be a delicate balance, something he never got to discuss with her before beginning the series.

"I don’t want to stop early," he said. "I want people to understand how bad it gets."

Daley said the most exhausting part is going over what he recorded at the end of each day, reliving painful moments like the time she forgot he was her son — an event he thought would come much later, perhaps at the end.

But for the many heartbreaking moments, there are still the rare ones when the old Molly shines through, like when she was asked whether she is proud of her son.

"If there wasn’t a Joey, there wouldn’t be me," she answered.

Full Article & Source:
Battling Dementia: A Mother and Son’s Incredible Journey

Jailhouse call from suspect accused of exploiting the elderly leads judge to delay granting bond

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CLEARWATER, Fla. - Professional guardian Fernando Gutierrez was charged last month with financially exploiting seniors through power of attorney or health care surrogate agreements.

He couldn't use the money from his business bank accounts to pay bond, because prosecutors thought that money may have come from victims.

The call for help Guitierrez made from jail made the judge suspicious as well.

Prosecutors allege professional guardian Fernando Gutierrez stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from vulnerable seniors he was supposed to protect.

“He used that money for various things like paying his kids' tuition, paying his mortgage,” said State’s Attorney Adam Ross.

And because Gutierrez still had joint bank accounts with multiple clients, the judge ordered him not to use any money from business accounts for his $750,000 bond.

“You have to be able to show that the assets that would be used to bail yourself out are not ill-gotten gain,” said Judge Nancy Moate Ley during his first court appearance.

That same day, Gutierrez made a phone call from jail to his family.

“This call is from a corrections facility and is subject to monitoring and recording,” the recording of the jail call said.

“They want to see where the money's coming from,” Gutierrez told a family member during call.

He also instructed his daughter how to access his Wells Fargo Bank accounts through a computer.

“Ok, we're in,” she said, after putting in his account name and password.

“Ok, you'll see all those accounts,” Gutierrez said. “Try to limit your conversation as much as you can.”

“Ok. Yeah,” she replied.

He then walked her through how to move money for his bond into her own account.

“Maybe you should go to the bank and get cash and deposit it into your account,” he said.

“Which check you want me to use?” she asked.

“You know the one, not the business check, the other one. The other one. The other one,” he said. “And speak limited words.”

He also gives instructions to his wife.

“Just deposit it in the joint account, your account, ok? “ he said.

And to a niece to whom he sent money.

“Just hold onto it until I get to the hearing for my bond and I'll tell you how much to take out,” he told her.

“Yes. tell us how much you need and we'll deposit it to whoever's account or whatever,” she said.

“No, no, no, no, no. It'd have to come from your account,” he told her.

“Just hold it. Just hold everything for now,” he said.

At his bond hearing, those same family members pledged money toward his bond, but the judge wouldn't accept the funds as coming independently from his accounts, sending Gutierrez back to jail for a week until another family member pledged property.

When he was released, it was with new conditions.

 He removes himself from all non-family joint accounts,” said Judge Nancy Moate Ley.

“If you bond out of jail and don't have the where with all to do this, we could put you back in jail,” she said.

Gutierrez has until august 14th to get his name off all his clients’ bank accounts.

At the time of his arrest, he was the guardian, power of attorney or health care surrogate for more than fifty people.

Full Article & Source:
Jailhouse call from suspect accused of exploiting the elderly leads judge to delay granting bond

SLIPPING AWAY: Jo has Alzheimer's. He's 38.

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Robin Giles felt like she was missing a joke. It was Christmas morning in 2012, and she and her husband, Joël, were going through familiar traditions in their apartment in London, Ont. Later they’d go out to visit friends and family, but for now, it was just the two of them and their cats.

They opened their stockings first, and Robin was becoming more puzzled with each object she pulled out: They were utterly random. Jo had always been a thoughtful gift-giver. One year for Christmas, he gave Robin a beautiful set of bound Paddington Bear books, a nod to her childhood favourite. He’d often come home from work with an album for her, or a treasure he found at a used bookstore. Today, though, her stocking was filled with CDs she already owned, and a used container of hand cream, as though Jo had bought a store tester. She kept thinking there was a punchline or a theme she wasn’t seeing.

“I remember being really upset that Christmas—not because of the material stuff, but because it just felt weird,” Robin says. “It felt really weird.”

Something was wrong. This wasn’t Jo.

