Caregiver Arrested for Theft

Erma Jean Williams, 58, is accused of taking vacations, remodeling her home and buying a car – all at the expense of Marian McGlone, the 90-year-old woman she was caring for.

“This lady took advantage of two really good people. My dad and step-mom. They were really good people,” said step-son Robert McGlone.

Investigators say over a period of two years, Williams took control of McGlone’s estate.

The NBC2 Investigators obtained video taken at an attorney’s office. It documents the second to last time Williams tried to get Marian to change her will, just two weeks before she died.

The brothers say the video proves their mother was being taken advantage of.

“It shows she didn’t know why she was there, how she got there, she didn’t even remember our father’s name,” said Ronald McGlone.

Due to worries that McGlone wasn’t competent, the will wasn’t changed that day. But the sheriff’s report shows four days later, Williams brought McGlone back to the office.

At that time the will was changed, leaving half of McGlone’s trust to Williams.

McGlone died two weeks later.

Investigators say in the end, Williams stole more than $200,000 from the family.

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Caregiver Arrested for Stealing Money From Elderly Woman

Change in Criteria for Alzheimer’s Diagnosis Proposed

For the first time in 25 years, medical experts are proposing a major change in the criteria for Alzheimer’s disease, part of a new movement to diagnose and, eventually, treat the disease earlier.

The new diagnostic guidelines, presented Tuesday at an international Alzheimer’s meeting in Hawaii, would mean that new technology like brain scans would be used to detect the disease even before there are evident memory problems or other symptoms.

If the guidelines are adopted in the fall, as expected, some experts predict a two- to threefold increase in the number of people with Alzheimer’s disease. Many more people would be told they probably are on their way to getting it. The Alzheimer’s Association says 5.3 million Americans now have the disease.

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Rules Seek to Expand Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s

Judge John L. Phillips – Justice Has Not Been Served

Justice has not been served in the case of my dearly departed friend, the Honorable Judge John L. Phillips, known to all as the Kung-Fu Judge. Upon learning of his candidacy in 2001, Brooklyn D.A. Joe Hynes filed an ex-parte (secret action) to seal up all of Judge Phillips’ assets. Twelve apartment buildings and two movie Theatres were part of the millionaire judges’ empire. The Court then appointed Hynes former Chief of Staff, Harvey Greenberg, as Judge Phillips’ “Guardian.”

The transcript of the proceeding to condemn Judge Phillips is chilling. The reason presented to the court for a guardian was a videotape presented by a prosecutor from the Brooklyn DA’s office, Steven Kramer, who conducted a raid on Judge Phillips home along with three confederates. A.D.A. Kramer produced a videotape of the raid at the hearing, and the chief piece of evidence to appoint a guardian was that Judge Phillips had “campaign posters” in his house. These facts are not in dispute. I’ve read the transcript.

Judge Phillips was then remanded to a nursing home…in the BRONX, and the race for District Attorney was over.

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Judge John L. Phillips – Justice Has Not Been Served

Memories Fade, but Feelings Remain

Even though a memory is forgotten, the feeling may still remain. A new scientific discovery brings with it implications for memory-stripping diseases like amnesia and Alzheimer’s.

In a study involving patients with damage to their hippocampus — a type of amnesia causes short-term memory loss — researchers at the University of Iowa discovered that although a recent memory disappears, the feeling originally linked to the memory remains.

The type of memory loss looked at in the study is the same type of amnesia that is an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers say these findings reinforce the importance of caring for the emotional needs of Alzheimer’s patients.

“A simple visit or phone call from family members might have a lingering positive influence on a patient’s happiness even though the patient may quickly forget the visit or phone call,” Feinstein said. “On the other hand, routine neglect from staff at nursing homes may leave the patient feeling sad, frustrated and lonely even though the patient can’t remember why.”

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Amnesia: Memories Forgotten, but Feelings Remain

Aide Stuffs Sock in Patient’s Mouth

An aide at a northwestern Minnesota nursing home crammed a sock in the mouth of a screaming resident because the woman, elderly and in the late stages of dementia, wouldn’t be quiet, according to a state Health Department report.

The report quotes a co-worker as saying, “What the hell are you doing?” as the incident unfolded on Jan. 4 in the resident’s room at the Sunnyside Care Center in Lake Park.

The co-worker told an investigator that the nursing assistant “chuckled” and responded that the resident “wouldn’t quit hollering,” the report added. The co-worker then removed the sock from the resident’s mouth.

The nursing assistant, who was hired in October 2009 at the care center east of Fargo, was fired.

