Joint Effort Will Fight Fraud Against Military Members
Database will combat financial fraud nationwide
01/26/2012
Truman Lewis
ConsumerAffairs.com
Military
A new federal-state effort will fight fraud against members of the military. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Department of Defense, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) were joined by the New York Attorney General to announce the development of a database to combat consumer financial frauds directed at military members, veterans, and their families.
The Repeat Offenders Against Military (ROAM) Database will track completed enforcement actions against companies and individuals who repeatedly scam military personnel.
“As a former Ohio Attorney General, I know how frustrating it is to expose a scam and then see it take root in another state. The ROAM database will help law enforcement crack down on frauds that cross state lines,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “ROAM is a huge step forward in our mission to improve consumer protection for the military community.”
Please read complete article at link below:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2012/01/joint-effort-will-fight-fraud-against-military-members.html
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Care Home Operator Gets One Year Prison Term for Exploiting One of Her Residents
Tuesday, February 28th, 2012
Posted by Guest Contributor
Care Home Operator Gets One Year Prison Term for Exploiting One of Her Residents
REPORT FROM THE STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL - HONOLULU, HAWAII –The Honorable Judge Richard Pollack sentenced an Oahu woman to a one-year prison term for her part in a financial exploitation scam that cost an 84-year old Oahu man more than $200,000.
Nora Bell, 46, of Ewa Beach, ran the “Classic Residential Care Home” on Hookele Street in Waianae. The victim, who suffers from age related dementia, entered the care home in 2004. Over a one-year period beginning in April 2007 and as the victim’s dementia worsened, Bell and an accomplice, Joel Tacras, carried out a scheme to systematically withdraw cash from the victim's bank accounts, and redeem his treasury bonds, all without his knowledge. By July 2008, Bell had taken nearly all of the victim's savings and cashed in his treasury bonds.
The case came to the Department of the Attorney General when certain wire transfers made by Bell caught the attention of American Savings Bank personnel, where the victim held his accounts. The bank personnel notified Adult Protective Services, which reported the suspicious activity to the Department of the Attorney General.
Bell was indicted last May and charged with two counts of Theft in the First Degree and money laundering. In addition to her one-year prison term, Bell was ordered to repay the victim $135,000.00 once she is released from prison, and while serving five-years probation. She was ordered to turn herself in tomorrow morning.
Last December, Judge Pollack sentenced Bell’s accomplice, Joel Tacras, to a six-month term jail for his part in the scam. In addition to his jail term, Tacras was also sentenced to 200 hours of community service and must repay the victim $66,000 (see News Release 2011-32 from the Department of the Attorney General, issued on December 16, 2011).
Attorney General David Louie reiterated his earlier statement that, “criminals who prey on our most vulnerable populations will be held accountable for their actions to the fullest extent under the law.” The case was investigated by Terrence Miyasato and Prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Gary Senaga of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Please read complete article at link below:
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/care-home-operator-gets-one-year-prison-term-for-exploiting-one-of-her-residents/123
Posted by Guest Contributor
Care Home Operator Gets One Year Prison Term for Exploiting One of Her Residents
REPORT FROM THE STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL - HONOLULU, HAWAII –The Honorable Judge Richard Pollack sentenced an Oahu woman to a one-year prison term for her part in a financial exploitation scam that cost an 84-year old Oahu man more than $200,000.
Nora Bell, 46, of Ewa Beach, ran the “Classic Residential Care Home” on Hookele Street in Waianae. The victim, who suffers from age related dementia, entered the care home in 2004. Over a one-year period beginning in April 2007 and as the victim’s dementia worsened, Bell and an accomplice, Joel Tacras, carried out a scheme to systematically withdraw cash from the victim's bank accounts, and redeem his treasury bonds, all without his knowledge. By July 2008, Bell had taken nearly all of the victim's savings and cashed in his treasury bonds.
The case came to the Department of the Attorney General when certain wire transfers made by Bell caught the attention of American Savings Bank personnel, where the victim held his accounts. The bank personnel notified Adult Protective Services, which reported the suspicious activity to the Department of the Attorney General.
Bell was indicted last May and charged with two counts of Theft in the First Degree and money laundering. In addition to her one-year prison term, Bell was ordered to repay the victim $135,000.00 once she is released from prison, and while serving five-years probation. She was ordered to turn herself in tomorrow morning.
Last December, Judge Pollack sentenced Bell’s accomplice, Joel Tacras, to a six-month term jail for his part in the scam. In addition to his jail term, Tacras was also sentenced to 200 hours of community service and must repay the victim $66,000 (see News Release 2011-32 from the Department of the Attorney General, issued on December 16, 2011).
Attorney General David Louie reiterated his earlier statement that, “criminals who prey on our most vulnerable populations will be held accountable for their actions to the fullest extent under the law.” The case was investigated by Terrence Miyasato and Prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Gary Senaga of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Please read complete article at link below:
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/care-home-operator-gets-one-year-prison-term-for-exploiting-one-of-her-residents/123
7 accused of $375M Medicare, Medicaid fraud
Feb 29, 3:15 AM EST
7 accused of $375M Medicare, Medicaid fraud
By NOMAAN MERCHANT
Associated Press
DALLAS (AP) -- Years after Jacques Roy started filing paperwork that would have made his practice the busiest Medicare provider in the U.S., authorities say they've found most of his work was a lie.
They accused Roy on Tuesday of "selling his signature" to collect Medicare and Medicaid payments for work that was never done or wasn't necessary. Others charged in the scheme are accused of fraudulently signing up patients or offering them cash, free groceries or food stamps to give their names and a number used to bill Medicare.
Roy, 41, a doctor who owned Medistat Group Associates in DeSoto, Texas, faces up to 100 years in prison if he's convicted of several counts of health care fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Six others, including the owners of three home health service agencies, are also charged. More than 75 agencies linked to Roy have had their Medicare payments suspended.
Roy's attorney, Patrick McLain, said he had yet to review much of the evidence but that Roy maintained his innocence.
A host of top officials from the Justice and Health and Human Services departments announced the investigation Tuesday in Dallas. They argued that the announcement was proof that changes in how Medicare data is analyzed had worked. The scheme was the largest dollar amount by a single doctor uncovered by a task force on Medicare fraud, authorities said.
The officials said years of alleged "off the charts" billing by Roy went unnoticed because they did not have the tools to catch it. Health and Human Services has since beefed up its data analysis and can track other cases, HHS Inspector General Dan Levinson said.
"We're now able to use those data analytic tools in ways - in 2012 and 2011 - that no, we really could not have done in years past," Levinson said.
The department also is working on a system of "predictive modeling" to flag suspicious billings for investigation before they are paid, HHS Deputy Secretary Bill Corr said.
But others still have questions about how a fraud so big could have gone unnoticed for so long.
Patrick Burns, spokesman for the advocacy group Taxpayers Against Fraud, credited HHS for hiring Peter Budetti, CMS' deputy administrator for program integrity, to upgrade its systems. But Burns said the department still had no excuse for missing obvious problems.
"You can't have 11,000 bills from a single doctor if you're the number one home health provider in the nation," Burns said. "You can't see that many patients. It's not physically possible."
HHS investigators noticed irregularities with Roy's practice about one year ago, officials said.
Roy had "recruiters" finding people to bill for home health services, said U.S. Attorney Sarah Saldana, the top federal prosecutor in Dallas. Some of those alleged patients, when approached by investigators, were found working on their cars and clearly not in need of home health care, she said.
Medicare patients qualify for home health care if they are confined to their homes and need care there, according to the indictment.
Saldana said Roy used the home health agencies as "his soldiers on the ground to go door to door to recruit Medicare beneficiaries."
"He was selling his signature," she said.
For example, authorities allege Charity Eleda, one of the home health agency owners charged in the scheme, visited a Dallas homeless shelter to recruit homeless beneficiaries staying at the facility, paying recruiters $50 for each person they found. When the shelter's security guards allegedly kicked Eleda out several times, she began to see patients listed as homebound at a church several blocks away, the indictment alleges.
A message was left Tuesday at Eleda's Dallas-based company, Charry Home Care Services Inc.
Others indicted are accused of offering free health care and services like food stamps to anyone who signed up and offered their Medicare number.
Roy would "make home visits to that beneficiary, provide unnecessary medical services and order unnecessary durable medical equipment for that beneficiary," the indictment alleged. "Medistat would then bill Medicare for those visits and services."
The indictment says Roy's business manager - identified only by his initials - recorded conversations between the two in January 2006.
A spokesman for Trailblazer Health Enterprises, which paid home health claims through a contract with federal authorities, did not return a phone message Tuesday.
Health care fraud is estimated to cost the government at least $60 billion a year, mainly in losses to Medicare and Medicaid. Officials say the fraud involves everything from sophisticated marketing schemes by major pharmaceuticals encouraging doctors to prescribe drugs for unauthorized uses to selling motorized wheelchairs to people who don't need them.
Associated Press writers Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar in Washington, D.C. and Juan Lozano in Houston contributed to this report.
Please read complete article at link below:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HEALTH_CARE_FRAUD_SCHEME?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-02-29-03-04-48
Editor's note: Just imagine the Medicare and Medicaid fraud that goes on in Illinois under the blind eye of the Probate Court of Cook County. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
KawamotoDragon.com
7 accused of $375M Medicare, Medicaid fraud
By NOMAAN MERCHANT
Associated Press
DALLAS (AP) -- Years after Jacques Roy started filing paperwork that would have made his practice the busiest Medicare provider in the U.S., authorities say they've found most of his work was a lie.
They accused Roy on Tuesday of "selling his signature" to collect Medicare and Medicaid payments for work that was never done or wasn't necessary. Others charged in the scheme are accused of fraudulently signing up patients or offering them cash, free groceries or food stamps to give their names and a number used to bill Medicare.
Roy, 41, a doctor who owned Medistat Group Associates in DeSoto, Texas, faces up to 100 years in prison if he's convicted of several counts of health care fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Six others, including the owners of three home health service agencies, are also charged. More than 75 agencies linked to Roy have had their Medicare payments suspended.
Roy's attorney, Patrick McLain, said he had yet to review much of the evidence but that Roy maintained his innocence.
A host of top officials from the Justice and Health and Human Services departments announced the investigation Tuesday in Dallas. They argued that the announcement was proof that changes in how Medicare data is analyzed had worked. The scheme was the largest dollar amount by a single doctor uncovered by a task force on Medicare fraud, authorities said.
The officials said years of alleged "off the charts" billing by Roy went unnoticed because they did not have the tools to catch it. Health and Human Services has since beefed up its data analysis and can track other cases, HHS Inspector General Dan Levinson said.
"We're now able to use those data analytic tools in ways - in 2012 and 2011 - that no, we really could not have done in years past," Levinson said.
The department also is working on a system of "predictive modeling" to flag suspicious billings for investigation before they are paid, HHS Deputy Secretary Bill Corr said.
But others still have questions about how a fraud so big could have gone unnoticed for so long.
Patrick Burns, spokesman for the advocacy group Taxpayers Against Fraud, credited HHS for hiring Peter Budetti, CMS' deputy administrator for program integrity, to upgrade its systems. But Burns said the department still had no excuse for missing obvious problems.
"You can't have 11,000 bills from a single doctor if you're the number one home health provider in the nation," Burns said. "You can't see that many patients. It's not physically possible."
HHS investigators noticed irregularities with Roy's practice about one year ago, officials said.
Roy had "recruiters" finding people to bill for home health services, said U.S. Attorney Sarah Saldana, the top federal prosecutor in Dallas. Some of those alleged patients, when approached by investigators, were found working on their cars and clearly not in need of home health care, she said.
Medicare patients qualify for home health care if they are confined to their homes and need care there, according to the indictment.
Saldana said Roy used the home health agencies as "his soldiers on the ground to go door to door to recruit Medicare beneficiaries."
"He was selling his signature," she said.
For example, authorities allege Charity Eleda, one of the home health agency owners charged in the scheme, visited a Dallas homeless shelter to recruit homeless beneficiaries staying at the facility, paying recruiters $50 for each person they found. When the shelter's security guards allegedly kicked Eleda out several times, she began to see patients listed as homebound at a church several blocks away, the indictment alleges.
A message was left Tuesday at Eleda's Dallas-based company, Charry Home Care Services Inc.
Others indicted are accused of offering free health care and services like food stamps to anyone who signed up and offered their Medicare number.
Roy would "make home visits to that beneficiary, provide unnecessary medical services and order unnecessary durable medical equipment for that beneficiary," the indictment alleged. "Medistat would then bill Medicare for those visits and services."
The indictment says Roy's business manager - identified only by his initials - recorded conversations between the two in January 2006.
A spokesman for Trailblazer Health Enterprises, which paid home health claims through a contract with federal authorities, did not return a phone message Tuesday.
Health care fraud is estimated to cost the government at least $60 billion a year, mainly in losses to Medicare and Medicaid. Officials say the fraud involves everything from sophisticated marketing schemes by major pharmaceuticals encouraging doctors to prescribe drugs for unauthorized uses to selling motorized wheelchairs to people who don't need them.
Associated Press writers Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar in Washington, D.C. and Juan Lozano in Houston contributed to this report.
Please read complete article at link below:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HEALTH_CARE_FRAUD_SCHEME?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-02-29-03-04-48
Editor's note: Just imagine the Medicare and Medicaid fraud that goes on in Illinois under the blind eye of the Probate Court of Cook County. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
KawamotoDragon.com
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Massachusetts teacher facing child porn charges had secret cameras in classroom
Massachusetts teacher facing child porn charges had secret cameras in classroom
Published February 28, 2012
FoxNews.com
NEWTON, Mass. -- A former Massachusetts elementary school teacher charged with child pornography is now accused of taking secret pictures of students in his second-grade classroom, investigators confirmed.
David Ettlinger had a camera hidden underneath his desk at his former school in Newton, about nine miles west of Boston, and dozens of pictures of his students were found at his home, Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone's office said.
None of the pictures are pornographic, but authorities have alerted the parents whose children were identified in the snapshots.