That Christmas, Joël Aubin was 36 years old and already battling hard to work around an erosion process that was hard-wired into every cell of his body. He had dominantly inherited Alzheimer’s disease, the result of a genetic mutation that snakes through family trees. The disease itself is rare, and Jo is a nearly unheard-of aberration because of his age. He wouldn’t know he had the disease for another 18 months—but he’d seen it all before: His mother was 47 when she died of the same illness. Jo’s teenage world had been ripped from its frame then, but he had grown up with no idea that he had a 50/50 chance of inheriting the same fate. Alzheimer’s disease would fray his marriage before fundamentally changing it, shrink Jo’s world to the size of his neighbourhood and forge his friends and family into a tight support system. And it would lead Jo to resolve to avoid a long goodbye like his mother’s, and to choose when his story would end.

The dominantly inherited form of the disease is said to account for fewer than one per cent of Alzheimer’s cases—Jo’s specialist pegs it at much rarer than even that—and it’s caused by a mutation in one of three genes. While the more common type of Alzheimer’s carries a genetic risk component that means certain people are more likely to develop the disease, this genetic mutation is different: For an unlucky few like Jo, it’s a terrible guarantee. These people overproduce a protein called beta-amyloid, which accumulates in their brains as “plaques,” while another protein called tau twists itself into “tangles” inside the nerve cells. Together, they strangle neurons and eventually consume memory and ability as the brain withers.

Full Article and Source:
SLIPPING AWAY:Jo has Alzheimer's.  He's 38

Massachusetts NASGA Member, David Arnold, on S. 1177

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There is currently an act before the Massachusetts Legislature to establish the Office of Adult Guardianship and Decisional Support Services. (S.1177/H3027). The purpose of the bill is to provide guardianship services to “unbefriended” people who are unable to manage their affairs.

These people are the most vulnerable in society. They have no one to complain if they are subjected to abuse by a guardian. They are the perfect victims. Any system for providing guardianship services to the “unbefriended” has to have iron clad protections against abuse.

On the contrary, this bill gives immunity to guardians. Guardians are already given immunity by judges of the Probate Court. Regardless of the intent of this immunity the result has been to create a system of legalized crime where guardians commit crimes with impunity. Other health care providers (doctors, nursing homes, etc. ) have to carry liability insurance. Conservators have to be bonded. Guardians should have liability insurance, not immunity.

Democracy was invented to prevent abuse of authority by government. The best way to stop abuse of guardianship is to use principles of democracy such as separation of powers (no one has sole control), checks and balances, accountability (no immunity), avoiding conflict of interest by putting authority in the hands of disinterested parties, etc.

The current bill has none of these protections of democracy. The Governor’s Advisory Council has no authority. A careful reading of the bill shows that the Executive Director of the Office of the Adult Guardianship and Decisional Support Services is the only entity given any authority. The Office of Adult Guardianship has no authority as an entity. All its duties and powers are executed by the Executive Director.

I have attempted to rewrite the bill in a way that makes maximum use of the principles of democracy to prevent abuse of power.

All comments, corrections, suggestions, etc. are welcome.

Thank you,
David Arnold

Tonight on T.S. Radio: Mike Volpe & Sandra Grazzini: Minnesota, Dakota County battle continues

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5:00 pm PST … 6:00 pm MST … 7:00 pm CST … 8:00 pm EST

Hosted by Marti Oakley"    Join us this evening as Mike Volpe and Sandra Grazzini talk about the latest developments in what has to be THE divorce case of the century here in Minnesota.

Dakota County, notoriously infamous for its blatant corruption continues its aggression against the defendant. Tune in for the latest in this extremely strange case. Just goes to show you....money talks and can buy you all sorts of things in the right places!

LISTEN TO THE SHOW LIVE or listen to the archive later

Casper Woman Sentenced to the Wyo Women's Center for Exploitation

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Tamara Voelker
A Casper woman was sentenced to serve 30 to 96 months in the Wyoming Women's Center after pleading guilty to taking more than forty thousand dollars from a an elderly man.

Tamara Voelker exploited of an 89-year-old man while acting as his caretaker.

The man's daughter-in-law first contacted Casper Police after he told her he didn't have any money and needed help paying his bills.

Reports show Volker made purchases to Amazon, Best Buy as well as a TV Jewelry store.

