TBI Case Against Franklin Co. Attorney, Joseph Bean Jr., Appointed to Conservatorship Results in Theft Indictment

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s case into a Franklin County attorney assigned by a court to be a conservator over the estate of a woman in failing health resulted in an indictment by the Franklin County grand jury. He surrendered to authorities .

Joseph Bean Jr., 41, of Winchester, was indicted on one count of theft or property over $10,000. Between October of 2009 and March of 2012, Bean, who was the court appointed conservator over the estate of the victim, stole more than $42,000 from her conservatorship account. Bean made payments from the victim’s conservatorship account to his American Express account, Bank of America mortgage account, a Community Bank loan account and his Toyota Motors account. Bean was appointed the conservatorship of the victim’s estate due to her failing health. He was the sole party with authorized access to her account to pay her bills and other financial obligations. The victim of the theft is now deceased.

In May of 2013, the 12^th Judicial District Attorney General’s office requested TBI to investigate the theft after the attorney over the victim’s estate reported it to him. Bean was booked today into the Franklin County Jail on $7,500 bond.

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TBI Case Against Franklin County Attorney Appointed to Conservatorship Results in Theft Indictment

Terri Schiavo’s Brother, Bobby Schindler, Working to Help Others

By now, eight years later, the details and debate over his sister’s situation – her diagnosis, her prognosis, her wishes, her autopsy – are no longer that important to Bobby Schindler.
For him, one thought dominates. Terri Schiavo deserved to live.

Schindler now heads a growing foundation to help others in similar situations. Every year since her death, they’ve held a “Terri’s Day” of remembrance.

This year, the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network has moved from Florida to the Philadelphia area, where both the Schindler and Schiavo families are from, and the event has grown.

At 5 p.m. Friday, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput will celebrate a Mass dedicated to Terri Schiavo at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul. Sarah Palin will speak afterward at a fund-raising dinner at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown. A ticket is $150, and 350 have been sold; $25,000 gets you a visit with Palin, but no takers so far, Schindler said.

Terri Schiavo died March 31, 2005, after 15 years in what doctors termed a persistent vegetative state. Her case was marked by an excruciating public family battle that traversed the courts, prompted an unprecedented session of Congress, drew the attention of the Vatican, and inspired countless Americans to complete “living wills” spelling out what care they did – or did not – want in the event of severe injury or illness.

Her husband, Michael, said she would not have wanted to live this way. Her parents and siblings said she would have chosen life, no matter what.

It is a decision that daily is facing many families, although rarely in such a public arena. Mostly, it’s in a hospital conference room with a box of tissues on the table.

Schindler, 48, a former math and science teacher in Florida, thinks many patients are being warehoused. Last year, the foundation established a Center for Disability in the Public Square – a data-gathering and information-sharing network. In his office, he has a sketch of a rehab facility he would like the foundation to build, although he concedes it is likely a long way off.

The foundation, begun in 2000, has seen its revenue grow steadily, from less than $20,000 in 2005 to nearly $700,000 in 2011.

That year, contributions were bolstered by a $100,000 prize from the Gerard Health Foundation, a pro-life philanthropy in Natick, Mass., that praised the Schiavo network for helping 1,000 families, and giving them “safe haven amidst the pressure of the so-called ‘right to die’ movement.”

 

One of them is Sara Harvey, of Horseheads, N.Y., just north of the Pennsylvania line. She has been battling officials over her husband, Gary, who has been in a persistent vegetative state for nearly seven years, after falling down steps and suffering a traumatic brain injury.

A judge had named the county Gary Harvey’s guardian in 2007, and in 2009, officials planned to remove his feeding tube. Sara Harvey contacted Schindler, who has petitioned the court to name him a legal guardian.

No decision has been made, but Sara Harvey credits Schindler with saving her husband’s life so far.  “Bobby’s like an angel over my husband.”

Full Article and Source:
Terri Schiavo’s Brother Working to Help Others

Brain-Injured in Nursing Homes Without the Care Giffords Had

Larry Boswell sat slumped in a wheelchair. His sweatpants were soiled, his T-shirt soaked in saliva. Flies buzzed around his head.
He was able to walk when he arrived at Illinois’Cobden Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in 2008, government records show, something he can’t manage now. Speech therapy for the 57- year-old ended shortly after he was admitted, according to a lawyer trying to persuade Medicaid to transfer him.