Ettlinger is facing numerous charges, including aggravated assault on a minor and possession of child pornography. He was fired when the porn charges broke.
The case remains under investigation.
Read more:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/02/28/massachusetts-teacher-facing-child-porn-charges-had-secret-cameras-in-classroom/?test=latestnews#ixzz1nj7e7UuL
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/02/28/massachusetts-teacher-facing-child-porn-charges-had-secret-cameras-in-classroom/?test=latestnews
Editor's note: This Shark wants to vomit! Your ProbateShark believes that the black capsule should await these perverts! Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com....just sick, sick, sick.
Juvenile jail employee gets 6 years for sexually assaulting inmate
Juvenile jail employee gets 6 years for sexually assaulting inmate
By Jon Seidel
Sun-Times Media
jseidel@suntimes.com
Last Modified: Feb 28, 2012 06:11PM
A Shorewood man convicted of offering to pay an inmate at a juvenile detention center to give him oral sex was sentenced to 6 years in prison Tuesday.
George E. Sabie, 55, was found guilty in October of criminal sexual assault, custodial sexual misconduct and official misconduct.
He must serve 85 percent of his sentence, Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak said, and he’ll need to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
During his trial, prosecutors said Sabie was a youth supervisor at the Illinois Youth Center in Joliet. His 17-year-old victim was being held there on a parole violation for residential burglary in June 2008.
They said he walked into the boy’s cell and convinced him to perform oral sex, promising $400. But when it was over, the boy said he collected some of Sabie’s semen on a tissue and hid it. He denied he was trying to blackmail Sabie.
Please read complete article about this creep at link below:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/10942565-418/juvenile-jail-employee-gets-6-years-for-sexually-assaulting-inmate.html
By Jon Seidel
Sun-Times Media
jseidel@suntimes.com
Last Modified: Feb 28, 2012 06:11PM
A Shorewood man convicted of offering to pay an inmate at a juvenile detention center to give him oral sex was sentenced to 6 years in prison Tuesday.
George E. Sabie, 55, was found guilty in October of criminal sexual assault, custodial sexual misconduct and official misconduct.
He must serve 85 percent of his sentence, Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak said, and he’ll need to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
During his trial, prosecutors said Sabie was a youth supervisor at the Illinois Youth Center in Joliet. His 17-year-old victim was being held there on a parole violation for residential burglary in June 2008.
They said he walked into the boy’s cell and convinced him to perform oral sex, promising $400. But when it was over, the boy said he collected some of Sabie’s semen on a tissue and hid it. He denied he was trying to blackmail Sabie.
Please read complete article about this creep at link below:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/10942565-418/juvenile-jail-employee-gets-6-years-for-sexually-assaulting-inmate.html
Who will protect ailing lady who gave her house away?
Laurie Roberts' Columns & Blog
Laurie Roberts is a columnist for The Arizona Republic.
Who will protect ailing lady who gave her house away?
We pause briefly in our ponderings about Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu’s sex life to consider a case equally shocking (though far less titillating).
That is, how did a frail old lady named Pauline come to be giving away her house to a stranger? And not only a stranger but the person who owns the state-licensed assisted living facility that was supposed to be taking care of her?
“That’s not how the system is supposed to work,” attorney Tom Asimou said. “People don’t go to the hospital, get discharged to an assisted living facility with 40 complaints and then 40 days later more than half their net worth is taken from them.”
Asimou sounded the alarm last week and to its credit, Maricopa County’s probate court sprung into action to try to protect Pauline, who has been diagnosed with dementia. Whether there is anything the court can do is an open question.
The bigger one is how a place like Golden Creek Assisted Living Home — with 40 citations in two years and a lawsuit alleging the 2010 wrongful death of one of its residents — is still operating, still getting patients from one of the state’s most prestigious hospitals.
Alan Oppenheim, head of the state Department of Health Services’ licensing division, said DHS is investigating. Phoenix Detective Toni Brown confirmed she, too, is looking into it.
Golden Creek’s owner, Maria Barbu, had no comment and her attorney in the wrongful death case didn’t return a call.
A spokeswoman for the hospital, Mayo Clinic, said it was not involved in the decision about where to place Pauline.
Pauline Balseiro, 78, retired to Arizona a decade ago from Malibu, Calif., where she worked in the airline industry. Her only immediate family is a daughter in California. Becky Levy says her mother was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2002 and had lately been having trouble but didn’t want to bring in help, suspicious that they might steal from her.
On Oct. 13, Pauline fell in her north Phoenix home, possibly having been trapped for several days before she could summon help. Paramedics took her to the Mayo Clinic, where she was found to be suffering from a broken pelvis and dehydration. When it was time to be discharged, a social worker with Caring Options, a senior placement service, recommended two assisted living homes. Pauline chose Golden Creek, because it was nearer to her neighbor and closest friend, Diana Toma.
Almost immediately, Toma and Levy began having trouble making contact with Pauline. Toma says she would drop by Golden Creek and that Barbu would offer various reasons why she couldn’t see Pauline. When Toma did get to see her, she says Pauline seemed scared.
“She told me one day, when I finally did get to see her, that she could hear me (on a previous visit) but they wouldn’t let her come to the door,” Toma said.
Levy says that in order to talk to her mother, she had to call Barbu who in turn would tell her to wait 15 minutes, then call another number. Her mother, she said, would slur her words and tell her that the call was being monitored.
“Every time I talked to her on the phone, she said, ‘I have an audience, they are listening’,” Levy said. “Red flags went up everywhere.”
Those red flags would soon be waving wildly. On Nov. 18, four weeks after moving into Golden Creek, Pauline deeded over her Tatum Ranch house to Maria Barbu and her daughter, Anita Georgiana Barbu. This, in exchange for “care taking services,” according to a document filed with the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office.
Almost immediately, Toma says, the house was gutted and remodeled, with many of Pauline’s possessions boxed up and carted away.
Meanwhile, in late December, Levy says Chase Bank called her to report that they’d stopped payment on a $2,500 check to Golden Creek from Pauline’s account, believing the check had been forged.
Levy says she began calling Arizona authorities in January and soon after Barbu moved herself, her daughter and Pauline into the Tatum Ranch house. Her mother, she says, will no longer speak to her or to Toma, who estimates that the older woman had lost weight from her former 82-pound frame when she last saw her several weeks ago.
“She’s been brainwashed and she’s deathly afraid of being thrown out in the gutter and not having anywhere to go,” Levy said. “This is what Maria told her is going to happen to her.”
Levy contacted Jane Anne Geisler, a fiduciary who last week filed an emergency petition to become Pauline’s temporary guardian. Commissioner David Cunanan granted the petition on Feb. 13. That afternoon, Geisler and attorney Asimou filed a lawsuit, hoping to have Pauline’s property returned.
A hearing is set for Thursday before Judge Alfred Fenzel.
Meanwhile, Pauline continues to live with Barbu in her home — or what used to be her home, that is.
(Column published Feb. 22, 2012, The Arizona Republic)
Please read complete article at link below:
http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/LaurieRoberts/155692
Laurie Roberts is a columnist for The Arizona Republic.
Who will protect ailing lady who gave her house away?
We pause briefly in our ponderings about Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu’s sex life to consider a case equally shocking (though far less titillating).
That is, how did a frail old lady named Pauline come to be giving away her house to a stranger? And not only a stranger but the person who owns the state-licensed assisted living facility that was supposed to be taking care of her?
“That’s not how the system is supposed to work,” attorney Tom Asimou said. “People don’t go to the hospital, get discharged to an assisted living facility with 40 complaints and then 40 days later more than half their net worth is taken from them.”
Asimou sounded the alarm last week and to its credit, Maricopa County’s probate court sprung into action to try to protect Pauline, who has been diagnosed with dementia. Whether there is anything the court can do is an open question.
The bigger one is how a place like Golden Creek Assisted Living Home — with 40 citations in two years and a lawsuit alleging the 2010 wrongful death of one of its residents — is still operating, still getting patients from one of the state’s most prestigious hospitals.
Alan Oppenheim, head of the state Department of Health Services’ licensing division, said DHS is investigating. Phoenix Detective Toni Brown confirmed she, too, is looking into it.
Golden Creek’s owner, Maria Barbu, had no comment and her attorney in the wrongful death case didn’t return a call.
A spokeswoman for the hospital, Mayo Clinic, said it was not involved in the decision about where to place Pauline.
Pauline Balseiro, 78, retired to Arizona a decade ago from Malibu, Calif., where she worked in the airline industry. Her only immediate family is a daughter in California. Becky Levy says her mother was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2002 and had lately been having trouble but didn’t want to bring in help, suspicious that they might steal from her.
On Oct. 13, Pauline fell in her north Phoenix home, possibly having been trapped for several days before she could summon help. Paramedics took her to the Mayo Clinic, where she was found to be suffering from a broken pelvis and dehydration. When it was time to be discharged, a social worker with Caring Options, a senior placement service, recommended two assisted living homes. Pauline chose Golden Creek, because it was nearer to her neighbor and closest friend, Diana Toma.
Almost immediately, Toma and Levy began having trouble making contact with Pauline. Toma says she would drop by Golden Creek and that Barbu would offer various reasons why she couldn’t see Pauline. When Toma did get to see her, she says Pauline seemed scared.
“She told me one day, when I finally did get to see her, that she could hear me (on a previous visit) but they wouldn’t let her come to the door,” Toma said.
Levy says that in order to talk to her mother, she had to call Barbu who in turn would tell her to wait 15 minutes, then call another number. Her mother, she said, would slur her words and tell her that the call was being monitored.
“Every time I talked to her on the phone, she said, ‘I have an audience, they are listening’,” Levy said. “Red flags went up everywhere.”
Those red flags would soon be waving wildly. On Nov. 18, four weeks after moving into Golden Creek, Pauline deeded over her Tatum Ranch house to Maria Barbu and her daughter, Anita Georgiana Barbu. This, in exchange for “care taking services,” according to a document filed with the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office.
Almost immediately, Toma says, the house was gutted and remodeled, with many of Pauline’s possessions boxed up and carted away.
Meanwhile, in late December, Levy says Chase Bank called her to report that they’d stopped payment on a $2,500 check to Golden Creek from Pauline’s account, believing the check had been forged.
Levy says she began calling Arizona authorities in January and soon after Barbu moved herself, her daughter and Pauline into the Tatum Ranch house. Her mother, she says, will no longer speak to her or to Toma, who estimates that the older woman had lost weight from her former 82-pound frame when she last saw her several weeks ago.
“She’s been brainwashed and she’s deathly afraid of being thrown out in the gutter and not having anywhere to go,” Levy said. “This is what Maria told her is going to happen to her.”
Levy contacted Jane Anne Geisler, a fiduciary who last week filed an emergency petition to become Pauline’s temporary guardian. Commissioner David Cunanan granted the petition on Feb. 13. That afternoon, Geisler and attorney Asimou filed a lawsuit, hoping to have Pauline’s property returned.
A hearing is set for Thursday before Judge Alfred Fenzel.
Meanwhile, Pauline continues to live with Barbu in her home — or what used to be her home, that is.
(Column published Feb. 22, 2012, The Arizona Republic)
Please read complete article at link below:
http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/LaurieRoberts/155692
Long-term patient in La Grange returning to Poland
Long-term patient in La Grange returning to Poland
By Becky Schlikerman, Chicago Tribune reporter
February 24, 2012
Barbara Latasiewicz, a Polish immigrant who has lived in a La Grange hospital for 21/2 years, will return to Poland under an arrangement approved by a Cook County judge Thursday.
She could be flown back to Poland as soon as Tuesday, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
Latasiewicz, 60, has been in the United States illegally after overstaying a visa. She ended up at Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital in September 2009 after suffering a massive stroke while cleaning a home.
Her caretakers have been unable to find a place for her long-term care. She has no insurance or family that will care for her, and she doesn't qualify for public aid.
The hospital has been taking care of her for more than two years even though it is a short-term care facility. Her care has cost the hospital about $1.3 million, according to the spokeswoman.
But early this month the hospital was able to arrange placement for Latasiewicz in a stroke specialty unit at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, officials said. She has a brother in that city who can visit her.
Despite objections from the Office of State Guardian, which is Latasiewicz's legal guardian, Judge Cheryl Cesario agreed that Latasiewicz should not stay at the La Grange facility.
"This court finds without question that it is absolutely improper for a person to live in a hospital room," the judge said.
During a two-day hearing this week, Vanessa Bennett, an attorney for the guardian's office, said Latasiewicz has said she does not want to return to the country.
"She stated she does not want to go, but she will go if she has to," Bennett said. "We cannot stand by a petition to repatriate."
But Andrew Ligas, a Polish-speaking guardian ad litem, noted that Latasiewicz said in an interview Wednesday that she has "come to accept the possibility of a move." He added that Latasiewicz is bored in the hospital.
Latasiewicz's son, Peter, has declined to care for his mother because of his own financial troubles. A father of two, he has declared bankruptcy and lost his home. He told the judge his situation is still the same and that he is not able to care for her.
"I feel sad," the 36-year-old said after court, adding that he's unsure about the level of care his mother will receive in Poland.
A paramedic and her son will travel with Latasiewicz to Poland, but the trip has not been scheduled yet, said the hospital's lawyer, Joseph Monahan. The hospital estimates the trip will cost about $20,000.
The hospital "is pleased that Barbara will be able to continue her recovery at an exceptional medical facility that specializes in the treatment of stroke patients," said Richard Carroll, regional vice president and chief medical officer of Adventist Midwest Health.
Latasiewicz was not in court Thursday. She told the Tribune last fall that she knew she couldn't live in the hospital forever even though she considered the nurses, doctors and physical therapists family.
"At the end, I know I have to go," she said.
bschlikerman@tribune.com
Please read complete article at link below:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-polish-immigrant-return-20120224,0,510641.story
Editor's note: Wise and proper move Judge Cheryl. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
By Becky Schlikerman, Chicago Tribune reporter
February 24, 2012
Barbara Latasiewicz, a Polish immigrant who has lived in a La Grange hospital for 21/2 years, will return to Poland under an arrangement approved by a Cook County judge Thursday.