Attorney Mike Blonigen said in court as he presented his sentence recommendation, “'Voelker acted like a vulture, coming in to pick the bones of the victim she was supposed to be caring for.”

She is to pay back the forty thousand dollars to the victim upon her release from custody.

Full Article & Source:
Casper Woman Sentenced to the Wyo Women's Center for Exploitation

Woman's 7-Year Quest For 'Peggy's Law' On Elder Abuse Comes To Fruition

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The Toms River resident's one-woman lobbying effort in memory of her mother, a Brick resident, Peggy's Law was signed by Christie at last. 

 

Peggy Marzolla
TRENTON, NJ — Seven years after a 93-year-old Brick Township woman died after what her family was told was the result of slipping on powder in her room at an assisted care living facility, the elder abuse regulations her daughter has campaigned for are finally law.

Peggy's Law (S-1219), named for Peggy Marzolla, who died in 2010, was signed into law by Gov. Chris Christie on Monday. It aims to protect senior citizens in assisted living facilities from abuse by requiring suspected abuse be reported to law enforcement.

"I started to cry I was so happy," said her daughter, Maureen Marzolla-Persi, who has been fighting for passage of Peggy's Law since her mother's death in April 2010. It's taken Hundreds of phone calls and emails pushing, prodding, nagging legislators. She's spent hours spent talking to others whose family members were abused, and testifying before the Legislature. And more calls nagging the governor's office about signing the bill since it was passed by both houses at last on June 29.

It's bittersweet, she admits.

"It's too late to help my mother," Marzolla-Persi said, but she's hopeful it will protect other elderly patients and prevent others families from suffering the anguish she faced. In February 2010 Marzolla-Persi received a call late one night that her mother, an Alzheimer's patient, had slipped on some powder and been taken to Ocean Medical Center in Brick. Hospital staff, however, raised questions about the injuries Peggy Marzolla had suffered, Marzolla-Persi told the Patch. Peggy Marzolla, who didn't retire from her job in the Paterson police department until age 81, had sustained a broken eye socket, a broken cheekbone, a broken jaw, a broken wrist, a badly bruised elbow, a gash on her left shin and welts on her back.

"The doctors and medical personnel who came into her room said, 'Well, what do you think really happened?'" Marzolla-Persi, of Toms River, has said.

Peggy Marzolla died 65 days after she was taken to the hospital. The incident eventually was investigated by the state Office of the Ombudsman for the Institutionalized Elderly, but it was never investigated by law enforcement. The ombudsman's office accepted the explanation the staff at the nursing facility gave.

Maureen Marzolla-Persi did not, and began her fight to ensure that future situations were investigated by someone outside the facility's staff.

The law requires any caretaker, social worker, physician, nurse or other staff member of a care facility who has reasonable cause to suspect that an elderly person is being abused or exploited to report it to local law enforcement. It also requires them to report such incidents to the Ombudsman of the Institutionalized Elderly within certain periods of time, depending on the kind of abuse.

"When families put their loved ones in the care of a nursing home or other assisted living facility, they expect that they’ll be treated properly and with respect,” said Sen. Jim Holzapfel (R-Ocean), who co-sponsored the legislation. “If an employee of one of these homes even has the slightest suspicion that something might be awry, it should be their duty to report it.”

“Employees have to be the first line of defense against abuse,” said Sen. Diane Allen (R-Burlington), the other co-sponsor. “They see their residents every day, and they will know when something isn’t right. The families of these seniors have always counted on the employees to do the right thing. Now the State of New Jersey demands it."

Marzolla-Persi told the Patch in 2015 that the eventual investigation of her mother's death by the ombudsman’s office did not result in any criminal charges nor any sanctions against the facility. It did, however, prompt her to mount the campaign that led to the passage and signing of Peggy's Law, though it took three introductions and six years to do it.

“I was a good girl; I did what they told me to do,” Marzolla-Persi said of the efforts she made to get her mother's case investigated. She never thought to call the police, she said, and no one suggested it.
Now, calling the police about suspected abuse will be the first step, one she hopes will spare other families the anguish she faced.

"They said it couldn't be done but I did it," Marzolla-Persi said of what amounted to a one-woman lobbying effort.

"I didn't have donors, I didn't have an organized committee," she said. "But I got it done. It's going to help the elderly of New Jersey."

"I feel like I can finally sleep peacefully tonight," Marzolla-Persi said.