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State: Nursing Home Aide Stuffed Sock in Dementia Patient’s Mouth

Family Upset About Dad’s Forced Move

The family of an elderly man who lived at an Oroville nursing home was told he needed to move out, his son and daughter said.

Gordon Stout, a 79-year-old retired teacher, had lived in the dementia unit of Olive Ridge Care Center for more than a year.

That was a manageable arrangement, said his son, Wayne Stout of Magalia, and daughter, Linda Powell of Paradise. They were able to take their mother, who is 83, to visit her husband three or four times a week in Oroville. But now that he has been moved to a nursing home in Novato, in the Bay Area, frequent visits are no longer possible.

The younger Stout said Olive Ridge staff told him and his sister the dementia unit was being closed to make room for patients who were discharged from acute-care hospitals and needed to convalesce.

Stout said it appeared perhaps 30 of the approximately 40 people who lived in the dementia unit had been moved out recently.

Stout said Olive Ridge staff found a spot for his father at a nursing home in Novato. They said it was the closest suitable facility that could take him.

Stout said he didn’t have any say in his father’s move because his dad is in a conservatorship through the Butte County Public Guardian.

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Family Upset After Resident From Oroville Nursing Home

Accused of Exploiting 91-Year-Old

A 61-year-old man was arrested, accused of exploiting a 91-year-old Alzheimer’s patient for whom he had power of attorney.

Donald R. Stewart Jr. was arrested by a Pasco County Sheriff’s Office detective on a charge of exploitation of the elderly.

Stewart, according to sheriff’s office reports, used the woman’s money since July to pay his bills, including his electric, utilities, cable and credit card bills. He spent $6,000 on her Discover Card without her permission and transferred more than $18,000 from her bank account to his, according to reports.

When questioned, Stewart told a detective he’s known the woman for seven or eight years and met her through her boyfriend who died. He said he was her power of attorney and handles all of her business for her.

The woman is in a retirement home and when a detective tried to question her it was clear she wasn’t in any mental condition to respond. She said she didn’t know who Stewart was, according to the report.

Full Article and Source:
Police Say Man Exploited Woman With Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer’s Increasing in West Virginia

The West Virginia chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association is looking toward 2010 with a renewed sense of hope in its battle against the debilitating disease often referred to as “the long goodbye.”

Memory Walks and other fundraisers have been taking place all around the state throughout October and November, which is National Alzheimer’s Awareness Month.

However, the holiday season often proves to be one of the busiest times for the association.

As families gather for celebrations, more calls come into the association’s 24-hour help line from residents concerned about loved ones’ odd behavior or mood swings that may be associated with Alzheimer’s. Extended visits with loved ones can call attention to these changes that often go unnoticed throughout the year.

“That’s when people may start noticing maybe it’s not a good idea for Mom or Dad to be staying at home by themselves, cooking for themselves or dispensing medication,” said Laurel Kirksey, development director for the West Virginia Alzheimer’s Association.

Across the country, someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s every 70 seconds but the rate is even more rapid in West Virginia due to the state’s aging population.

The Alzheimer’s Association estimates 48,000 mountain state residents are currently living with Alzheimer’s, but Kirksey admits the disease is likely underreported. She says physicians are sometimes hesitant to make the diagnosis, which can only truly be confirmed after death when a brain autopsy is performed.

Full Article and Source:
Alzheimer’s Cases Rapidly Increasing in State

National Silver Alert Act (S.557)

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that he is pushing legislation to create a nationwide network for locating missing adults and senior citizens with Alzheimer’s, dementia, and other mental impairments. The Silver Alert Act would create a program, modeled after the AMBER Alert, which would provide federal coordination and assistance through the Department of Justice to local and state law enforcement to assist efforts to locate missing senior citizens across the country.

Schumer said today that a nationwide alert network is critical because missing adults can cross state and county lines.

Senator Schumer is sponsoring the National Silver Alert Act (S. 557), which will encourage and integrate systems throughout the United States to help identify and locate missing seniors with cognitive impairments. The bill will also authorize grants for these organizations. The bill has already passed the House of Representatives.

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Schumer Pushes for Nationwide Alert System to Locate Missing Adults With Alzheimer’s Disease; Almost 22,000 Seniors in Rochester Finger Lakes are Affected

"Caregiver" Headed to Prison

A former nursing home employee has been sent to jail for fraud and exploitation of the elderly.

State prosecutors say Heather Whitehouse worked at The Arbors residential care home in Shelburne, where she stole jewelry and credit cards from vulnerable adults she cared for, mostly people suffering from memory disorders.

Whitehouse was sentenced to serve six months in jail.

Source:
Caregiver Headed to Prison

See also:
Charged with Bilking Seniors

Caregiver Arrested