She could be flown back to Poland as soon as Tuesday, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
Latasiewicz, 60, has been in the United States illegally after overstaying a visa. She ended up at Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital in September 2009 after suffering a massive stroke while cleaning a home.
Her caretakers have been unable to find a place for her long-term care. She has no insurance or family that will care for her, and she doesn't qualify for public aid.
The hospital has been taking care of her for more than two years even though it is a short-term care facility. Her care has cost the hospital about $1.3 million, according to the spokeswoman.
But early this month the hospital was able to arrange placement for Latasiewicz in a stroke specialty unit at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, officials said. She has a brother in that city who can visit her.
Despite objections from the Office of State Guardian, which is Latasiewicz's legal guardian, Judge Cheryl Cesario agreed that Latasiewicz should not stay at the La Grange facility.
"This court finds without question that it is absolutely improper for a person to live in a hospital room," the judge said.
During a two-day hearing this week, Vanessa Bennett, an attorney for the guardian's office, said Latasiewicz has said she does not want to return to the country.
"She stated she does not want to go, but she will go if she has to," Bennett said. "We cannot stand by a petition to repatriate."
But Andrew Ligas, a Polish-speaking guardian ad litem, noted that Latasiewicz said in an interview Wednesday that she has "come to accept the possibility of a move." He added that Latasiewicz is bored in the hospital.
Latasiewicz's son, Peter, has declined to care for his mother because of his own financial troubles. A father of two, he has declared bankruptcy and lost his home. He told the judge his situation is still the same and that he is not able to care for her.
"I feel sad," the 36-year-old said after court, adding that he's unsure about the level of care his mother will receive in Poland.
A paramedic and her son will travel with Latasiewicz to Poland, but the trip has not been scheduled yet, said the hospital's lawyer, Joseph Monahan. The hospital estimates the trip will cost about $20,000.
The hospital "is pleased that Barbara will be able to continue her recovery at an exceptional medical facility that specializes in the treatment of stroke patients," said Richard Carroll, regional vice president and chief medical officer of Adventist Midwest Health.
Latasiewicz was not in court Thursday. She told the Tribune last fall that she knew she couldn't live in the hospital forever even though she considered the nurses, doctors and physical therapists family.
"At the end, I know I have to go," she said.
bschlikerman@tribune.com
Please read complete article at link below:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-polish-immigrant-return-20120224,0,510641.story
Editor's note: Wise and proper move Judge Cheryl. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
Michael Jackson Estate Claims MJ's Manager Royally Screwed Him
Michael Jackson Estate Claims MJ's Manager Royally Screwed Him
Michael Jackson's Estate is going after Tohme Tohme, MJ's former manager, claiming he fleeced the singer out of millions of dollars.
TMZ has obtained legal docs filed by the Estate, claiming Tohme got Michael to sign agreements that earned him a fortune for doing nothing.
According to the papers, Estate attorney Howard Weitzman claims Tohme got MJ to agree to pay him $35,000 a month plus expenses as a flat fee -- regardless of what work Tohme performed. On top of that, Tohme inked a deal that gave him 15% of any money Michael made.
And there's more ...Tohme introduced Michael to a lender that refinanced Neverland. In return, Tohme got Jackson to pay him $2.4 million -- just for the introduction. And Tohme got MJ to promise him 10% of any profits if the Ranch was sold.
Tohme also got MJ to agree to pay him $100,000 a month for the "This Is It" tour.
Estate lawyers are anticipating a lawsuit by Tohme against the estate for the money he claims he's owed, and the Estate wants to shut him down before a suit is filed.
The Estate is also asking for damages.
BTW, Michael fired Tohme 3 months before he died
Please read compete article at link below:
http://www.tmz.com/2012/02/17/michael-jackson-dr-tohme-tohme-lawsuit-estate/?adid=hero2#.T0GX004ge88
Michael Jackson's Estate is going after Tohme Tohme, MJ's former manager, claiming he fleeced the singer out of millions of dollars.
TMZ has obtained legal docs filed by the Estate, claiming Tohme got Michael to sign agreements that earned him a fortune for doing nothing.
According to the papers, Estate attorney Howard Weitzman claims Tohme got MJ to agree to pay him $35,000 a month plus expenses as a flat fee -- regardless of what work Tohme performed. On top of that, Tohme inked a deal that gave him 15% of any money Michael made.
And there's more ...Tohme introduced Michael to a lender that refinanced Neverland. In return, Tohme got Jackson to pay him $2.4 million -- just for the introduction. And Tohme got MJ to promise him 10% of any profits if the Ranch was sold.
Tohme also got MJ to agree to pay him $100,000 a month for the "This Is It" tour.
Estate lawyers are anticipating a lawsuit by Tohme against the estate for the money he claims he's owed, and the Estate wants to shut him down before a suit is filed.
The Estate is also asking for damages.
BTW, Michael fired Tohme 3 months before he died
Please read compete article at link below:
http://www.tmz.com/2012/02/17/michael-jackson-dr-tohme-tohme-lawsuit-estate/?adid=hero2#.T0GX004ge88
Monday, February 27, 2012
Dogs' feet give Japan scientists paws for thought
Dogs' feet give Japan scientists paws for thought
Mon, Feb 27 2012
TOKYO
Mon Feb 27, 2012 9:48am EST
TOKYO (Reuters) - Ever wonder how dogs can walk barefoot in the snow? Now a Japanese scientist may have the answer -- an internal central heating system.
The secret lies in how dogs circulate their blood to prevent cold surfaces from chilling the rest of their bodies, according to Hiroyoshi Ninomiya, a professor at Yamazaki Gakuen University, just west of Tokyo.
The system uses warm, oxygenated blood to heat the cold blood that has been in contact with a cold surface before returning it to the dog's heart and central circulation.
"Dogs exchange heat at the end of their legs. Arterial blood flows to the end of their legs and then heats up venous blood before returning it to the heart," Ninomiya said of his findings, published in the journal Veterinary Dermatology.
"In other words, they have a heat exchange system in their feet."
Ninomiya studied a preserved dog's leg under an electron microscope and found that because of the proximity of arteries and veins in the foot pad, the heat in the blood carried from the heart to the arteries is easily conducted to the cooler blood in the veins.
This heat transference maintains a constant temperature in the foot pad, even when exposed to extremely cold conditions.
Dogs are not alone in having this sort of heat exchange system, which is shared by other animals such as dolphins, Ninomiya said.
But not all dogs thrive in the cold, due to refining by breeders seeking specific traits, he added.
"Dogs evolved from wolves, and so they still have some of that ancestry remaining," he said.
"But that doesn't mean that one should always go and drag around in the snow all the time. There are many varieties of dogs nowadays that are not able to stand the cold."
Please read complete article and view video at link below:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/27/us-japan-dogs-idUSTRE81Q15620120227?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews&rpc=22&sp=true
KawamotoDragon.com
Mon, Feb 27 2012
TOKYO
Mon Feb 27, 2012 9:48am EST
TOKYO (Reuters) - Ever wonder how dogs can walk barefoot in the snow? Now a Japanese scientist may have the answer -- an internal central heating system.
The secret lies in how dogs circulate their blood to prevent cold surfaces from chilling the rest of their bodies, according to Hiroyoshi Ninomiya, a professor at Yamazaki Gakuen University, just west of Tokyo.
The system uses warm, oxygenated blood to heat the cold blood that has been in contact with a cold surface before returning it to the dog's heart and central circulation.
"Dogs exchange heat at the end of their legs. Arterial blood flows to the end of their legs and then heats up venous blood before returning it to the heart," Ninomiya said of his findings, published in the journal Veterinary Dermatology.
"In other words, they have a heat exchange system in their feet."
Ninomiya studied a preserved dog's leg under an electron microscope and found that because of the proximity of arteries and veins in the foot pad, the heat in the blood carried from the heart to the arteries is easily conducted to the cooler blood in the veins.
This heat transference maintains a constant temperature in the foot pad, even when exposed to extremely cold conditions.
Dogs are not alone in having this sort of heat exchange system, which is shared by other animals such as dolphins, Ninomiya said.
But not all dogs thrive in the cold, due to refining by breeders seeking specific traits, he added.
"Dogs evolved from wolves, and so they still have some of that ancestry remaining," he said.
"But that doesn't mean that one should always go and drag around in the snow all the time. There are many varieties of dogs nowadays that are not able to stand the cold."
Please read complete article and view video at link below:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/27/us-japan-dogs-idUSTRE81Q15620120227?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews&rpc=22&sp=true
KawamotoDragon.com
'Granny cams' capture home health aide stealing from Vineland patient
'Granny cams' capture home health aide stealing from Vineland patient
Published: Friday, February 24, 2012, 3:51 PM Updated: Friday, February 24, 2012, 3:51 PM
By Stephen Smith/ The News of Cumberland County The News of Cumberland County
The 73-year-old man's friend set up some granny cams to capture the health aide in the act.
VINELAND — An elderly West Chestnut Avenue man discovered his home health aide was stealing from him when his friend set up some “granny cams” to catch her in the act.
Carmen Vera, 42, of East Main Street in Port Norris, was arrested Sunday and charged with theft.
The 73-year old victim said Vera, a home health aide employed by All About Care in Brick, had worked for him since December. Since then he noticed about $900 missing from both his armoire and wallet.
A close friend set up two secret cameras around the man’s bedroom to capture, in video form, any activity occurring in there.
Police said he had about 13 minutes of footage showing Vera “... clearly stealing.”
The video showed her walking into the bedroom, taking his wallet from his pants on the bed, opening the wallet and removing some items.
One segment of video showed her take some money out and hold it in her left hand before tucking it into her shirt pocket.
An officer also observed video of her going through his dresser drawers and the armoire in his closet.
Vera denied stealing anything from the man.
After being charged she was released on her own recognizance.
Please read complete article at link below:
http://www.nj.com/cumberland/index.ssf/2012/02/granny_cams_capture_home_healt.html
Published: Friday, February 24, 2012, 3:51 PM Updated: Friday, February 24, 2012, 3:51 PM
By Stephen Smith/ The News of Cumberland County The News of Cumberland County
The 73-year-old man's friend set up some granny cams to capture the health aide in the act.
VINELAND — An elderly West Chestnut Avenue man discovered his home health aide was stealing from him when his friend set up some “granny cams” to catch her in the act.
Carmen Vera, 42, of East Main Street in Port Norris, was arrested Sunday and charged with theft.
The 73-year old victim said Vera, a home health aide employed by All About Care in Brick, had worked for him since December. Since then he noticed about $900 missing from both his armoire and wallet.
A close friend set up two secret cameras around the man’s bedroom to capture, in video form, any activity occurring in there.
Police said he had about 13 minutes of footage showing Vera “... clearly stealing.”
The video showed her walking into the bedroom, taking his wallet from his pants on the bed, opening the wallet and removing some items.
One segment of video showed her take some money out and hold it in her left hand before tucking it into her shirt pocket.
An officer also observed video of her going through his dresser drawers and the armoire in his closet.
Vera denied stealing anything from the man.
After being charged she was released on her own recognizance.
Please read complete article at link below:
http://www.nj.com/cumberland/index.ssf/2012/02/granny_cams_capture_home_healt.html
Online petitions crack through board rooms, capitals
Online petitions crack through board rooms, capitals
By Judson Berger
Published February 25, 2012
FoxNews.com
The online petition movement has come a long way from chain mails that threaten eternal bad luck for failing to forward a message to at least five friends.
Last year, a 22-year-old part-time nanny complained in a petition about Bank of America's $5-a-month debit card fee. After hundreds of thousands of people signed on, the image-bruised bank dropped the fee.
Online petitions last year also helped spur state proposals for a so-called "Caylee's Law" to toughen requirements on parents to report missing children, in the wake of the Casey Anthony case. The Obama White House even responded to its own petition site after enough people clamored for the administration to weigh in on a controversial online piracy law.
The digital petition world has notched a string of successes over the past 12 months, and just now seems to be taking off. As Facebook and Twitter revolutionize the way people connect with one another, the merger of social media and political activism is creating a wave of its own.
"It's really been this explosive growth over this past year in particular," Ben Rattray, founder and CEO of Change.org, told FoxNews.com.
The San Francisco-based company launched five years ago, but only started focusing on petitions in the past year or so. Rattray said the site went from gaining 1,000 members a month to 1 million a month now. He said more than 10,000 petitions a month are currently being started on the site, and he's projecting 25 million Change.org members by the end of the year -- up from 8 million now.
What's the appeal? Rattray reasoned that the petitions are allowing everyday people to coalesce into their own lobbying force -- on very particular issues, quickly and publicly, at the local and national levels.
He cited the case of Molly Katchpole, who launched the Bank of America debit-card fee petition. Five years ago, he said, Katchpole would have been "miffed" about the fee and complained to friends -- maybe even closed her bank account.
Instead, she launched a petition that fed into heavy media coverage and additional social media campaigns.
"(Bank of America) just recognized the potential damage they're exposed to," he said. "They're facing a rapid-response lobbying group that is now their customer base."
Rattray, who started the site with a former classmate at Stanford University, said he wasn't originally going to get into the social networking business.
The 31 year old, who grew up in a conservative household, said he went to school to be an investment banker. He studied political science and economics. But Rattray said he started getting more into social advocacy after one of his brothers came out as gay. He watched the rapid rise of Facebook -- which is now preparing to go public on an epic scale -- and figured he could use similar technology to connect people not just around personal interests but issues.
Several other petition-oriented websites have sprouted up around the same concept.
One of them, Care2, predates Change.org. The company started in 1998 and has since focused mainly on environmental and human rights causes. The social network site is a forum for an army of bloggers but also uses petitions to advance its goals.
"It's about empowering individuals to have a voice and take part in ... collective actions," founder Randy Paynter said.
Paynter said he got the idea for the site from chain emails. By themselves, those emails tended to vanish into the digital ether -- so he started to aggregate petitions.