Full Article & Source:
Woman's 7-Year Quest For 'Peggy's Law' On Elder Abuse Comes To Fruition

A home for Amber

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Amber Reynolds often gets a “new-to-her” lunch bag when she goes on shopping trips in Denton with her mother.

At Twice as Nice resale shop on Bell Avenue, Amber rifles through several lunch bags and settles on one decorated with rainbow-colored skulls. As other items in the store get her attention — a bin of body butter, a little bag of play money — she tucks them inside the lunch bag for safekeeping.

Her mother, Angela Biggs, knows her 26-year-old daughter well. Amber was born with a brain injury that profoundly affected how she grew and developed. Over the years, doctors diagnosed, misdiagnosed and re-diagnosed Amber before settling on severe mental retardation and severe bipolar disorder with psychosis.

Their lives are anything but settled, however. Biggs has battled the state over Amber's care at the Denton State Supported Living Center for more than a year. She wants to extract her daughter from the state school and find a group home in a neighborhood setting where Amber can live with other developmentally disabled people.

Angela Biggs keeps an eye on her daughter Amber Reynolds during a visit at the Good Samaritan Society. DRC
Angela Biggs keeps an eye on her daughter Amber Reynolds during a visit at the Good Samaritan Society. 
Her long-running battle with the state of Texas is playing out in Denton County Probate Court, and Biggs worries she is losing. Her case opens a window into the complicated relationship between the 447 people who live at the state school on State School Road in far south Denton and their families.
“It’s like living on an island, no matter which way you turn for help,” Biggs says.

When the two women step up to the checkout counter, Biggs reminds Amber that the clerk needs to scan the items zipped up in the bag.

Biggs shares a laugh with the clerk about the little bag of play money tucked inside the lunch bag.

“We need to pay for this [play] money,” Biggs says. The joke is lost on Amber.

The gauntlet


Amber is a happy and curious young woman. She can put together five or six words when she’s motivated to communicate. Most of the time, she speaks in simple two- and three-word declarative sentences and questions.

Angela Biggs, left, and her daughter Amber Reynolds go shopping for clothes at Twice as Nice Resale of Denton. DRC
Angela Biggs, left, and her daughter Amber Reynolds go
shopping for clothes at Twice as Nice Resale of Denton. 
“C’mere,” she says, holding a stranger’s arm to invite her to browse the resale shop, thumbing through wallets and picking up housewares.

Her mother helps her try on a big purple hat.

“How about this?” Biggs asks. “Purple hat lady.”

Amber tilts her head as if posing for the camera and grins a toothy smile, her eyes sparkling.

Occasionally, Amber can be aggressive. Biggs could manage her daughter’s outbursts when she was little. But as she grew, the aggression became harder to manage. At about age 10, Amber was big enough to really hurt her older sister, Jennifer, and younger brother, Taylor, when she lashed out. She scared Jennifer and Taylor.

 Biggs knew Amber needed help. Biggs and her now ex-husband, Tony Reynolds, agreed to share custody with the state to get funding for Amber's care.

When the state has custody, professional caregivers make hundreds of  daily decisions, big and small, that affect the person’s health and development. Parents and family members can visit, of course, and they also may retain some legal responsibility as a guardian.

A guardian is legally responsible for a person who is unable to manage his or her own affairs. For some people with a severe intellectual disability, the guardian may also guide medical and psychiatric care, not just the ward’s financial affairs.

Biggs has learned how fine a line guardians must walk. When Amber was still a teenager, she was mistreated at a large group home. So, Biggs and Amber's father fought successfully to regain custody. She lived with her father for a while and bounced through several other living arrangements for a decade. Then, in June 2013, Amber suffered a psychiatric breakdown and was admitted to Terrell State Hospital, which treats mental illness.

Amber Reynolds, left, sits next to her father, Tony Reynolds, as her mother, Angela Biggs, snaps a photo of them during a picnic at Buffalo Valley Event Center. DRC
Amber Reynolds, left, sits next to her father, Tony Reynolds,
as her mother, Angela Biggs, snaps a photo of them during a
picnic at Buffalo Valley Event Center. 
The hospital changed Amber's medication and gave her an antidepressant that triggered a manic episode, according to records Biggs obtained and shared with the Denton Record-Chronicle.

Christine Mann, a spokeswoman for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, which operates the Terrell hospital and the state living centers, declined to comment on Amber's case, citing privacy laws.

