>’The Price of Living’

>In South Carolina, the increase of people 65 and older is expected to exceed the national rate. By 2030, the state will have 1,134,000 such citizens.

This senior tsunami comes as no shock. Numerous studies and federal reports have warned for years that, as the baby boom ages, the number of elderly who are subjected to neglect, abuse and financial exploitation will surge. Despite the warnings, little has been accomplished in most states and nationally to remedy the failings of courts set up to protect the incapacitated elderly.

Just in September, the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, released a study revealing that “there continue to be instances where some guardians have taken advantage of the elderly people they are supposed to protect.” Lack of training and monitoring contribute to such failings, the report said.

The study said that similar warnings from the GAO in a 2004 report had resulted in only sporadic improvements in a few states. Lack of money remains one of the big problems for a court that’s generally at the lower end of the feeding trough.

Jean Toal, Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court, which oversees the courts, said she too is concerned with how the courts deal with the elderly in general and the fee issue in particular. She appointed a task force last year to evaluate the impact of the elderly on the courts and what the court needs to do to meet their needs. The state’s Bar Association also is considering recommending revisions to the state’s probate code.

Toal’s task force recommended earlier this year that the Probate Courts use volunteers to check on vulnerable elderly persons and serve as guardians and conservators, a move that, if enacted, would dramatically cut fees billed to the estates of the elderly.

In high-risk situations, Charleston County’s Probate Court usually relies on Family Services, a local nonprofit, to serve as conservator. The nonprofit charges a varying flat fee of 4 or 5 percent a year for most of the cases. The vast bulk involve estates of less than $50,000, ones that for-profit companies usually won’t handle, or that consist of just month-to-month social security benefits.

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Special report: The Price of Living: How Can Courts Protect the Elderly?

Fmr. Nursing Home Office Manager Pleads Guilty

A former Rock Hill nursing home office manager is finally answering to charges that she improperly used more than $60,000 belonging to the home’s residents.

Melissa Rice Kelly, 39, of Chester was charged in January 2009 with elder exploitation and forgery. Kelly was a business manager for two years for Magnolia Manor at 127 Murrah Drivve.

Kelly pleaded guilty in a York County courtroom to 12 counts of exploitation of a vulnerable adult and one count of breach of trust with fraud intent. Kelly faced a maximum of 70 years in prison on all 13 felony charges.

The judge ordered Kelly to repay Magnolia Manor and placed her on probation for five years and 30 days of public service employment.

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Rock Hill Nursing Home Manager Guilty of Exploiting Elderly

Severely Disabled, Is She Still a Mom?

Abbie Dorn lies in a hospital bed in her parents’ home on the South Carolina coast. A halo of dark curls frames her pale face. The pump for her feeding tube clicks softly in the quiet room.

Abbie and their father, Dan Dorn, have divorced, and Dan is raising the children in a modest Beverlywood bungalow. Abbie, 34, held her babies only once, the day of their birth. She has not seen them in nearly 2 1/2 years.

Abbie’s parents have been named conservators of her estate, which includes a multimillion-dollar malpractice settlement, and are asking a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge to order Dan to let Abbie see her children. Dan has refused all requests, arguing that visitation would be too traumatic at their young age.

The bitter dispute raises questions both legal and profoundly human. What is a parent? What constitutes a parent-child relationship? How do you show children that they are loved? And can Abbie Dorn ever be a mother to her children?

In court papers, Dan, 33, describes the woman he once loved as “in a vegetative state with virtually no hope for recovery.” His attorney, Vicki Greene, says, “As far as we know, Abbie is incompetent,” that the case is all about her parents’ wishes, that “we don’t know what Abbie wants, because Abbie can’t speak for herself.”

Abbie’s mother argues vehemently otherwise. Her daughter, Susan Cohen says, has improved markedly since “the event.” She gets hours of therapy each day. She can read. She is capable of complex thought.

And she can communicate. With her smile. Her tears. And, most of all, her eyes.

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Severly Disabled, Is She Still a Mom?

City Council Shows Support for Elouise James

Clemson City Council held its regularly scheduled meeting Monday night with one noticeable absence — suspended member Elouise James.

Gov. Mark Sanford suspended James, arrested in September on criminal charges resulting from a joint investigation conducted by the 13th Circuit Solicitor’s Office and SLED over several months, late Friday afternoon. The executive order said the suspension, effective immediately, came following James’ Oct. 20 indictment by a Pickens County Grand Jury and South Carolina law regarding fraud.

James was charged in September with two counts of obtaining goods by false pretenses and one count of financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult in Pickens County and two counts of forgery and one count of obstruction of Justice in Greenville County.

“Essentially, Elouise James still holds her City Council seat,” said Rodney Allen, director of Registrations and Elections in Pickens County, when asked to explain the suspension. “However, she has been relieved of her powers and responsibilities of the office until she is either found guilty or acquitted.”

Clemson Mayor Larry Abernathy, seated next to the placard displaying James’ name, said on Monday night he was “very, very sad” about the governor’s decision.

“I don’t believe it diminishes Mrs. James’ contribution to the council or her commitment to the city,” Abernathy said.

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Clemson Council Shows Support for Elouise James

See Also:
Clemson City Council Woman Arrested

SC Reaches Settlement With Eli Lilly Over Zyprexa

Attorney General Henry McMaster said Friday that South Carolina reached a $45 million settlement with pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly over the company’s marketing of the anti-psychotic drug Zyprexa.