Like on Change.org, the petitions range from the serious to the slightly bizarre. As of Saturday, a petition to outlaw "vanity tattoos" for cats in Russia had more than 18,000 signatures. Another calling on Kardashian-family companies to stop selling furs had attracted more than 100,000 signatures.
Care2 also claims to see more than 10,000 petitions started every month. Paynter said the site has 18 million members.
Washington has hardly been deaf to this trend. Last fall, the White House launched its own petition site, We the People, promising to offer an official response to any petition that attracts at least 25,000 signatures in 30 days.
Among the petitions the administration has responded to were those concerning controversial anti-online piracy bills in Congress. The administration, in response to the petitions, said last month that it had concerns about whether the proposals could undermine Internet freedom.
Within days, congressional leaders put the proposals on hold.
Not all petitions lead to definitive legislative action. In the case of the "Caylee's Law" proposals, many states have struggled to actually get those reporting requirements passed despite the public pressure following the trial last year. Thousands of other petitions gather a modest number of signatures, and then fade away.
Paynter said progress from petitions is often incremental. "But the reality is, that's the way that all change works," he said.
While the petition sites allow people to band together and take their grievances directly to lawmakers, another site has also just launched meant to give candidates themselves a more direct platform for reaching voters.
The site, PolitiView, launched last month, allows candidates in races across the country to post campaign videos and web addresses on a personalized page.
The site is subscription-based for politicians, though free for everyone else. The idea, eventually, is that a voter could type in his or her address, then see a listing of the candidates running in the area for different offices -- and be able to click to their pages. Ballot-initiative campaigns could also subscribe.
Creator Susan Nightingale compared the site to airline-price aggregators -- only for political campaigns.
"It's a campaign dashboard," she said. "This is direct democracy. It couldn't be any more direct."
At Change.org, Rattray has ambitious plans for the future. He plans to grow his 100-person staff to 200 by the end of the year. The company currently has offices in three U.S. cities and a few other countries but plans to expand to 20 countries over the next 12 months.
He said the desire for mass mobilization is not a uniquely American one. But in the U.S., he predicted the site could have a strong impact on the 2012 presidential race.
With so much concern about the influence of money in politics -- particularly through so-called super PACs -- he anticipates a campaign to compel candidates to crack down on super PAC influence.
But the site is user-driven, and he conceded his staff's role is just to mediate.
"We wake up every day and have no idea what's going to be started on the site," he said.
Read more:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/02/25/online-petitions-crack-through-board-rooms-capitals/print#ixzz1naVOluWO
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/02/25/online-petitions-crack-through-board-rooms-capitals/?test=latestnews
Editor's note: Why not send petitions about the corrupt Probate Court of Cook County? Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
KawamotoDragon.com
Law firm that’s profited on city deals hosts Burke fund-raiser
Law firm that’s profited on city deals hosts Burke fund-raiser
By TIM NOVAK
Staff Reporter / tnovak@suntimes.com
Last Modified: Feb 27, 2012 02:13AM
As the head of the Chicago City Council’s Committee on Finance, Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th) holds sway over all worker compensation claims filed by city workers — and all of the outside lawyers the city hires to fight those claims.
Now, Hennessy & Roach, a law firm that the powerful Southwest Side alderman’s committee paid more than $1.4 million over a three-year period to fight injury claims from city workers, is giving back: It’s hosting a political fund-raiser Thursday for the powerful alderman, who already has the richest campaign war chest of any politician in Illinois.
Burke had a total of more than $8.6 million in his three political campaign funds at the start of this year, records show. By comparison, Mayor Rahm Emanuel had $1.2 million, the Illinois Democratic Party had a little more than $1 million, and Gov. Pat Quinn had about $720,000.
Thomas G. Hennessy, one of the law firm’s managing partners, is hosting this week’s fund-raiser, a cocktail party at the swanky Union League Club downtown. He’s asking people to donate as much as $1,500 to The Burnham Committee, one of Burke’s campaign funds.
The event has a professional sports theme — and a decided South Side bias. Top contributors — those who give $1,500 or more — are proclaimed “Sox fans.” Those who give $500: “Bears fans.” For $150: “Bulls fans.” Not going? “Cubs fans.”
“Those who contribute $1,500 will be invited to play golf at Beverly County Club this year as Tom Hennessy’s guest . . . because they’re Sox fans, of course,” the invitation says.
Anyone who actually is a Cubs fan but kicks in $1,500 still gets to play. “Tom Hennessy hates the Cubs, but $1,500 is $1,500, so those contributors will be invited to play at Beverly, too, if they can get past security,” the invitation says.
Hennessy’s law firm has been doing work for the City Council Finance Committee for at least two decades.
Through the committee, Burke has complete control over how to handle worker compensation cases filed by city employees. He has City Hall’s corps of staff lawyers — from the corporation counsel’s office — fight most of the claims. In some cases, he hires outside law firms — like Hennessy & Roach — to defend the city.
Burke hired Hennessy’s law firm to defend the city in 776 worker compensation cases between 1992 and 2006, the Chicago Sun-Times has reported. In all, City Hall paid Hennessy & Roach more than $1.4 million between between 2004 and 2006.
The firm and its lawyers have given Burke more than $30,000 in campaign contributions in the past 12 years.
Another of the firm’s attorneys — Edward Hennessy — is married to Catharine Hennessy, an assistant commissioner in the city Department of Streets and Sanitation who testified for the prosecution, against the city, six years ago in the illegal hiring case that sent then-Mayor Richard M. Daley’s patronage chief, Robert Sorich, and former streets and sanitation official Patrick Slattery to prison.
Tim Novak
Please read complete article at link below:
http://www.suntimes.com/10780284-417/law-firm-thats-profited-on-city-deals-hosts-burke-fund-raiser.html
Editor's note: This Shark wonders if this law firm does any estate work in the Probate Court of Cook County? Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
KawamotoDragon.com
By TIM NOVAK
Staff Reporter / tnovak@suntimes.com
Last Modified: Feb 27, 2012 02:13AM
As the head of the Chicago City Council’s Committee on Finance, Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th) holds sway over all worker compensation claims filed by city workers — and all of the outside lawyers the city hires to fight those claims.
Now, Hennessy & Roach, a law firm that the powerful Southwest Side alderman’s committee paid more than $1.4 million over a three-year period to fight injury claims from city workers, is giving back: It’s hosting a political fund-raiser Thursday for the powerful alderman, who already has the richest campaign war chest of any politician in Illinois.
Burke had a total of more than $8.6 million in his three political campaign funds at the start of this year, records show. By comparison, Mayor Rahm Emanuel had $1.2 million, the Illinois Democratic Party had a little more than $1 million, and Gov. Pat Quinn had about $720,000.
Thomas G. Hennessy, one of the law firm’s managing partners, is hosting this week’s fund-raiser, a cocktail party at the swanky Union League Club downtown. He’s asking people to donate as much as $1,500 to The Burnham Committee, one of Burke’s campaign funds.
The event has a professional sports theme — and a decided South Side bias. Top contributors — those who give $1,500 or more — are proclaimed “Sox fans.” Those who give $500: “Bears fans.” For $150: “Bulls fans.” Not going? “Cubs fans.”
“Those who contribute $1,500 will be invited to play golf at Beverly County Club this year as Tom Hennessy’s guest . . . because they’re Sox fans, of course,” the invitation says.
Anyone who actually is a Cubs fan but kicks in $1,500 still gets to play. “Tom Hennessy hates the Cubs, but $1,500 is $1,500, so those contributors will be invited to play at Beverly, too, if they can get past security,” the invitation says.
Hennessy’s law firm has been doing work for the City Council Finance Committee for at least two decades.
Through the committee, Burke has complete control over how to handle worker compensation cases filed by city employees. He has City Hall’s corps of staff lawyers — from the corporation counsel’s office — fight most of the claims. In some cases, he hires outside law firms — like Hennessy & Roach — to defend the city.
Burke hired Hennessy’s law firm to defend the city in 776 worker compensation cases between 1992 and 2006, the Chicago Sun-Times has reported. In all, City Hall paid Hennessy & Roach more than $1.4 million between between 2004 and 2006.
The firm and its lawyers have given Burke more than $30,000 in campaign contributions in the past 12 years.
Another of the firm’s attorneys — Edward Hennessy — is married to Catharine Hennessy, an assistant commissioner in the city Department of Streets and Sanitation who testified for the prosecution, against the city, six years ago in the illegal hiring case that sent then-Mayor Richard M. Daley’s patronage chief, Robert Sorich, and former streets and sanitation official Patrick Slattery to prison.
Tim Novak
Please read complete article at link below:
http://www.suntimes.com/10780284-417/law-firm-thats-profited-on-city-deals-hosts-burke-fund-raiser.html
Editor's note: This Shark wonders if this law firm does any estate work in the Probate Court of Cook County? Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
KawamotoDragon.com
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Prosecutor to seek probation for 9-year-old in shooting case
Prosecutor to seek probation for 9-year-old in shooting case
Published February 25, 2012
Associated Press
A Washington state prosecutor says his office will seek probation and treatment for a 9-year-old boy who took to school a gun that accidentally discharged and critically injured a classmate this past week.
Kitsap County prosecutor Russ Haugen told the Kitsap Sun Friday that "nobody is trying to lock this little boy up." He said prosecutors hope to hold the boy accountable not through incarceration, but rather probation, treatment and other services.
The third-grader faces charges of unlawful possession of a gun, bringing a dangerous weapon to school and third-degree assault. He is facing a capacity hearing in which a judge will determine if he knew what he did was wrong. If the judge decides the boy knew, the charges go forward.
An 8-year-old classmate -- Amina Kocer-Bowman -- was wounded. She is in a Seattle hospital in critical condition after undergoing surgeries.
Few additional details of the case have been released, though the investigation may include a look at how the boy got the .45-caliber pistol that went off in his backpack.
Hauge said his office is working with the investigative agencies involved in the shooting.
Police believe the boy got the gun during a weekend visit with his mother, Jamie Lee Chaffin.
According to court documents, Chaffin has been convicted of forgery and drug crimes. As a felon, her right to own a firearm was revoked. She completed court-ordered drug treatment, and no additional criminal charges were filed against her after 2007.
The boy's father, Jason Cochran, has been convicted of violating protection orders relating to Chaffin and has been taken to court for child support.
Both parents relinquished custody of the boy and his two sisters to his paternal grandmother. She died shortly after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2010, and the boy's uncle Patrick Cochran was granted custody.
The boy's family bailed him out of juvenile detention and took him to his uncle's home Thursday night. Bail had been set at $50,000. The boy will remain under house arrest and must check in daily with the county juvenile department.
Read more:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/02/25/prosecutor-to-seek-probation-for-year-old-in-shooting-case/
Editor's note: Your ProbateShark is saddened by seeing this little boy in court in an orange jump suit. In the "old days" the kid would have been taken to the wood shed and "wupped" and the druggy mom would have been jailed. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Heard in the Shark Tank
Heard in the Shark Tank
Rumor has it that a Federal Indictment against a high ranking Lake County official will soon be forthcoming. Check with this Sharkline for further details as they become available.
Rumor has it that a Federal Indictment against a high ranking Lake County official will soon be forthcoming. Check with this Sharkline for further details as they become available.
Indictment announced against patronage scandal figure
Indictment announced against patronage scandal figure
By Jason Meisner
Tribune reporter
5:53 PM CST, February 24, 2012
A one-time steakhouse busboy who became a key player in a patronage scandal involving former Cook County Board President Todd Stroger was indicted today on charges he fraudulently collected state and federal housing assistance by hiding his $60,000-a-year county job.
Tony Cole, 32, was charged with two counts of theft of government property and one count of state benefits fraud totaling more than $5,000.
Prosecutors said that when Cole, a onetime college basketball star from Louisiana with a long rap sheet, applied to live at a South Side apartment complex in January 2008, he told the staff he was unemployed and had recently relocated after surviving Hurricane Katrina.
Based on his application, Cole was awarded federal and state housing assistance of $700 per month for rent and $97 for utilities, prosecutors said.
In October 2008, Stroger personally hired Cole as a human resources assistant in the county highway department after meeting him when he worked as a busboy at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.
In his six-month employment, Cole was promoted twice by Stroger, eventually being paid $29.34 an hour, prosecutors said.
In February 2009, Cole filled out a renewal lease application that again misstated his income and employment, according to prosecutors.
“At that time, Cole signed documents in which he stated that he had no income, no employment and had no intention of finding employment, despite being employed by Cook County with an effective $60,000 annual salary,” prosecutors said.
Cole’s hiring exploded into a political scandal in 2009 that led to calls for Stroger’s resignation and the ousting of his cousin, Donna Dunnings, from her job as the county’s top financial officer because of her connections to Cole.
Stroger fired Cole in April 2009, saying he had concealed his felony record.
The apartment complex where Cole had been living evicted him after seeing news reports of his arrests and employment with the county, according to prosecutors.
jmeisner@tribune.com
Please read complete article at link below:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-indictment-announced-against-patronage-scandal-figure-20120224,0,525516.story
Editor's note: Your ProbateShark believes when Cook County leadership is corrupt and rotten at the top...it is no wonder why the Probate Court of Cook county is rotten and corrupt. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
KawamotoDragon.com
By Jason Meisner
Tribune reporter
5:53 PM CST, February 24, 2012
A one-time steakhouse busboy who became a key player in a patronage scandal involving former Cook County Board President Todd Stroger was indicted today on charges he fraudulently collected state and federal housing assistance by hiding his $60,000-a-year county job.
Tony Cole, 32, was charged with two counts of theft of government property and one count of state benefits fraud totaling more than $5,000.
Prosecutors said that when Cole, a onetime college basketball star from Louisiana with a long rap sheet, applied to live at a South Side apartment complex in January 2008, he told the staff he was unemployed and had recently relocated after surviving Hurricane Katrina.
Based on his application, Cole was awarded federal and state housing assistance of $700 per month for rent and $97 for utilities, prosecutors said.
In October 2008, Stroger personally hired Cole as a human resources assistant in the county highway department after meeting him when he worked as a busboy at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.