Biggs questioned her daughter's treatment in Terrell, a small town in Kaufman County about 30 miles east of Dallas. Four months after the manic episode, the hospital deemed Amber stable enough to be discharged after putting her on a five-drug cocktail to manage her anxiety and manic episodes. But Amber was back in the hospital within a month and eventually was readmitted to Terrell.

Biggs continued to question her treatment. In February 2014, the state found a spot for Amber at the Denton State Supported Living Center.

Amber Reynolds, left, puts on shoes in her room as her mother, Angela Biggs, waits for her to get ready so they can leave for the park.DRC
Amber Reynolds, left, puts on shoes in her room as her mother,
Angela Biggs, waits for her to get ready so they can leave for the park.
Biggs advocated for her daughter during the crisis and lost trust in her caregivers at the Terrell hospital. The caregivers, in turn, said she undermined their decisions. By the time Amber arrived in Denton, a Collin County judge had blocked Biggs from making any more decisions about her daughter’s psychiatric care.

"It's like having one arm tied behind your back," Biggs says.

Despite the judge's decision, she remained Amber's guardian.

Beth Mitchell, an attorney with Disability Rights of Texas, which represents people like Amber, declined to comment on the case. But she said the purpose of guardianship is to be actively involved in the disabled person's life and not rubber-stamp the actions of state caregivers.

Some guardians are like Biggs. They know their wards, visit them regularly and participate in planning meetings. Many others, however, do not, Mitchell said.

"Maybe a few are actively involved and will challenge the recommendations," Mitchell said. "With the others who just go along with the staff, what's the point of being a guardian?"

Biggs communicates regularly with Amber's caregivers at the state living center in Denton. Over the past few years, the Denton staff has been tapering Amber off the drug regimen prescribed at the Terrell hospital. The Denton staff has had some success helping her with daily routines that keep her calm, allowing reductions in medications.

However, the psychiatrist overseeing her case also wrote that Amber likely needs powerful, psychotropic medicines to remain stable.

The medicines have had side effects. An endocrinologist and a cardiologist are monitoring Amber's health, Biggs said. She wants to trust the care her daughter is receiving, but she finds that hard with all that has gone wrong over the years.

“I put my trust in people and then step back,” Biggs says. “But I do have a responsibility, too.”

“I know I don’t have all the answers,” she adds.  (Click to Continue)

Full Article & Source:
A home for Amber

Woman charged for exploiting incapacitated mother

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MORGANTOWN — A woman faces a felony for exploitation of her incapacitated mother, according to court records.

The West Virginia State Police charged Linda Sue Jones, of Morgantown, with financial exploitation of an elderly person. She was arraigned in Monongalia County Magistrate Court and given a $25,000 personal recognizance bond.

According to her criminal complaint: In July, Trooper M. Mucciola spoke to a Department of Health and Human Services employee about the care of an elderly woman. She said the woman was living at a Grafton nursing home and Jones, her daughter, was named as her health-care surrogate.

Jones was named surrogate after the woman’s husband died. The worker said Jones did not work with the facility to make medical decisions and failed to provide banking information for the victim’s Medicaid review. As a result, Jones’ mother lost her benefits.

DHHR also learned that the victim signed power of attorney documents allowing Jones access to her bank account, after a physician deemed her incapacitated.

The investigation showed 11 withdrawals for about $19,000 between December 2016 and May 2017.

The victim also had an overdue account with the nursing facility of more than $12,000.

Jones told police that she did not know her mother was incapacitated when she signed the paperwork.

Full Article & Source:
Woman charged for exploiting incapacitated mother

Woman pleads guilty to bilking elderly Palatine man of almost $4.5 million

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A woman pleaded guilty Thursday to three counts of fraud for bilking an elderly Palatine man out of nearly $4.5 million over a six-year period through an elaborate lottery scam.

Corrine Dziesiuta, 39, who said she lived in Costa Rica before her arrest, faces up to 61/2 years in prison after admitting to a charge of knowingly devising and participating in a scheme to defraud the 87-year-old man. She persuaded him to wire funds from his U.S. bank accounts to banking institutions in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, authorities have said.

"I did make a mistake," Dziesiuta, dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit, told U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin. "And I am guilty."

Durkin scheduled sentencing for October. Dziesiuta has been in custody since her arrest last October.