Eli Lilly confirmed it is the largest monetary settlement any state has won from the company. McMaster also said it was the second-largest state settlement in South Carolina history, behind the multibillion dollar settlement the state received from the 1998 tobacco agreement.

“This is a victory for South Carolina’s taxpayers who were forced to bear the financial costs of Eli Lilly’s unlawful conduct,” McMaster said in a statement. “Our case was sound. The evidence we presented was overwhelming. And I am pleased to say justice has been served.”

As part of the settlement, Eli Lilly didn’t admit to any wrongdoing.

Spokeswoman Marni Lemons said Eli Lilly felt it was in the best interests of the company, patients and physicians “who rely on Zyprexa as a lifesaving medication to put this issue behind us.”

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S.C. Reaches Settlement With Company Eli Lilly

SC Supreme Court Orders Creation of Elder Task Force

The S.C. Supreme Court has issued an order mandating the creation of a task force to study elder issues in the state’s courts.

The task force will examine issues related to elder abuse, adult guardianships and conservatorship. It will then make recommendations to the Supreme Court to aid in its responses.

The task force is charged with the following:
■Collecting data to aid in determining needs, promoting beneficial outcomes and fostering overall system accountability.

■Fostering training and education for judges, court personnel, attorneys, court-appointed guardians, guardians ad litem, conservators, mediators, law enforcement and others on matters affecting the elderly, such as dementia, financial exploitation, physical abuse and neglect.

■Recommending changes in court structure, laws, regulations or rules in order to protect the legal rights of the elderly, promote process fairness and facilitate the economic use of available resources.

■Reporting the status of its work to the Supreme Court and other interested parties by July 1.

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Supreme Court Orders Creation of Elder Task Force

Lilly Paid Doctors to Prescribe Zyprexa

Eli Lilly & Co. paid doctors in South Carolina for participating in a speakers’ program in exchange for prescribing the antipsychotic Zyprexa, and used golf bets to get more patients on the drug, according to notes by sales representatives.

During a golf game, one doctor agreed to start new patients on Zyprexa for each time a sales representative parred, or put the ball in a hole within a predetermined number of strokes, according to the notes.

“I got four pars out of nine holes,” Lilly salesman Vince Sullivan said in a February 2002 note. “I said I wanted my four new patients.”

The notes were made public for the first time in a court hearing today in South Carolina in the state’s lawsuit against Lilly over Zyprexa marketing practices. State officials contend Indianapolis-based Lilly marketed the drug for unapproved uses. A trial is set to begin Sept. 14.

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Lilly Paid Doctors to Prescribe Zyprexa

Clemson City Councilwoman Arrested

Thirteenth Circuit Solicitor, Bob Ariail, announced today that following an investigation by his office with the assistance of SLED, Clemson City Councilwoman, Elouise James, has been arrested on criminal charges in both Greenville and Pickens counties.

The charges allege that, in an effort to help her daughter, Kristen James, avoid legal problems she misrepresented that her daughter had cancer and collected money on her daughter’s behalf, forged a statement from the Cancer Centers of the Carolinas to avoid her daughter’s prosecution; and Mrs. James used her power of attorney to obtain a reverse mortgage on her mother’s home in order to pay restitution and probation fees for her daughter.

If convicted of all charges Councilwoman James face 21 years in prison. “Mrs. James is in an elected position of trust which she has abused by these actions,” said Ariail.

James has been released on personal recognizance bonds for all charges.

Full Article and Source:
Clemson City Council Woman Arrested on Multiple Charges

Two Brokers Barred for Bilking Church Goers, Elderly, Mentally Impaired in Ponzi Schemes

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) said Monday it permanently barred two brokers from working in the securities industry in any capacity ever again after they allegedly ran multi-million-dollar Ponzi schemes that victimized mentally and physically impaired Americans, elderly citizens, church members and family friends.

FINRA said Oren Eugene Sullivan, Jr., of Rock Hill, SC, “misappropriated” $3.7 million over decades from more than 30 clients. The victims, the self-regulatory body said, included 15 widows, two Alzheimer’s victims and an individual with developmental impairments. At least eight of the affected clients were more than 80 years old. Many purportedly considered Sullivan a close family friend.

FINRA also barred William Walter Spencer, Sr., of Franklin, TN. Spencer, Finra said, “borrowed” nearly $2 million from elderly members of his church and from customers of his employing broker-dealer, Wiley Bros. — Aintree Capital, LLC.
“The protection of seniors and other vulnerable investors from unscrupulous brokers remains one of FINRA’s highest priorities, and we will continue to identify and expel those within our jurisdiction who take unfair advantage of their clients,” said Susan L. Merrill, FINRA Executive Vice President and Chief of Enforcement. “The misconduct of these brokers was nothing short of egregious — and their financial exploitation of the elderly, the infirm and people who considered them trusted friends shocks the conscience.”

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Two Brokers Barred for Bilking Church Goers, Elderly, Mentally Impaired in Ponzi Schemes

>BBB Advises on Estate Planning

>

The Better Business Bureau advises people to create an estate plans if they own something of value.

An estate plan can be as simple as drafting a will or as complex as setting up a trust and a living will. At the least, anyone who has assets to pass on to specific individuals should create a will, the bureau advises. A will can allocate assets as well as establish guardianship of children.

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BBB gives advice on creating an estate plan