In his six-month employment, Cole was promoted twice by Stroger, eventually being paid $29.34 an hour, prosecutors said.
In February 2009, Cole filled out a renewal lease application that again misstated his income and employment, according to prosecutors.
“At that time, Cole signed documents in which he stated that he had no income, no employment and had no intention of finding employment, despite being employed by Cook County with an effective $60,000 annual salary,” prosecutors said.
Cole’s hiring exploded into a political scandal in 2009 that led to calls for Stroger’s resignation and the ousting of his cousin, Donna Dunnings, from her job as the county’s top financial officer because of her connections to Cole.
Stroger fired Cole in April 2009, saying he had concealed his felony record.
The apartment complex where Cole had been living evicted him after seeing news reports of his arrests and employment with the county, according to prosecutors.
jmeisner@tribune.com
Please read complete article at link below:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-indictment-announced-against-patronage-scandal-figure-20120224,0,525516.story
Editor's note: Your ProbateShark believes when Cook County leadership is corrupt and rotten at the top...it is no wonder why the Probate Court of Cook county is rotten and corrupt. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
KawamotoDragon.com
Friday, February 24, 2012
Expanding Network of Abusive Guardianships
February 16, 2012 at 21:07:39
Expanding Network of Abusive Guardianships
In the U.S.A. there has been a growing problem of abuse of the elderly and disabled due to a covert system of guardianship or conservatorship. This covert system of power and control is enforced through the judicial system. It is manipulated for use by fraudsters, abusers and persons wielding undue influence for financial advantage. The wards have lost the right to complain, because they have been stripped legally of all their rights, left defenseless and subject to exploitation by the very people chosen to protect them; they are now invisible and voiceless. There is a growing trend for the courts to appoint total strangers who do guardianship duties as a business for profit. The for-profit guardian is appointed to take over the decision making process and often times given total and absolute control over the life, liberty and property of their wards.
There are ethical standards for those who are empowered by the courts to make decisions for incompetent patients. It is extremely important in order to empower those who are disabled and vulnerable to be able to advocate for their own human rights. Those in the court guardianship system should be mindful that the patient's right to choose a course of action remains, even after he or she is placed in a guardianship situation. There still remains the doctrine of informed consent that provides a right of self determination that underpins the protection of each individual person's human rights and inherent dignity. This means providing each and every human being respect and pro-active promotion of patient autonomy in order to foster patient well-being.
The International Courts have emphasized the fundamental human right to dignity deserves no exceptions or limitations, nor any derogations. All human rights are based on the basic principle of dignity.
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights." [Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)]
International human rights standards are delineated in the Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness and the Improvement of Mental Health Care (MI Principles), which were adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1991.
"All persons with a mental illness, or who are being treated as such persons, shall be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person." [MI Principle 1(2)]
In the U.S.A. the guardianship system offers few procedural protections, and has spawned a profit-driven professional guardianship industry that often enriches itself at the expense of society's most vulnerable members--the mentally ill. Yet despite numerous calls for reform, most states have done little to monitor professional guardians and prevent abuse and neglect. The U.S.A. federal government should play an increased role in the protection of incapacitated persons. Federal agencies administer benefit programs such as Medicaid/Medicare which provide support to wards through their payees. But there is little or no coordination between the courts, the state agencies and the federal agencies and thus no notification if they discover that the guardian or representative payee is abusing the person. This lack of coordination may leave incapacitated people without the protection of responsible guardians and representative payees or, worse, with an identified abuser in charge of their benefit payments.
In theory, guardianship proceedings, when conducted properly, offer much-needed protection for adults who can no longer take care of themselves. This system assumes that the person (the ward) has been found to be incompetent to manage their own affairs. In some states, courts require petitioners to submit clear and convincing evidence of a ward's incapacity, while other states only require a petitioner to show only that the proposed ward is more than likely not competent to manage his own affairs. A petition for guardianship is filed in which the person seeking to be appointed guardian tells the court why the ward is incompetent and why it would be in that person's best interests for his or her appointment to be the legal guardian. But there are inadequate procedures and safeguards against mistaken incompetency declarations.
Often the proposed ward and even their families are not even notified about these proceedings until after guardianship has already been established by the court. Under U.S. law it is presumed that guardianship is a last resort, and that it should be used only when an impaired person's needs cannot be met in some less intrusive manner. The principle of limited guardianship requires that a guardian only be granted the powers that are necessitated by a particular ward's condition. Family members, friends, social service agencies, attorneys and even for-profit entrepreneurs may petition to be named as guardian.
Judges often out of expediency grant the guardian complete powers over a ward despite the principle of limited guardianship. Guardianship proceedings are assumed to be non-adversarial and thus guardianship proceedings are to serve the client's best interests rather than to follow the client's instructions or wishes.
An "emergency" guardian may be appointed by the court without so much as prior notice to the proposed ward if it agrees with the petitioner seeking guardianship that delay would likely result in harm to the ward's health, safety or welfare. Thus the ward, who has the most to lose in these proceedings has often little or no input, in addition family members may not even be appraised of the court proceedings until after emergency guardianship has been already established -- thus de-powering them to act as advocates for their family member. A guardianship terminates only when the ward dies or the court rules that there is good reason to reconsider the arrangement such as the ward regaining a marked degree of competence, the guardian spending down the ward's entire estate until it is no longer able to pay bills, or misconduct on the part of the court appointed guardian.
For profit "professional" guardians are allowed to be compensated from their wards' accounts for the services they provide, and many have seized the economic opportunity presented by the incapacity of others by making a business of acting as a guardian. They have cooperative business financial relationships with a variety of service providers such as doctors, hospitals, lawyers, courts and government agencies responsible for mental health care. Emergency placements are prone to abuse by the professional guardianship industry and professional guardians making financial decisions for their own self interest. Professional guardians know how to manipulate the medical and court system to use procedural loopholes of the emergency guardianship procedure to gain legal and financial control over the ward's rights and assets and total control over the ward's medical care. With no notice at all to the ward or ward's family, the entire life savings can be stolen, their home sold at fire sale prices and all valuables and personal possessions plundered and sold often at action. In addition attorneys acting as guardians may charge exorbitant fees or commissions to the ward's estate thus bankrupting the life savings and assets of the ward.
The use of guardianship power can be used to ensnare the vulnerable elderly and disabled patients into substandard nursing homes and Medicaid fraud schemes. Guardianship abuse can involve situations of clinical medical human subject experimentation -- thus using guardianship to get past the requirement of informed consent necessary for human subjects protections by having the guardian blanket endorse any medication without question that the treating physician wants to use. This permits kickbacks to the prescribing doctors to go unnoticed by medical authorities and by passes that pesky paperwork required by National Institute for Health for human subjects -- in addition it gives cart blanche to use "off label" medications -- especially psychiatric medications which are routinely used for chemical restraint of patients. This trend is of course, encouraged by the blossoming pharmaceutical market in drugs for dementia, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's as well as other mental disorders like depression. In the United States governmental agencies which legally participate in human experimentation, like the Department of Health, Education and Welfare and its subsidiaries like the National Institute on Health (NIH) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) must have legal policies and regulations which include standard "human consent forms" to be filled out by participants to acknowledge that they are participating in human experimentation, thus keeping the United States government in compliance with the Nuremberg Code of International Law and other international human rights standards. Thus in clinical or research studies additional informed consent must be used to protect the human rights of the subjects. Informed consent is a requirement, not a courtesy. This is especially true if the human subject is going to undergo any evaluation, testing, treatment or procedure that is not part of standard medical care.
Please read part 2 of this article at link below:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Expanding-Network-of-Abusi-by-Janet-Parker-120215-227.html
Editor's note: No where is this cabal of cronyism more evident than in the corrupt Probate Court of Cook county. Every day fresh "meat" in the form of families of the dead, dying, disabled and aged are fed into the insaitiable appotites of parasitic judges, lawyers, care providing agencies and nursing homes. The following case is a prime example what is occuring in this court system:
Alice R. Gore Estate value about 1 million dollars: Alice R. Gore, deceased, a disabled 99 year old ward of the Probate Court of Cook County, Judge Kawamoto’s courtroom was hours away from ending up in the Cook County Morgue. Alice's estate was depleted by probate court parasites and there were reportedly no funds to bury her. Her loving family paid for the burial expenses so that Alice would not have to suffer the indignity of being stacked like an Auschwitz inmate in the Cook County morgue. The judge allowed an easily manipulated mentally disabled granddaughter to be appointed as Alice’s guardian and yet no sanctions were instituted against the judge for this blatant infraction of the law. An ethics board staffed by "citizens" would be appropriate to prevent fleecing of estates! Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
KawamotoDragon.com
Expanding Network of Abusive Guardianships
In the U.S.A. there has been a growing problem of abuse of the elderly and disabled due to a covert system of guardianship or conservatorship. This covert system of power and control is enforced through the judicial system. It is manipulated for use by fraudsters, abusers and persons wielding undue influence for financial advantage. The wards have lost the right to complain, because they have been stripped legally of all their rights, left defenseless and subject to exploitation by the very people chosen to protect them; they are now invisible and voiceless. There is a growing trend for the courts to appoint total strangers who do guardianship duties as a business for profit. The for-profit guardian is appointed to take over the decision making process and often times given total and absolute control over the life, liberty and property of their wards.
There are ethical standards for those who are empowered by the courts to make decisions for incompetent patients. It is extremely important in order to empower those who are disabled and vulnerable to be able to advocate for their own human rights. Those in the court guardianship system should be mindful that the patient's right to choose a course of action remains, even after he or she is placed in a guardianship situation. There still remains the doctrine of informed consent that provides a right of self determination that underpins the protection of each individual person's human rights and inherent dignity. This means providing each and every human being respect and pro-active promotion of patient autonomy in order to foster patient well-being.
The International Courts have emphasized the fundamental human right to dignity deserves no exceptions or limitations, nor any derogations. All human rights are based on the basic principle of dignity.
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights." [Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)]
International human rights standards are delineated in the Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness and the Improvement of Mental Health Care (MI Principles), which were adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1991.
"All persons with a mental illness, or who are being treated as such persons, shall be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person." [MI Principle 1(2)]
In the U.S.A. the guardianship system offers few procedural protections, and has spawned a profit-driven professional guardianship industry that often enriches itself at the expense of society's most vulnerable members--the mentally ill. Yet despite numerous calls for reform, most states have done little to monitor professional guardians and prevent abuse and neglect. The U.S.A. federal government should play an increased role in the protection of incapacitated persons. Federal agencies administer benefit programs such as Medicaid/Medicare which provide support to wards through their payees. But there is little or no coordination between the courts, the state agencies and the federal agencies and thus no notification if they discover that the guardian or representative payee is abusing the person. This lack of coordination may leave incapacitated people without the protection of responsible guardians and representative payees or, worse, with an identified abuser in charge of their benefit payments.
In theory, guardianship proceedings, when conducted properly, offer much-needed protection for adults who can no longer take care of themselves. This system assumes that the person (the ward) has been found to be incompetent to manage their own affairs. In some states, courts require petitioners to submit clear and convincing evidence of a ward's incapacity, while other states only require a petitioner to show only that the proposed ward is more than likely not competent to manage his own affairs. A petition for guardianship is filed in which the person seeking to be appointed guardian tells the court why the ward is incompetent and why it would be in that person's best interests for his or her appointment to be the legal guardian. But there are inadequate procedures and safeguards against mistaken incompetency declarations.
Often the proposed ward and even their families are not even notified about these proceedings until after guardianship has already been established by the court. Under U.S. law it is presumed that guardianship is a last resort, and that it should be used only when an impaired person's needs cannot be met in some less intrusive manner. The principle of limited guardianship requires that a guardian only be granted the powers that are necessitated by a particular ward's condition. Family members, friends, social service agencies, attorneys and even for-profit entrepreneurs may petition to be named as guardian.
Judges often out of expediency grant the guardian complete powers over a ward despite the principle of limited guardianship. Guardianship proceedings are assumed to be non-adversarial and thus guardianship proceedings are to serve the client's best interests rather than to follow the client's instructions or wishes.
An "emergency" guardian may be appointed by the court without so much as prior notice to the proposed ward if it agrees with the petitioner seeking guardianship that delay would likely result in harm to the ward's health, safety or welfare. Thus the ward, who has the most to lose in these proceedings has often little or no input, in addition family members may not even be appraised of the court proceedings until after emergency guardianship has been already established -- thus de-powering them to act as advocates for their family member. A guardianship terminates only when the ward dies or the court rules that there is good reason to reconsider the arrangement such as the ward regaining a marked degree of competence, the guardian spending down the ward's entire estate until it is no longer able to pay bills, or misconduct on the part of the court appointed guardian.
For profit "professional" guardians are allowed to be compensated from their wards' accounts for the services they provide, and many have seized the economic opportunity presented by the incapacity of others by making a business of acting as a guardian. They have cooperative business financial relationships with a variety of service providers such as doctors, hospitals, lawyers, courts and government agencies responsible for mental health care. Emergency placements are prone to abuse by the professional guardianship industry and professional guardians making financial decisions for their own self interest. Professional guardians know how to manipulate the medical and court system to use procedural loopholes of the emergency guardianship procedure to gain legal and financial control over the ward's rights and assets and total control over the ward's medical care. With no notice at all to the ward or ward's family, the entire life savings can be stolen, their home sold at fire sale prices and all valuables and personal possessions plundered and sold often at action. In addition attorneys acting as guardians may charge exorbitant fees or commissions to the ward's estate thus bankrupting the life savings and assets of the ward.
