Elder Abuse Is Widespread, Yet Only 4% of All Cases Get Reported To Authorities
I had to do a re-read of a recent article appearing in the Tennessean.com regarding the prevalence of elder abuse-- or perhaps more accurately the prevalence of un-reported elder abuse in Tennessee. The article cites a report from The Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability that estimate just 1 out of 23 cases of elder abuse get reported to authorities. While there may be a number of reasons why elder abuse goes unreported, a primary reason the article points to is the fact that most elder abuse is perpetrated by caregivers who control the individuals access to the outside world--...
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Thankfully, We Now Have Many Laws To Protect The Elderly From Abuse In A Variety Of Settings. However, Laws Are Worthless, If The People For Whom They Are Intended To Help Are Unaware Of Them
Over the last 20 years, federal and state legislatures have drafted many laws with the intention of protecting the most vulnerable members of our society-- they elderly. As the laws accumulate, it is important to know what laws apply to particular situations of abuse or mistreatment and how to properly apply them to particular situations. What is elder abuse? Elder abuse is the abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation of elderly persons. Older adults are particularly vulnerable to this type of abuse because of their isolation, illness, or fear. In the United States, an estimated 1 to 2 million Americans age...
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Court Date Set In Illinois Elder Neglect Case
Will County, Illinois Judge Amy-Bertani-Tomczak has set a December 2nd court date for two sisters facing criminal neglect charges relating to the care of their mother. Prosecutors brought the charges against Bernice Brandon and Elizabeth Williams after a medical examiner determined that their neglect contributed to the death of their mother, Hattie Smith. According to court documents, the pathologist determined Ms. Smith never received adequate medical treatment for health problems such as bed sores. "The defendant failed to take Hattie Smith to the doctor or arrange for medical treatment, and such neglect resulted in the death of Hattie Smith." Williams...
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CNA Charged With Elder Abuse In Connection With Identity Theft Of Alabama Nursing Home Resident
Authorities are looking for Jacqueline Anne Lumpkin, a certified nursing assistant at an Alabama Nursing Home, who is accused of stealing an elderly resident's identity to fraudulently buy goods and services valued at more than $5,000. Warrants for Lumpkin's arrest were issued on December 4, 2008 and she is being charged with: elder abuse / neglect, financial exploitation, identity theft and fraudulent use of a credit card. Each count caries a $15,000 bond. Authorities are still attempting to learn if there are more residents that Ms. Lumpkin has taken advantage of. Read more about this case of financial exploitation...
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Nurse Charged With Abuse & Neglect After Abandoning Residents At Assisted Living Facility
Episania Fitzgerald was charged with abuse and neglect of an elderly person when she decided to leave her post as night nurse at an assisted living facility. Fitzgerald told the sheriff's office investigating the matter that she left the assisted living facility with another resident in charge to provide home health care services elsewhere. Fitzgerald was gone for more than two hours, leaving the 21 elderly residents completely unattended. During, nurse Fitzgerald's leave an 88-year-old resident fell on the bathroom floor requiring paramedic assistance. It is unknown what, if any action the facility will take as discipline for this nurses...
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Nursing Home Workers Charged In Connection To Withholding Oxygen To Resident
Two nursing home workers in Arkansas are facing criminal charges, manslaughter and elder neglect, following the 2007 death of a resident. The charges stem from failing to plug an oxygen line into the wall spigot for an oxygen-dependent patient. By the time the workers came back to check-in on the patient her hands were blue and cold. Upon learning of the resident's condition, the workers told the nursing director, but failed to alert the resident's family or physician that her condition was related to a lack of oxygen. Authorities believe that withholding the circumstances surrounding the lack of oxygen...
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Elder Abuse Goes Unreported
This article in the New Press, a fort Myers, Florida, newspaper caught my attention. The article by Janine Zeitlin, uses statistics to prove what many close to to the elderly already know- elder abuse and elder neglect is a dirty little secret. Most cases of elder abuse and elder neglect go unreported. When cases are discovered they are difficult to prove. According to the article, the Florida Department of Children and Families found that adults make up about 18 percent of their abuse cases. The real extent of abused senior abuse may never be known. Unlike minors where the state may...
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Citation Issued Against Nursing Home That Failed To Intervene In Patient Suicide
The Minnesota Department of Health issued the "quality of care" citation against the Texas Terrace Care Center, a Minnesota nursing home, because the "facility staff failed to continue efforts to open the door to provide emergency care" while a resident commit suicide. The Texas Terrace Care Center has been cited for nursing home neglect because its nursing staff waited for emergency personnel to force open a door and find that a resident had died by hanging. The victim suffered from depression and congestive heart failure but wasn't considered a suicide risk by the facility. A nurse and nursing assistant tried...
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