According to a criminal complaint, Dziesiuta first contacted the man, identified only as Victim A, in 2010. Dziesiuta, who went by the alias "Lisa Conti," told him he'd won millions of dollars in prize money but needed to pay "various insurance, taxes and other fees" to protect the money because it was located in a foreign country.

To keep the scam going, Dziesiuta sent a letter to the man in January 2015 purporting to be from a U.S. senator who provided assurances that the government was working to protect his interests, authorities said. The letter also stated the man was required by law to pay $386,000 to "re-register" an insurance policy meant to protect his net worth of $600 million, according to the complaint.

The complaint did not make clear when or how the FBI became aware of the scam, but between May and late September 2016, agents recorded 27 phone calls between the man and Dziesiuta.

During one conversation, the man was instructed to tell Dziesiuta his bank would no longer allow him to wire funds, according to the complaint. Dziesiuta tried to persuade the man to switch banks or go through an attorney to send the money, authorities said.

At the direction of agents, the man was instructed to tell Dziesiuta he was only willing to give her the money in person, according to the complaint. After a few months, Dziesiuta made arrangements to fly the man to New York so he could deliver a cashier's check for more than $3.7 million.

Dziesiuta bought the victim an airline ticket and told him she was going to put him up at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Manhattan in October, according to the complaint. She went to meet the victim at LaGuardia Airport, telling him she would wear a peach-colored dress so he could easily recognize her, authorities said.

Dziesiuta didn't realize the victim had been cooperating with the FBI for months. When her phone rang as she stood in the baggage claim area, an FBI agent called out her alias, "Lisa." When she turned around, the agent arrested her.

Full Article & Source:
Woman pleads guilty to bilking elderly Palatine man of almost $4.5 million

Massachusetts Legislature Poised to Give Immunity to “Guardians”

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There is currently an act before the Massachusetts Legislature to establish the Office of Adult Guardianship and Decisional Support Services. (S.1177/H3027). The purpose of the bill is to provide guardianship services to “unbefriended” people who are unable to manage their affairs.
These people are the most vulnerable in society. They have no one to complain if they are subjected to abuse by a guardian. They are the perfect victims. Any system for providing guardianship services to the “unbefriended” has to have iron clad protections against abuse.
On the contrary, this bill gives immunity to guardians. Guardians are already given immunity by judges of the Probate Court. Regardless of the intent of this immunity the result has been to create a system of legalized crime where guardians commit crimes with impunity. Other health care providers (doctors, nursing homes, etc. ) have to carry liability insurance. Conservators have to be bonded. Guardians should have liability insurance, not immunity.
Democracy was invented to prevent abuse of authority by government. The best way to stop abuse of guardianship is to use principles of democracy such as separation of powers (no one has sole control), checks and balances, accountability (no immunity), avoiding conflict of interest by putting authority in the hands of disinterested parties, etc.
The current bill has none of these protections of democracy. The Governor’s Advisory Council has no authority.  A careful reading of the bill shows that the Executive Director of the Office of the Adult Guardianship and Decisional Support Services is the only entity given any authority. The Office of Adult Guardianship has no authority as an entity. All its duties and powers are executed by the Executive Director.
I have attempted to rewrite the bill in a way that makes maximum use of the principles of democracy to prevent abuse of power.
All comments, corrections, suggestions, etc.  are welcome.
—————————
Thank you,
David Arnold
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Read these bills here:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 REVISED BILL WITH IMPORTANT CHANGES HERE:

“An Act to establish the office of adult guardianship and decisional support services.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

Sections highlighted in red are to be inserted.