The use of guardianship power can be used to ensnare the vulnerable elderly and disabled patients into substandard nursing homes and Medicaid fraud schemes. Guardianship abuse can involve situations of clinical medical human subject experimentation -- thus using guardianship to get past the requirement of informed consent necessary for human subjects protections by having the guardian blanket endorse any medication without question that the treating physician wants to use. This permits kickbacks to the prescribing doctors to go unnoticed by medical authorities and by passes that pesky paperwork required by National Institute for Health for human subjects -- in addition it gives cart blanche to use "off label" medications -- especially psychiatric medications which are routinely used for chemical restraint of patients. This trend is of course, encouraged by the blossoming pharmaceutical market in drugs for dementia, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's as well as other mental disorders like depression. In the United States governmental agencies which legally participate in human experimentation, like the Department of Health, Education and Welfare and its subsidiaries like the National Institute on Health (NIH) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) must have legal policies and regulations which include standard "human consent forms" to be filled out by participants to acknowledge that they are participating in human experimentation, thus keeping the United States government in compliance with the Nuremberg Code of International Law and other international human rights standards. Thus in clinical or research studies additional informed consent must be used to protect the human rights of the subjects. Informed consent is a requirement, not a courtesy. This is especially true if the human subject is going to undergo any evaluation, testing, treatment or procedure that is not part of standard medical care.
Please read part 2 of this article at link below:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Expanding-Network-of-Abusi-by-Janet-Parker-120215-227.html
Editor's note: No where is this cabal of cronyism more evident than in the corrupt Probate Court of Cook county. Every day fresh "meat" in the form of families of the dead, dying, disabled and aged are fed into the insaitiable appotites of parasitic judges, lawyers, care providing agencies and nursing homes. The following case is a prime example what is occuring in this court system:
Alice R. Gore Estate value about 1 million dollars: Alice R. Gore, deceased, a disabled 99 year old ward of the Probate Court of Cook County, Judge Kawamoto’s courtroom was hours away from ending up in the Cook County Morgue. Alice's estate was depleted by probate court parasites and there were reportedly no funds to bury her. Her loving family paid for the burial expenses so that Alice would not have to suffer the indignity of being stacked like an Auschwitz inmate in the Cook County morgue. The judge allowed an easily manipulated mentally disabled granddaughter to be appointed as Alice’s guardian and yet no sanctions were instituted against the judge for this blatant infraction of the law. An ethics board staffed by "citizens" would be appropriate to prevent fleecing of estates! Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
KawamotoDragon.com
Insurance company cheats seniors, lawsuit alleges
Source: Santa Monica Daily Press
Insurance company cheats seniors, lawsuit alleges
by Ashley Archibald
February 10, 2012
OCEAN PARK BLVD — Santa Monica-based protection advocates Consumer Watchdog filed a class action lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of an 87-year-old man and other elders they allege were bilked out of thousands of dollars by an insurance company in Pennsylvania.
Attorneys from Consumer Watchdog and the law firm of Shernoff Bidart Echeverria Bentley, LLP filed the lawsuit at the San Bernadino Superior Courthouse.
According to the suit, William Hall, of Upland, Calif., was allegedly cheated out of thousands of dollars by the Senior Health Insurance Company of Pennsylvania, or SHIP, which refused to honor the long-term care policy he had held with one interruption since 1994.
The suit charges that the company told policy holders that they needed to submit paperwork that was not required under their policies and when paperwork was submitted, did not acknowledge its receipt.
The claims are largely for in-home care services, caregivers that help old or infirm patients with daily tasks like dressing, bathing, eating and home chores.
Hall further alleged that when a claim was finally processed, it accounted for only 20 percent of what should have been covered.
"In simple terms, the goal of this lawsuit is to stop bad practices of this company and any company that picks on the elderly and gives them the run-around," said Bill Shernoff, an attorney on the case, during a press conference in Sunset Park.
Annette Gobrogge, a spokeswoman for SHIP, confirmed that the lawsuit had been filed and that the organization was looking into the complaint.
"SHIP focuses on ensuring that eligible claims are paid in accordance with the policy contracts that its customers have purchased, and operates without profit motive," Gobrogge wrote in an e-mail. "SHIP's sole mission is to pay eligible claims accurately and timely, and has established a very strong record of compliance."
The company is owned by a trust created by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, and says on its website that "there is no profit motive."
According to the suit, Hall, a former chief of medicine at Kaiser Permanente hospital in Fontana, Calif. had repeated problems trying to get the company to pay claims.
Hall had paid over $20,000 in premiums since purchasing the insurance initially in 1994.
The lawsuit seeks to stop the company from requesting documents the plaintiff and his attorneys deem to be illegal under state law or unnecessary under the policy; respond to claims in a timely manner; to show clearly what is covered in benefit statements; keep records of documents submitted by policy holders and to allow policyholders to use any medical professional they choose to determine their eligibility benefits.
Furthermore, Hall is personally seeking damages for breach of contract, elder abuse and fraudulent business practices.
Please read complete article at link below:
http://www.smdp.com/hc.e.73449.lasso
Insurance company cheats seniors, lawsuit alleges
by Ashley Archibald
February 10, 2012
OCEAN PARK BLVD — Santa Monica-based protection advocates Consumer Watchdog filed a class action lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of an 87-year-old man and other elders they allege were bilked out of thousands of dollars by an insurance company in Pennsylvania.
Attorneys from Consumer Watchdog and the law firm of Shernoff Bidart Echeverria Bentley, LLP filed the lawsuit at the San Bernadino Superior Courthouse.
According to the suit, William Hall, of Upland, Calif., was allegedly cheated out of thousands of dollars by the Senior Health Insurance Company of Pennsylvania, or SHIP, which refused to honor the long-term care policy he had held with one interruption since 1994.
The suit charges that the company told policy holders that they needed to submit paperwork that was not required under their policies and when paperwork was submitted, did not acknowledge its receipt.
The claims are largely for in-home care services, caregivers that help old or infirm patients with daily tasks like dressing, bathing, eating and home chores.
Hall further alleged that when a claim was finally processed, it accounted for only 20 percent of what should have been covered.
"In simple terms, the goal of this lawsuit is to stop bad practices of this company and any company that picks on the elderly and gives them the run-around," said Bill Shernoff, an attorney on the case, during a press conference in Sunset Park.
Annette Gobrogge, a spokeswoman for SHIP, confirmed that the lawsuit had been filed and that the organization was looking into the complaint.
"SHIP focuses on ensuring that eligible claims are paid in accordance with the policy contracts that its customers have purchased, and operates without profit motive," Gobrogge wrote in an e-mail. "SHIP's sole mission is to pay eligible claims accurately and timely, and has established a very strong record of compliance."
The company is owned by a trust created by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, and says on its website that "there is no profit motive."
According to the suit, Hall, a former chief of medicine at Kaiser Permanente hospital in Fontana, Calif. had repeated problems trying to get the company to pay claims.
Hall had paid over $20,000 in premiums since purchasing the insurance initially in 1994.
The lawsuit seeks to stop the company from requesting documents the plaintiff and his attorneys deem to be illegal under state law or unnecessary under the policy; respond to claims in a timely manner; to show clearly what is covered in benefit statements; keep records of documents submitted by policy holders and to allow policyholders to use any medical professional they choose to determine their eligibility benefits.
Furthermore, Hall is personally seeking damages for breach of contract, elder abuse and fraudulent business practices.
Please read complete article at link below:
http://www.smdp.com/hc.e.73449.lasso
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Subject: press release - Lake County Coroner
Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2012 9:52:00 AM
Subject: press release
Yesterdays press conference in Waukegan, Il by Darrin Hanna's attorneys provides striking evidence of conflicts of interest with this case and the Coroner's Office of Lake County, Il. This office has been operating as an extension of law enforcement and as such presents conflicts of interest.
The current coroner is a former policeman and Chief of police of the city of Waukegan. This former law enforcement officer is now investigating an alleged beating and death at the hands of the North Chicago, Ill police officers. This is a conflict of interest. At the same time he is endorsed for coroner by the mayor of North Chicago, Mr. Rockingham! Another conflict of interest. To make matters even worse, Coroner Yancey, has been named in a civil suit filed in federal court in Oct, 2011, for "conspiring to frame, James Edwards, of murder by physically and psychologically torturing him into making false confessions" ( see News Sun article "Convicted murderer sues Waukegan cops who 'conspired to frame' him", last modified: 11-22-11. Case still pending in Lake County judicial circuit) Yet another conflict of interest.
The coroner's office clearly should and must be nonpolitical and neutral in all of its investigations. At the same time this office must affirm a cordial and collegial, but impartial, relationship with the other death investigation organizations. But it must always remain independent and reveal not even a hint of any conflicts of interest as seen in this case.
Nagoya zoo website hacked to display messages on Nanjing Massacre
Nagoya zoo website hacked to display messages on Nanjing Massacre
NAGOYA, Feb. 23, Kyodo
The city of Nagoya said Thursday the website of a city-run zoo was hacked to display messages to the effect that the 1937 massacre of civilians by Japanese soldiers in Nanjing, China, should be acknowledged.
The posted messages, which included Chinese characters believed to show a Chinese personal name, followed Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura's recent denial of the Nanjing Massacre.
The posting in Japanese also included messages stating ''The history is manipulated!'' and ''Please acknowledge the Nanjing Massacre!'' displayed along with a full-body photo of a man, which appeared after clicking on the Chinese characters shown on the top page of the website, city officials said.
Please read complete article at link below:
http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2012/02/143416.html
KawamotoDragon.com
NAGOYA, Feb. 23, Kyodo
The city of Nagoya said Thursday the website of a city-run zoo was hacked to display messages to the effect that the 1937 massacre of civilians by Japanese soldiers in Nanjing, China, should be acknowledged.
The posted messages, which included Chinese characters believed to show a Chinese personal name, followed Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura's recent denial of the Nanjing Massacre.
The posting in Japanese also included messages stating ''The history is manipulated!'' and ''Please acknowledge the Nanjing Massacre!'' displayed along with a full-body photo of a man, which appeared after clicking on the Chinese characters shown on the top page of the website, city officials said.
Please read complete article at link below:
http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2012/02/143416.html
KawamotoDragon.com
D.C. class-action nursing-home lawsuit to go forward
Posted at 10:04 PM ET, 02/14/2012
D.C. class-action nursing-home lawsuit to go forward
By Annys Shin
The District has lost an effort to have a federal judge throw out a class-action suit brought on behalf of nearly 3,000 nursing home residents.
Judge Ellen Huvelle on Tuesday rejected the city’s contention that it has complied with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) by providing services to nursing home residents who want to live in the community. The ADA requires states and local governments to provide services to people with disabilities in the most integrated setting possible.
Huvelle ruled that the District’s claims fell short of those requirements on several fronts, including that the city has no meaningful plan to integrate nursing-home residents into community settings.
The case, Day v. the District of Columbia, was brought by University Legal Services, AARP Foundation Litigation and Arent Fox LLP.
— Annys Shin
Please read complete article at link below:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-wire/post/dc-class-action-nursing-home-lawsuit-to-go-forward/2012/02/14/gIQAp1MhER_blog.html
D.C. class-action nursing-home lawsuit to go forward
By Annys Shin
The District has lost an effort to have a federal judge throw out a class-action suit brought on behalf of nearly 3,000 nursing home residents.
Judge Ellen Huvelle on Tuesday rejected the city’s contention that it has complied with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) by providing services to nursing home residents who want to live in the community. The ADA requires states and local governments to provide services to people with disabilities in the most integrated setting possible.
Huvelle ruled that the District’s claims fell short of those requirements on several fronts, including that the city has no meaningful plan to integrate nursing-home residents into community settings.
The case, Day v. the District of Columbia, was brought by University Legal Services, AARP Foundation Litigation and Arent Fox LLP.
— Annys Shin
Please read complete article at link below:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-wire/post/dc-class-action-nursing-home-lawsuit-to-go-forward/2012/02/14/gIQAp1MhER_blog.html
Stepmom, grandmother charged in girl's running death
Stepmom, grandmother charged in girl's running death
Published February 22, 2012
Associated Press
At the end of a dirt road leading to a double-wide trailer in rural Alabama, authorities say 9-year-old Savannah Hardin was being forced to run for three hours as punishment for having lied to her grandmother about eating candy bars. The severely dehydrated girl had a seizure and died days later, her death ruled a homicide.
Her grandmother and stepmother who police say meted out the punishment are in jail, facing murder charges Wednesday.
Witnesses told deputies that Savannah was told to run and not allowed to stop for three hours on Friday, an Etowah County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman said. The girl's stepmother, 27-year-old Jessica Mae Hardin, called police at 6:45 p.m., telling them that Savannah was having a seizure and was unresponsive.
Neighbor Rodger Simpson said he saw a little girl running at around 4 p.m., but didn't see anybody chasing or coercing her.
"I saw her running down there, that's what I told the detectives," Simpson said from his home on a hill overlooking the Hardins. "But I don't see how that would kill her."
Authorities are still trying to determine whether Savannah was forced to run by physical coercion or by verbal commands. Deputies were told the girl was forced to run after lying to her grandmother, 46-year-old Joyce Hardin Garrard, about having eaten the candy, sheriff's office spokeswoman Natalie Barton said.
Savannah Hardin died Monday at Children's Hospital in Birmingham, according to a news release from the sheriff's office. The sheriff's release says the autopsy report showed the girl was extremely dehydrated and had a very low sodium level. A state pathologist ruled it a homicide.
The sheriff's office received calls from concerned citizens who had witnessed the running. No other details were released.
Gail Denny and her husband Phil, live just up a dirt road from the home. They've known the family since they moved to the area in northeastern Alabama seven years ago.
The Denny's say they were used to seeing Savannah and other neighborhood children out waiting on the school bus in the morning. Gayle said her grandson had a crush on Savannah.
"My grandson asked her to be his girlfriend on Valentine's Day, and she said `yes,"' Gail said before dissolving into tears.
The trailer where Savannah lived with her father, Robert Hardin, and stepmother was surrounded by a wooden fence, playground equipment and toys. Neighbors say they never saw children playing in the yard.
Neighbors tell The Associated Press that Garrard owned a lot of property along the road and much of her family lived in homes on that property.
"It seems like a very happy extended family around here," Denny said. "There are mothers, grandmothers, kids. It sounds like a punishment that got out of hand."
Denny had brought a candle to the Hardin property and lit it beside a stuffed animal surrounded by roses.
