My Elder Advocate

Now Ain’t The Time for Your Tears- Part One

But you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears,
Take the rag away from your face.
Now ain't the time for your tears. Bob Dylan-The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll

Prescription Abuse Seen In U.S. Nursing Homes

In recent years, Medicaid has spent more money on antipsychotic drugs for Americans than on any other class of pharmaceuticals -- including antibiotics, AIDS drugs or medicine to treat high-blood pressure.

One reason: Nursing homes across the U.S. are giving these drugs to elderly patients to quiet symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.

How Much is the Life of a 90 Year Old Nun Worth?

By Jack Halpern

According to the federal government, only $17,000. The inept and corrupt NY State Department of Health had a major role in her death. They did not put a gun to her head, stab her, or throw her off the roof. However they are guilty of depraved indifference in her death.

A 90-year-old Roman Catholic nun died after an unbolted closet fell on her head at a nursing home.

Rockland County, which runs the Westchester County home, was fined more than $17,000 by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, according to Claire Pospisil, a State Health Department spokeswoman.

Hidden Camera Reveals Abuse at NY Nursing Home

Murder, She Writes

Read this comment by a reader of My Elder Advocate Blog. Hospitals are complicit in the murder and destruction of our elderly nursing home patient's. WHEN WILL THIS HOLOCAUST END!

A new comment from “Carmen ” was received on the post “A Typical Monday Afternoon at Sheepshead Nursing Home” of the weblog “My Elder Advocate”.

Calfornia Nursing Homes Kill Residents

That is correct...it is not a misstatement. I did not mean to say that two residents died as a result of neglect or abuse.

The nursing homes at issue are located near Sacramento, California. The nursing homes at fault are English Oaks and Marysville Care Center and here is what happened. At English Oaks a 91-year-old resident was choking on fruit and no one at the home provided the Heimlich maneuver - he died! At the Marysville Care Center an 84-year-old resident's head became stuck between the bed and a railing - she died. Both reports come from the California Department of Public Health. English Oaks also was fined in 2001 for not monitoring the feeding tube of a patient who got an infection and died. These facilities have a long history of serious violations.

Both facilities were owned by the same company, which received a "double citation" for these tragedies. A double citation...you have got to be kiddin me...someone needs to go to jail!
SEE NEWS STORY

Nursing home patients restrained, greed is not

By Saul Friedman-Newsday

Politicians and other soothsayers tell us how as a nation we honor and care for the oldest generation, our parents and grandparents, many of whom are ill or frail and need some comfort, security and dignity in their last years.

Fighting Bedsores With a Team Approach - New York Times

Link: Fighting Bedsores With a Team Approach - New York Times.

A Typical Monday Afternoon at Sheepshead Nursing Home

By Jack Halpern

I recently came to know a nice elderly woman, who we shall call Mrs. Rothman. Her husband, Alan was placed in Sheepshead Nursing Home in Brooklyn after a recent hospitalization. This nursing home, although mediocre at best is near Mrs. Rothman’s home. Sadie is in her eighties and very frail herself. I had the opportunity to place her husband in a better home, but she would not get the opportunity to visit him.

The State's Deadly Neglect

State fines of less than $1,000 for ignoring broken bones, dehydration and the like are unlikely to be taken seriously by nursing homes. But the state has seemed almost afraid until now to punish Haven Healthcare, the owner of 15 nursing homes in Connecticut, for substandard care that has cost lives and caused suffering. SEE