1 SECTION 1. The General Laws are hereby amended by inserting after Chapter 19D the
2 following chapter:.
3 CHAPTER 19E
4 OFFICE OF ADULT GUARDIANSHIP AND DECISIONAL SUPPORT SERVICES
5 Section 1. Definitions
6 As used in this chapter, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires
7 otherwise, have the following meanings:.
8 “Act,” the Adult Guardianship and Decisional Support Act.
9 “At Large Member,” a person with personal or professional experience with
10 guardianship, conservatorship or voluntary decisional support for elderly,
11 intellectually/developmentally disabled persons, and/or mentally ill persons.“At Large Members” shall be disinterested parties from all walks of life who do not derive income or other benefits from guardianship or conservatorship.
12 “Chief Justice,” the individual who is the Chief Justice of the Probate and Family Court
13 Department of the Trial Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
14 “Council,” the Governor’s Advisory Council for Adult Guardianship and Decisional
15 Support, as established and empowered herein.
16 “Decisional Support Services,” a range of informal and formal services to meet the needs
17 of persons with diminished decisional capacity.
18 “Executive Director,” the executive director of The Office of Adult Guardianship and Decisional
19 Support Services, as appointed and empowered herein. The “Executive Director” shall be a disinterested party who does not derive income or other benefits from guardianship or conservatorship.
22 “Incapacitated person,” someone as defined in MGL Ch. 190B, Section 5-101 (9).
23 “Office,” the Office of Adult Guardianship and Decisional Support Services, as
24 established and authorized herein.
25 “Public Guardian,” the entity designated as such under applicable provisions of the Act.
26 “Volunteer,” a person recruited, trained and supervised by the Public Guardian to assist
27 the Public Guardian in carrying out the duties of a guardian, conservator or other decisional
28 support person on behalf of the Public Guardian.
30 Section 2. Office of Adult Guardianship and Decisional Support Services created; duties.
31 (a) The Governor shall create an Office of Adult Guardianship and Decisional
32 Support Services and shall appoint
33 the executive director.
The appointment shall be confirmed by a 2/3 vote of the Council. The executive director shall be knowledgeable of (1) the clinical causes and (Click to Continue)

Full Article & Source:
Massachusetts Legislature Poised to Give Immunity to “Guardians”

Third of dementia cases ‘entirely preventable’

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A third of dementia cases could be prevented by making environmental and life-style changes starting in childhood, scientists have claimed.

The panel of 24 international experts identified a range of modifiable risk factors they believe to be responsible for around 35% of all instances of dementia, including Alzheimer’s.

Different risk factors were said to make an impact at different stages in life, having an accumulating effect.

Better education in early life and addressing hearing loss, high blood pressure and obesity in mid-life could reduce the incidence of dementia by up to 20%, the research suggests.

In later life, stopping smoking, treating depression, increasing physical activity, managing diabetes and enhancing social contact could reduce dementia rates a further 15%, according to the findings.

Professor Lon Schneider, a member of the team from the University of Southern California in the US, said: “There’s been a great deal of focus on developing medicines to prevent dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.

“But we can’t lose sight of the real major advances we’ve already made in treating dementia, including preventive approaches.

“The potential magnitude of the effect on dementia of reducing these risk factors is larger than we could ever imagine the effect that current, experimental medications could have.

“Mitigating risk factors provides us a powerful way to reduce the global burden of dementia.”

The Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention and Care brought the experts together to review a wealth of existing research and data and make evidence-based recommendations.

Their conclusions are published in The Lancet journal and were also presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in London.

Around 47 million people have dementia worldwide. That number is expected to climb as high as 66 million by 2030 and 115 million by 2050.

In the UK an estimated 850,000 people are living with dementia, most of whom have Alzheimer’s.
The Lancet commission also looked at the effectiveness of non-medical treatments for people with dementia.

The experts found that psychological and social interventions were better than anti-psychotic drugs for treating dementia-related agitation and aggression.

Some forms of non-medical therapy such as group cognitive stimulation and exercise led to improvements in mental ability.

Dr Doug Brown, director of research at the charity Alzheimer’s Society, said: “The revelation that over a third of dementia cases worldwide are, in theory, entirely preventable is cause for celebration.

“But to achieve even close to this kind of reduction in cases we need to consider two important challenges – firstly how risk factors like education, obesity and depression apply not just at a population level, but to individual people who all have their own unique genetic risk profiles, and secondly how we can motivate people in mid to late life to change their behaviour and adopt healthier lifestyle choices.

“Not all of the nine risk factors identified are easily modifiable, factors like poor education and social isolation are incredibly challenging to address.

“But there are easier wins, particularly cardiovascular factors like lowering blood pressure and smoking cessation.”

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Third of dementia cases ‘entirely preventable’

Let's end ageism

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It's not the passage of time that makes it so hard to get older. It's ageism, a prejudice that pits us against our future selves -- and each other. Ashton Applewhite urges us to dismantle the dread and mobilize against the last socially acceptable prejudice. "Aging is not a problem to be fixed or a disease to be cured," she says. "It is a natural, powerful, lifelong process that unites us all."

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Let's end ageism
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