While much of what Boswell says is incomprehensible, he managed a clear “no” when asked if he wanted to stay where he was. Cobden officials didn’t respond to telephone calls.

Boswell is one of nearly 244,000 brain-injured people consigned to nursing homes, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from U.S. Medicare and Medicaid statistics. He’s also on the front line in a national battle to get people like him out of facilities that aren’t equipped to care for them.

“People used to be put away in state hospitals and state developmental centers,” said Steven Schwartz,  a lawyer who filed a class-action lawsuit to force Massachusetts to provide alternatives to nursing homes for the brain-injured, and won a settlement that’s still being implemented. “Now people with brain injuries are warehoused and put away in nursing homes.”

Over 4 million brain-injured Americans — including victims of car accidents, assaults, strokes and falls — suffer from long-term disabilities that require specialized therapies. They are sometimes neglected in institutions designed for geriatric care, not for the treatment they need. In some cases, they’re in facilities with low scores from a U.S. agency that grades nursing homes on quality, cleanliness and other measures.

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Brain-Injured in Nursing Homes Without the Care Giffords Had

FINR Brain Injury Center Seeks Bankruptcy as Bank Sees Default

Florida regulators are demanding that a brain-injury treatment center with patients from across the U.S. prove that it’s financially viable, as the facility seeks bankruptcy protection.

The Chapter 11 filing by the Florida Institute for Neurologic Rehabilitation Inc. followed Bloomberg News stories about the alleged abuse and neglect of patients by their caregivers at the 200-bed residential facility southeast of Tampa. It’s one of the largest in the country treating people with long-term disabilities brought on by brain trauma.
The filing came hours after Regions Bank sued the institute, known as FINR, in U.S. District Court in Tampa, claiming it’s in default on $31 million in real-estate loans. The lawsuit by the Birmingham, Alabama-based unit of Regions Financial Corp. (RF) says FINR stopped paying on the debt in August.

FINR’s owner, Joseph Brennick, said in a statement yesterday that he was “confident” the facility could properly care for the people living there while it undertakes a financial restructuring. Media coverage led to “a significant decline in revenue making FINR unable to meet is financial obligations,”Brennick said in the statement.

Negotiations with Regions Bank are “ongoing and we are making strides to resolve this successfully as we look for a long-term solution,” he said.

After the bank sent FINR a default letter in September, Brennick withdrew at least $466,000 from center coffers, the suit alleges. In addition, FINR has failed to give the government the payroll taxes withheld from employees’ wages and hasn’t paid real estate taxes and routine operating expenses, Regions Bank says in the suit.

Full Article and Source:
Brain Injury Center Seeks Bankruptcy as Bank Sees Default

See Also:
Caregivers Bloodied Patients as Complaints Drew Laughter

Terri Schiavo’s Brother, Bobby Schindler, Petitions Court to Intervene in Guardianship Case

Attorney Christopher Johnson has filed with the Supreme Court of the State of New York, asking the court to allow Mr. Bobby Schindler, brother of Terri Schiavo to serve as Guardian for Mr. Gary Harvey.

In 2006, Mr. Harvey, a Chemung County resident, was involved in a home accident, which left him with a profound brain injury. His spouse, Mrs. Sara Harvey, sought guardianship only to be denied by the Chemung County Supreme Court who ultimately appointed the Chemung County Department of Social Services as Mr. Harvey’s guardian. Since that time, Mrs. Harvey has been in a prolonged court battle with Chemung County officials and the New York State Court System.

Indeed, it was in May of 2009 when the ethics committee from the hospital where Mr. Harvey was residing recommended the removal of his nutrition and hydration tube, and also issued a “do-not-resuscitate order” (DNR).

Fortunately, the court denied that request. However, inexplicably, the DNR stayed in place and Mr. Harvey remains under the control of Chemung County, despite the fact that the county tried to end his life.

“I have raised the question many times, ‘How can Chemung County, Guardian of Mr. Harvey, be acting in his best interest when they, in fact, tried to kill him?’ From all indications, it appears that Mr. Harvey has been warehoused and denied the opportunity to receive the care and rehabilitative services that would benefit his condition,” stated Bobby Schindler.