Garrard and Jessica Mae Hardin are being held in the Etowah County Detention Center, each on a $500,000 cash bond.
Court records show that Robert Hardin filed for divorce in August of 2010. In his complaint, he asserted his wife was bi-polar and of had alcoholic tendencies. He accused her of previously having run off with the couple's own child.
In her response, Jessica denied all of Robert's allegations.
Five months after filing for divorce, the two asked a judge to dismiss their case.
Savannah Hardin was a third-grader at Carlisle Elementary School. Superintendent Alan Cosby said her desk had been turned into a makeshift memorial where her classmates could leave notes and mementos. He said counselors and social workers were made available for students.
"This is obviously a very tragic, devastating, heartbreaking situation," Cosby said. "Nothing like this has ever happened before."
Read more:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/02/22/stepmom-grandmother-charged-in-girls-running-death/print#ixzz1nD2Seifc
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/02/22/stepmom-grandmother-charged-in-girls-running-death/
Editor's note: There has to be a special rung in Hell for these two
s--tkickers. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Man's death triggered by North Chicago police beating, private autopsy finds
Man's death triggered by North Chicago police beating, private autopsy finds
By Robert McCoppin
Tribune reporter
7:50 PM CST, February 22, 2012
A private autopsy has found that a North Chicago man died from multiple causes that were triggered by a beating, allegedly at the hands of North Chicago police officers, his family’s attorney said today.
“The pathologist said he’d still be alive if he wasn’t beaten that day,” attorney Muriel Collison said. “This was the triggering event.”
The autopsy was commissioned by the family of Darrin Hanna, 45, of North Chicago, who died Nov. 13 of last year. The results of the official autopsy by the Lake County coroner’s office have not yet been released.
Seven North Chicago officers have been placed on desk duty and the police chief has been placed on leave while the state police investigates the circumstances surrounding Hanna’s death.
His family has filed a federal lawsuit against North Chicago and six officers who allegedly took part in Hanna’s arrest following a domestic battery complaint at his home.
The private autopsy found that the immediate cause of Hanna’s death was sickle cell crisis with acute chest syndrome and multi-system organ failure, but the “main disease” that brought on the fatality was multiple blunt trauma, hypertensive and arteriosclerotic heart disease, and sickle cell disease.
Hanna suffered multiple bruises on both upper arms, his right hands, both sides, right calf, and both his eye sockets. He also had internal bleeding in his chest, and acute bleeding in his spleen, the private autopsy determined.
He also suffered acute respiratory distress requiring a ventilator, and acute kidney failure requiring dialysis following the incident Nov. 6.
He also had a history of illegal drug use, along with a long criminal record, court records show, and tested positive for cocaine and marijuana upon admission to the hospital, the autopsy found.
The investigation into the death was performed primarily by Dr. Michael Kaufman, a pathologist with NorthShore University HealthSystem.
Hanna’s death touched off turmoil in the far northern suburb as others came forward to claim they had been beaten by police.
Use-of-force incidents by police increased from eight in 2008 to 28 last year, according to city records.
At least 10 federal lawsuits were filed against the city, which paid more than $1.4 million for excessive force claims.
In that time, only four officers were disciplined for the use of force, and none had been dismissed.
Amid calls for change in the police department, Mayor Leon Rockingham Jr. placed police Chief Mike Newsome on paid leave in January, and installed as interim chief James Jackson, the former second-in-command in the Chicago Police Department.
The mayor and chief could not be reached immediately for comment about the private Hanna autopsy.
Please read complete article at link below:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-mans-death-triggered-by-north-chicago-police-beating-private-autopsy-finds-20120222,0,2801497.story
By Robert McCoppin
Tribune reporter
7:50 PM CST, February 22, 2012
A private autopsy has found that a North Chicago man died from multiple causes that were triggered by a beating, allegedly at the hands of North Chicago police officers, his family’s attorney said today.
“The pathologist said he’d still be alive if he wasn’t beaten that day,” attorney Muriel Collison said. “This was the triggering event.”
The autopsy was commissioned by the family of Darrin Hanna, 45, of North Chicago, who died Nov. 13 of last year. The results of the official autopsy by the Lake County coroner’s office have not yet been released.
Seven North Chicago officers have been placed on desk duty and the police chief has been placed on leave while the state police investigates the circumstances surrounding Hanna’s death.
His family has filed a federal lawsuit against North Chicago and six officers who allegedly took part in Hanna’s arrest following a domestic battery complaint at his home.
The private autopsy found that the immediate cause of Hanna’s death was sickle cell crisis with acute chest syndrome and multi-system organ failure, but the “main disease” that brought on the fatality was multiple blunt trauma, hypertensive and arteriosclerotic heart disease, and sickle cell disease.
Hanna suffered multiple bruises on both upper arms, his right hands, both sides, right calf, and both his eye sockets. He also had internal bleeding in his chest, and acute bleeding in his spleen, the private autopsy determined.
He also suffered acute respiratory distress requiring a ventilator, and acute kidney failure requiring dialysis following the incident Nov. 6.
He also had a history of illegal drug use, along with a long criminal record, court records show, and tested positive for cocaine and marijuana upon admission to the hospital, the autopsy found.
The investigation into the death was performed primarily by Dr. Michael Kaufman, a pathologist with NorthShore University HealthSystem.
Hanna’s death touched off turmoil in the far northern suburb as others came forward to claim they had been beaten by police.
Use-of-force incidents by police increased from eight in 2008 to 28 last year, according to city records.
At least 10 federal lawsuits were filed against the city, which paid more than $1.4 million for excessive force claims.
In that time, only four officers were disciplined for the use of force, and none had been dismissed.
Amid calls for change in the police department, Mayor Leon Rockingham Jr. placed police Chief Mike Newsome on paid leave in January, and installed as interim chief James Jackson, the former second-in-command in the Chicago Police Department.
The mayor and chief could not be reached immediately for comment about the private Hanna autopsy.
Please read complete article at link below:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-mans-death-triggered-by-north-chicago-police-beating-private-autopsy-finds-20120222,0,2801497.story
Report: Dirty surgical tools in hospitals putting patients at risk
Report: Dirty surgical tools in hospitals putting patients at risk
Published February 22, 2012
FoxNews.com
When 63-year-old John Harrison had surgery to repair his rotator cuff in 2009, he assumed the ordeal would be quick and relatively painless.
Instead, Harrison, who had the surgery performed at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, developed an infection that ate away at his shoulder bone and rotator cuff. The infection led to a lengthy recovery time, and he became dependent on nurses to help him dress and shower.
Harrison was one of seven patients who developed an infection after having surgery at Methodist within a two-week timeframe. As a result, the hospital had to close its operating room so the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) could investigate.
“Evidence from the investigation suggests the Methodist infection outbreak was most likely caused by retained tissue,” said Dr. Pritish Tosh, a former investigator at the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service, in a 2011 issue of Control and Hospital Epidemiology.
In Harrison’s case, the likely causes of infection were the two surgical tools – an arthoscopic shaver and an inflow/outflow cannula – which, when inspected using tiny video cameras, were found to have traces of human tissue and blood caked onto them.
According to a report from the Center for Public Integrity (CPI), dirty surgical tools are not uncommon – and the more technologically advanced these tools become, the harder they are to clean.
Methodist staff members insisted they followed the cleaning instructions provided by the tools’ manufacturer, Kalamazoo, Mich.-based Stryker – but the tools remained dirty.
Stryker did not comment on whether it tested “its reprocessing instructions in hospitals,” according to the report.
Maureen Disbot, vice president of quality at Methodist, said Stryker representatives were brought to the hospital to make sure employees were cleaning the tools properly.
She said after the meeting, the hospital was confident it was following Stryker’s instructions.
Five months after Harrison’s surgery, Stryker clarified the cleaning instructions for shavers, issuing a 10-step method. The tenth step is to inspect the insides of the devices using a digital scope, and repeat steps one through nine if the tool is still dirty.
“Sometimes we have to beat the instrument on the table to loosen up the bone.”
- Sharon Greene-Golden, a central sterile processing manager at Bon Secours Mary Immaculate Hospital in Newport News, Va.
“We regret that our patients had this experience,” Disbot said. “But, we have done everything, and we have now fixed the problem. That’s what we stand on.”
Methodist is not the only hospital where dirty surgical tools have led to health problems. Also in 2009, the Department of Veterans Affairs admitted more than 10,000 patients in Florida, Tennessee and Georgia had colonoscopies and endoscopies with contaminated tools between 2002 and 2009. Some of these patients have tested positive for HIV, hepatitis C and hepatitis B. Lawsuits ensued.
In 2008, an outpatient surgical center in Las Vegas found six patients had been sickened with hepatitis C after it reused biopsy forceps.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does regulate such devices. It held a workshop in the summer of 2011 to address the concerns of cleaning dirty medical devices. Experts discussed how difficult it is to thoroughly clean devices in between procedures.
Jahan Azizi, a risk management clinical engineer at the University of Michigan Health System, told attendees his team videotaped the insides of 350 surgery-ready suction tips – and found that every single one of the tips contained blood, bone, tissue, and in some cases, rust.
Even after Azizi’s team tried to clean the tips, all but seven were still dirty. It turned out a design flaw was to blame.
Another reason for poorly cleaned surgical tools? Hospital employees whose job it is to clean them are underpaid and overworked, and the struggle to have the tools ready for back-to-back operations.
Why the problems exist today
Years ago, surgical tools were made of steel and glass – so sterilizing them was easy: just put them through a shot of steam.
Today, doctors use high-tech flexible endoscopes and surgical robotics, which become clogged with debris that is not visible to the naked eye.
“Cleaning was once a basic factory job,” said Joe Lewelling, vice president of standards and development at the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation. “Now it’s very complex. It takes a lot of steps. It’s more like a laboratory process.”
The cleaning process is usually done in hot, humid basements – and at the largest of hospitals, some 40,000 surgical tools have to be cleaned each day. The FDA requires the manufacturers of these devices to prove the cleaning methods are effective, but often independent labs are hired to evaluate them. These dirty devices can sit around for days before someone gets around to cleaning them, and by that time, human waste has baked on them.
“Sometimes we have to beat the instrument on the table to loosen up the bone,” said Sharon Greene-Golden, a central sterile processing manager at Bon Secours Mary Immaculate Hospital in Newport News, Va. She pointed out that tools used in cesarean sections often look like they’ve been to “a massacre.”
According to the report, only New Jersey requires cleaning technicians to be certified. Mary Olivera, director of sterilization at a New York City medical facility and past president of the New York State Association of Central Service Professionals, noted that dog groomers and nail technicians go through more infection control training and have to be certified.
FDA’s involvement
Still, the FDA has not done enough to solve this problem, according to the CPI.
Karen Riley, a spokeswoman for the FDA, said the agency has asked manufacturers of arthroscopic shavers to study how well these instruments were being cleaned, but the agency declined to comment on its findings.
According to Riley, 2.1 million arthroscopic knee procedures took place in the United States in 2010, and only 1 percent resulted in adverse reactions (from all causes).
“This does not merit withdrawal of a valuable device,” Riley said.
Riley also said the agency released a draft of new guidelines last summer, which says manufacturers of such tools must develop “more robust reprocessing instructions appropriate for the real-world hospital environment.” The guidelines also suggest some changes are made to pre-market testing criteria, according to the CPI’s report.
It is not yet clear when these guidelines will become final.
Read more:
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/02/22/report-dirty-surgical-tools-in-hospitals-putting-patients-at-risk/#ixzz1n9z3s5zZ
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/02/22/report-dirty-surgical-tools-in-hospitals-putting-patients-at-risk/
11 children removed from sex offender’s home after some were found tied to beds
11 children removed from sex offender’s home after some were found tied to beds
One month later, authorities are still trying to find out how the children were there
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tuesday, February 21, 2012, 5:46 PM.. StumbleUpon
DAYTON, Texas — Texas authorities said Tuesday they removed 11 children from a crowded home where a registered sex offender lives after they found eight confined in a small, dark bedroom with restraints tying some to their beds.
Along with the children, 10 adults were living in the one-story, 1,700-square-foot home in Dayton, about 30 miles northeast of Houston, Child Protective Services spokeswoman Gwen Carter said. One month after a raid on the house, authorities are still trying to determine how the children are related and why they were there, she said.
The children ranged in age from 5 months to 11 years. Three who were age 5 or older had not been enrolled in school, Carter said.
The children were removed after authorities found two 2-year-old children tied to a bed during a January visit to the home, according to a court document.
A legally blind, 5-year-old girl "was in a restraint on a filthy mattress, and appeared to be in a daze," the document said. One child had a black eye and knocked-out tooth.
The adults told investigators they tied the children when they slept or took a nap during the day "for safety," the document said. An investigator noted that none of the adults said they saw anything wrong with the arrangement.
Two of the children had what authorities feared was pneumonia and were taken to a children's hospital. All have since been placed in foster homes, Carter said.
The case is still under investigation, and Dayton Police Sgt. Doug O'Quinn said officials are looking into criminal charges. Liberty County District Attorney Mike Little said his office would present a case to a grand jury next month, but he declined to discuss possible suspects or charges.
"Our primary concern was to make sure that the children were stable and safe," Carter said.
Three unidentified women leave the home after cops discovered the restrained children. (Pat Sullivan/AP)The home with a "No Trespassing" sign out front is in a subdivision near land used for farming and ranching. A tricycle and other toys were in the backyard Tuesday, and several cars were parked outside.
People leaving the home declined to talk to media assembled outside, and other residents and their relatives declined to comment or didn't respond to phone messages.
One person in Texas' online sex offender registry listed the house as his address. Mark E. Marsh III was convicted in Michigan 15 years ago of criminal sexual conduct with a 15-year-old girl. He did not have a working phone number listed.
Neighbor Wayne Hardin said he never saw the youngest children and had no idea so many people were living in the house. Though he often saw eight or more cars parked outside, Hardin said he was told the residents had a big family.
"I was shocked," said Hardin, who had called police about loud music blaring from the house. "We didn't have a clue."
Along with the children, two teenage runaways with a stolen car were at the home, authorities said. The boys, both 16, admitted running away from foster homes, smoking marijuana and driving a car they knew was stolen, authorities said.
Carter said the home was not registered as a foster home or day care
Read more:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/11-children-removed-sex-offender-home-found-tied-beds-article-1.1026468#ixzz1n7TmW3hb
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/11-children-removed-sex-offender-home-found-tied-beds-article-1.1026468
American doctors terrified of litigation
American doctors terrified of litigation
The threat of lawsuits negatively impacts not only the doctor-patient relationship, but patient care in general.
Last Modified: 16 Feb 2012 08:55
Malpractice premiums in high-risk specialties, such as neurosurgery, can be up to $140,000 per year [GALLO/GETTY]
Chicago, IL - Imagine that you are floating in a small raft, in the middle of the ocean, with a fiery sun beating down on your back. There is one other person in the raft, who is thirsty, so you give him the only bottle of water available. He chokes on the water and develops pneumonia. When you are rescued two days later, your companion goes to your boss, and tells him you should be fired and they compensated.
Welcome to the world of medical malpractice.
Not much is supposed to scare the modern American physician. After all, they work in a complex environment of growing specialisation, within an ever-changing practice landscape. They deal with matters of life and death on a daily basis. Despite statistics by the WHO that put the overall US healthcare ranking among the lowest for western democracies, American physicians are widely regarded as the best in the world, with excellent use of the latest medical evidence in their practice.
"There is something that is on the mind of every American physician, every single day - the threat of litigation."
Yet, there is something that is on the mind of every American physician, every single day - the threat of litigation.
It is difficult to understate the effect this has on the collective psyche of physicians. Even family practitioners, who are sued the least of any specialty, can expect at least a 40 per cent likelihood that they will be taken to court in their career. For high-risk specialties such as obstetrics and neurosurgery, litigation is accepted as a matter of when, not if. Indeed, malpractice premiums of $140,000 per year are not unheard of in these fields.
The terror of litigation
Being sued is a traumatic event in the life of a physician. For one thing, physicians must deal with the possibility that they failed the patient in some way - the very person they are sworn, and trusted, to protect.
There are multiple meetings with defence lawyers, and possibly the prosecution, which are disruptive and time-consuming for physicians, who often work 60 hours a week or more. At the end, there is the courtroom, where 12 jurors who have little medical experience wait to judge the physician. The prosecution pays handsomely for expert witnesses to support their case against the defendant. It is thus no surprise that many litigation cases end in a cash settlement without the trauma of the courtroom.
"One or two successful lawsuits, whether justified or not, can destroy a physician's career... Against this backdrop, one can easily understand where the term 'defensive medicine' comes from."
In some counties in the US, if a physician is found guilty of malpractice, the prosecution can go after their assets, including savings and homes. Malpractice suits also affect the ability to get on staff at other hospitals, referrals from insurance companies, and licencing in other states. One or two successful lawsuits, whether justified or not, can destroy a physician's career. At the very least, these lawsuits change the prism through which the physician views patient care.
Against this backdrop, one can easily understand where the term "defensive medicine" comes from. It is impossible for a physician in the US to examine and diagnose even a single patient without considering the possibility of litigation.
This fear of lawsuits permeates every aspect of medicine. Physicians document patient visits, knowing that a judge can subpoena their clinical notes. They are careful when corresponding with patients or their peers via e-mails or text messages, knowing that these can also be subpoenaed. The effect this might have on patient care is hard to know.
What is easier to measure is the effect on the costs of the healthcare system. Patients with back pain often end up with an expensive MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), rather than less costly options. The MRI is so sensitive that it is capable of detecting abnormalities in the human spine that have no clinical significance. However, ignoring an abnormality could later result in a lawsuit. So, many of these patients are then referred to surgical subspecialists, who may order their own tests, or refer these patients for injections or procedures to avoid lawsuits themselves.
'Don't get sued'
So what, you ask? Well, the patient then learns that invasive testing and procedures are the only valid way to treat their condition. They become less willing to accept more conservative treatment measures. It makes sense that they would then advise their acquaintances to get MRIs if they have back pain. As every physician knows, if a patient enters the office insistent on a particular test, it is too dangerous from a liability standpoint to ignore his/her requests. Ordering the MRI is easier, and legally more astute, than spending several minutes counselling the patient as to why the MRI is not helpful.
Since studies have shown that patients tend to sue doctors they don't like, disagreeing with a patient too strongly is a surefire way to increase a physician's legal liability; after all, lawsuits can shorten a physician's career. If a physician sees 5,000 patients a year, shortening their career by a few years means that tens of thousands of patients will never get the benefit of seeing that physician. One can see how justifiable it becomes for a doctor to just do whatever the patient wants - even if it isn't the best decision for that particular patient.
"Things have gone too far. Doctors routinely stop seeing patient populations that they perceive as high-risk. They order unnecessary tests to protect themselves from lawsuits. The patient-doctor relationship is put under tremendous strain."
Supporters of patient rights often claim that litigation is the best way to protect those rights. They are correct - to a point. Medical errors occur, and if the error is a result of negligence or poor medicine that results in harm to the patient, it is appropriate to compensate that patient. But things have gone too far. Doctors routinely stop seeing patient populations that they perceive as high-risk. They order unnecessary tests to protect themselves from lawsuits. The patient-doctor relationship is put under tremendous strain. Those who would argue for litigation as the best method to hold doctors accountable, simply do not understand the everyday practice of healthcare.
Instead, the lawsuit has become the go-to method for conflict resolution, while physicians feel more like commodities and less like human beings. Most patients have no idea how the rampant litigation in the medical field affects their doctors, and their own health, and more importantly for society - the public good.
Medical professionals who practice in other countries may be shocked by the degree to which the proverbial sword of litigation hangs over the head of every American doctor. They have good reason - this is, for now, the way that American society has chosen to deal with conflicts within the doctor-patient relationship.
"Do no harm" is the first thing taught to every medical student. It is a shame that this impressionable and idealistic group of young people is also learning the first lesson of modern medicine in the United States: "Don't get sued".
Dr Yasser Said is a board certified physician practicing in the United States.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.
Please read complete article at link below:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/01/2012128151621482928.html
Israeli joins Kentucky surgeons in surgery
Israeli joins Kentucky surgeons in surgery
By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH 02/22/2012 05:25
Dr. Amir Oron aids a surgical team in transplanting a cadaver arm to a recipient. By Thinkstock/Imagebank
For the first time, an Israeli physician sent to Kentucky for professional work has joined a surgical team to transplant a cadaver arm to a recipient.
Dr. Amir Oron, a hand surgery specialist at Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot, participated in the 15- hour operation over the weekend at the Kleinert Kutz Hand Care and Microsurgery Center in Louisville.
Surgeons consider attaching an arm from a deceased donor the most challenging type of hand transplant surgery.
The recipient was 56-year-old Ronald Thurman, a farmer from Indiana whose arm was amputated in a combine accident nine years ago. He received his new right arm from a 22-year-old Texas man who was killed in a traffic accident and whose family donated his organs.
The arm was flown by jet from Texas to Kentucky while the two men were tissue typed and preparations were made for surgery.
Oron was part of a huge team of 42 hand surgeons from the US and other countries, headed by Dr. Joseph Kutz.
“Every operation like this is a challenge of its own,” said the Kaplan physician. “In such a case, because some of Mr. Thurman’s muscles were weakened during the accident, we had to transfer muscles originally meant for a different purpose. Before we attached the donor’s arm, the recipient underwent anti-rejection therapy based on a number of drugs.”
In the first stage, the bones are connected, followed by the arteries so the donor arm does not suffer from ischemia for longer than necessary.
Then the nerves, veins, ligaments and skin are attached.
The world’s first arm transplant was performed a few years ago at the same Kentucky center, where Oron was studying his specialty.
The farmer was the eighth patient to undergo such a transplant at Kleinert, but this was the first time an Israeli hand surgeon participated.
Please read complet article at link below:
http://www.jpost.com/Health/Article.aspx?id=258846
By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH 02/22/2012 05:25
Dr. Amir Oron aids a surgical team in transplanting a cadaver arm to a recipient. By Thinkstock/Imagebank
For the first time, an Israeli physician sent to Kentucky for professional work has joined a surgical team to transplant a cadaver arm to a recipient.
Dr. Amir Oron, a hand surgery specialist at Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot, participated in the 15- hour operation over the weekend at the Kleinert Kutz Hand Care and Microsurgery Center in Louisville.
Surgeons consider attaching an arm from a deceased donor the most challenging type of hand transplant surgery.
The recipient was 56-year-old Ronald Thurman, a farmer from Indiana whose arm was amputated in a combine accident nine years ago. He received his new right arm from a 22-year-old Texas man who was killed in a traffic accident and whose family donated his organs.
The arm was flown by jet from Texas to Kentucky while the two men were tissue typed and preparations were made for surgery.
Oron was part of a huge team of 42 hand surgeons from the US and other countries, headed by Dr. Joseph Kutz.
“Every operation like this is a challenge of its own,” said the Kaplan physician. “In such a case, because some of Mr. Thurman’s muscles were weakened during the accident, we had to transfer muscles originally meant for a different purpose. Before we attached the donor’s arm, the recipient underwent anti-rejection therapy based on a number of drugs.”
In the first stage, the bones are connected, followed by the arteries so the donor arm does not suffer from ischemia for longer than necessary.
Then the nerves, veins, ligaments and skin are attached.
The world’s first arm transplant was performed a few years ago at the same Kentucky center, where Oron was studying his specialty.
The farmer was the eighth patient to undergo such a transplant at Kleinert, but this was the first time an Israeli hand surgeon participated.
Please read complet article at link below:
http://www.jpost.com/Health/Article.aspx?id=258846
Families protect loved ones in old age
Families protect loved ones in old age
Published On: Dec 30 2011 02:00:52 PM CST Updated On: Jan 09 2012 11:09:19 AM CST
(NewsUSA) - Your aging mother can no longer drive and forgets to turn off the stove. It's no longer safe for her to live on her own, but taking her into your home simply isn't realistic.
For the many Americans who find themselves in the described situation, nursing homes provide the best option for elder care. Forty-three percent of Americans over the age of 65 will spend part of their life in a nursing home, according to the The United States Government Accountability Office. As the U.S. Census Bureau predicts that, by 2050, the population of Americans aged 65 and older will reach 89 million, it's safe to assume that the demand for high-quality elder care will only increase.
Unfortunately, many nursing homes and adult family homes are overburdened, leading to a lower quality of care. Cases of elder abuse and neglect in nursing homes often pop up in the media.
In Tacoma, Wash., adult family home resident Nadra McSherry died in pain when her caretakers did not tell her family, doctor or nurse that McSherry had developed an infected bedsore. Bedsores are often a sign that a facility does not have enough staff to meet the number of patients, as preventing them involves moving patients every few hours, something that overwhelmed caretakers may struggle to accomplish.
McSherry's family sued the adult family home, Narrows View Manor, as well as the Department of Social and Health Services, which allowed the home to remain open despite numerous past health violations.
"Stories like Nadra McSherry are all too familiar," says Hagens Berman's Tony Shapiro, the lead attorney. "It's up to the families to take action and protect their mom or dad."
McSherry's family settled last year for $565,000. Despite McSherry's death and a long record of other violations, the state has not revoked the adult family home's license. It remains in business.
Families searching for elder care can check the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Nursing Home Compare ratings, which evaluate homes based on a five-star system. But the ratings aren't always reliable -- families have to monitor the situation to make sure their loved ones' needs are being met. If a loved one shows signs of abuse, like unexplained injuries, dramatic weight loss or fear of the staff, families need to take action.
"If you suspect abuse, check online resources for help or consult an attorney," says Shapiro.
Please read complete article at link below:
http://www.news8000.com/Families-protect-loved-ones-in-old-age/-/262/7282434/-/11dl95v/-/
Published On: Dec 30 2011 02:00:52 PM CST Updated On: Jan 09 2012 11:09:19 AM CST
(NewsUSA) - Your aging mother can no longer drive and forgets to turn off the stove. It's no longer safe for her to live on her own, but taking her into your home simply isn't realistic.
For the many Americans who find themselves in the described situation, nursing homes provide the best option for elder care. Forty-three percent of Americans over the age of 65 will spend part of their life in a nursing home, according to the The United States Government Accountability Office. As the U.S. Census Bureau predicts that, by 2050, the population of Americans aged 65 and older will reach 89 million, it's safe to assume that the demand for high-quality elder care will only increase.
Unfortunately, many nursing homes and adult family homes are overburdened, leading to a lower quality of care. Cases of elder abuse and neglect in nursing homes often pop up in the media.
In Tacoma, Wash., adult family home resident Nadra McSherry died in pain when her caretakers did not tell her family, doctor or nurse that McSherry had developed an infected bedsore. Bedsores are often a sign that a facility does not have enough staff to meet the number of patients, as preventing them involves moving patients every few hours, something that overwhelmed caretakers may struggle to accomplish.
McSherry's family sued the adult family home, Narrows View Manor, as well as the Department of Social and Health Services, which allowed the home to remain open despite numerous past health violations.
"Stories like Nadra McSherry are all too familiar," says Hagens Berman's Tony Shapiro, the lead attorney. "It's up to the families to take action and protect their mom or dad."
McSherry's family settled last year for $565,000. Despite McSherry's death and a long record of other violations, the state has not revoked the adult family home's license. It remains in business.
Families searching for elder care can check the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Nursing Home Compare ratings, which evaluate homes based on a five-star system. But the ratings aren't always reliable -- families have to monitor the situation to make sure their loved ones' needs are being met. If a loved one shows signs of abuse, like unexplained injuries, dramatic weight loss or fear of the staff, families need to take action.
"If you suspect abuse, check online resources for help or consult an attorney," says Shapiro.
Please read complete article at link below:
http://www.news8000.com/Families-protect-loved-ones-in-old-age/-/262/7282434/-/11dl95v/-/
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