It is the hope that with this filing, the court will recognize that Mr. Harvey deserves the chance to receive aggressive therapy and rehabilitation. Certainly from Mr. Schindler’s experience with brain injured persons, he would afford Mr. Harvey the help he needs in the hopes to significantly improve his quality of life.

Source:
Schiavo’s Brother Petitions Court to Intervene in Guardianship Case

Brain Injury Survivors Help Each Other Recover

More than two million Americans sustain brain injuries each year. There are few programs in Hawaii that help patients transition from hospital and acute care into the community, but we found one that helped change them – right before our very eyes.

Through the Brain Injury Association of Hawaii, transformation happens. 56 year old Carl Debo is teaching 22 year old Consolacion “Ching” Mongco to swim.

The pair couldn’t be more different. Carl is an attorney and former teacher. Ching is former college student. The two were brought together by both hardship and hope.

Three years ago, Carl suffered a stroke. Everyday life as he knew it would never be the same. He became introverted, and finding the right words can still be difficult. He was slow to respond in our interview.

Around the same time in 2009, Ching left a party with her ex-boyfriend who she says had been drinking. They got in his car. He started racing another driver, lost control, and flipped. Ching was badly hurt. “I was in a coma for, like, one month,” she said. She still uses a crutch to walk.

When Ching and Carl heard about a pilot program for people suffering from brain injuries, they applied. Hawaii has little out there to help survivors transition into the mainstream.

“It will give us something to have a structured program after brain injuries, relearning. So relearning how to talk, relearning how to communicate, social skills, you know, our brain controls everything,” said Mary Wilson, the Executive Director of the Brain Injury Association of Hawaii.

1.7 million Americans sustain traumatic brain injuries (TBI) each year, according to the Brain Injury Association of America, and almost 800,000 have acquired brain injury from non-traumatic causes. More than three million have lifelong disabilities due to TBI, and 1.1 million have a disability due to stroke.

Full Article and Source:
Brain Injury Survivors Help Each Other Recover
See Also:
Terri Schiavo Life and Hope Network

Battling Back from a Brain Injury

[T]ransportation accidents and falls, particularly among the elderly, are leading causes of TBI, and one serious head injury can be devastating. Karl Weisgraber is a retired biochemist who worked on cardiovascular and Alzheimer’s research at the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco. In October of last year, he was on a ladder doing work on the side of his house when he fell and smacked his head on a rock, suffering a severe traumatic brain injury. The 71-year-old Walnut Creek man spent three weeks in a coma and, through therapy, had to relearn how to walk, read and write. He is greatly appreciative of the staffs at San Francisco General and California Pacific Medical Center who worked with him, and of his wife, Judi.

“I don’t remember falling at all. Then I started very, very slowly to start remembering things. It’s improved since then by a tremendous amount. When I started remembering, I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t sit without falling out of the chair. People were having trouble understanding what I was saying. I was in bad shape, but they got me to the point where I got better. There was a possibility I was not going to make it when I first got there – that’s the kind of shape I was in.

“An important thing is you never give up. You try to do whatever your therapist or doctor is telling you to do. I was so far away that it would be easy for someone to say, ‘This is it for me.’ But I never said that. I wanted to try, and I wanted to push myself.

Full Article and Source:
Battling Back From a Brain Injury

Rise in Traumatic Brain Injury in Veterans and Athletes Prompts New Research

Since 2000, approximately 245,000 men and women who have served in the military have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury, otherwise known as TBI.

The majority of those cases were mild; but, even mild traumatic brain injuries can be highly disruptive to daily life. Unlike severe brain injuries, mild TBI can be harder to detect. Sometimes a mild TBI is not recognized for weeks or even months after an accident. Recent publicity has focused attention on studies demonstrating that TBI is often not recognized in athletes until long after the injury occurs. For example, we now understand that even with specially designed helmets, NFL players may manifest severe disability years after their careers are over.

With nearly a quarter of a million service members suffering a TBI over the last decade, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has been funneling money into brain injury research. With a better understanding of traumatic brain injury, TBI sufferers stand to benefit from a broader range of treatment alternatives.

All of this groundbreaking research could help TBI sufferers lead more normal, healthy lives. But one thing it won’t do is reduce the significant costs associated with treating TBI or eliminate the significant impact TBI has on issues involving quality and enjoyment of life.

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Rise in Traumatic Brain Injury in Veterans and Athletes Prompts New Research