Monthly Archives: January 2014
“Yes”, is a delightful answer to behold
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“Poor People” video
What is happening to our world & the people we once thought we knew?
Who stole our compassion?
Who decided we are expendable?
Who will rob us of our dignity & rights?
Who will pull the plug on us before we are ready to go?
Elder abuse: Monterey County Public Guardian seeks order for chemical restraint
by Linda Kincaid — Examiner.com — January 26, 2014
The Monterey County Public Guardian is seeking authority to forcibly administer antipsychotic (psychotropic) medications to conservatee and elder abuse victim Margarita Zelada. The FDA has repeatedly warned against administration of psychotropic medications to elderly patients.California’s Department of Aging posted the following comments about use of antipsychotic drugs on elderly patients.
Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations, Section 72018 defines a CHEMICAL RESTRAINT as: “a drug used to control behavior and used in a manner not required to treat the patient’s medical symptoms.” All residents have a right to be free from the use of chemical restraints. (42 CFR §483.13(a); 22 CCR §72527(a)(23); 22 CCR §72319), yet, the use of antipsychotic drugs on those with dementia is common practice and often used as an alternative to the needed care of these individuals.
California’s Notice of Conservatee’s Rights states the conservatee has the right to:
Make his or her own medical decisions
California’s Handbook for Conservators states on page 284:
Psychotropic drugs
Prescription medicines used to alter cognition, mood, or behavior. These medicines are sometimes used to treat persons with dementia. You need specific prior court authority based on a strong showing to authorize the use of these drugs in the treatment of the conservatee.
Violation of Margarita’s rights is nothing new for the Monterey County Public Guardian. A request for chemical restraint is the latest in a series of violations of rights and denial of due process.
In March 2013, the Monterey County Public Guardian had Margarita forcibly removed from her daughter’s home in Pacific Grove, California. Witnesses reported that ten police officers stormed the house with guns drawn. They pulled Margarita from her bed, rolled her in a sheet, and strapped her to a gurney. A waiting ambulance took Margarita from her daughter’s home, never to be allowed to return.
Since March 2013, the Public Guardian allowed Margarita only three short visits with her daughter. During those visits, Margarita had strong words for her false imprisonment by the Public Guardian.
The most important thing for any person is their liberty. I want my liberty. I am in prison.
They lie. They lie!
They are thieves and liars.
The Public Guardian responded to Margarita’s comments by terminating visitation with her daughter. The Public Guardian sought and obtained a court order to strip Margarita of her right to meet with elder rights advocates. The Public Guardian has denied Margarita all visitation since November 15, 2013.
Family and advocates suspect that Margarita may be protesting her false imprisonment and unlawful isolation. The Public Guardian is now seeking authority for chemical restraint, defined by the State of California as a drug used to control behavior and used in a manner not required to treat the patient’s medical symptoms.
On Wednesday, January 29, 2014, Monterey County Probate Court is scheduled to hear a petition by the Public Guardian. That petition states:
3. The conservatee needs or would benefit from the administration of certain medications appropriate for the care and treatment of dementia.
4. The conservatee lacks the capacity to give consent to the administration of the appropriate medications.
9. The capacity determination of Dr. Blatt, which has been filed under separate confidential cover as Exhibit B and which is incorporated fully herein by this reference, contains the following information:
a. The deficits in the conservatee’s impaired mental function;
b. The correlation between mental function deficit(s) and the conservatee’s inability to respond knowingly and intelligently to queries about the recommended medical treatment or inability to participate in a treatment decision about appropriate medication by means of a rational thought process;
c. A statement of opinion that the conservatee lacks the capacity to give informed consent to the administration of the psychotropic mediation, and that the conservatee needs or would benefit from the proposed appropriate mediation.
If the court issues the order, the Public Guardian will have authority to forcibly administer antipsychotic drugs as chemical restraint of a woman who was torn from her daughter and kept in unlawful isolation for nearly a year.
The Public Guardian reports to the Monterey County Board of Supervisors. Readers may contact the Board at the following email addresses.
Monterey County Board of Supervisors
District 1: Fernando Armenta, district1@co.monterey.ca.us
District 2: Louis R. Calcagno, district2@co.monterey.ca.us
District 3: Simón Salinas, district3@co.monterey.ca.us
District 4: Jane Parker, district4@co.monterey.ca.us
District 5: Dave Potter, district5@co.monterey.ca.us
Suggested by the author
Elder abuse: Monterey County Public Guardian seeks order for chemical restraint
Full Article & Source:
Elder abuse: Monterey County Public Guardian seeks order for chemical restraint
The Truth About Common Core
Video by: Julie Borowski
This video brings Common Core down to a level even the government-educated should be able to understand!
~*~
Carrie’s Take of Common Core:
Give kids back to their parents!
Let the government officials go have their “own” kids and make decisions for them, rather than ours!
Yes, let the parents have some choices in education and raising their “own” children!
What a concept!
Common core for the common bore!
Carrie’s Take Grooving to Clive is HomeTownUgly
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In honor of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King – I Have a Dream on August 28, 1963
Arkansas Mother Obliterates Common Core in 4 Minutes!
Way to go, Karen, and all the other parents & teachers,
who see common core for what it is!
Time to take our classrooms back!
Superintendent suspends use of controversial sex ed material
Warning: This story contains terms that some may find offensive or inappropriate, reader and viewer discretion is recommended.
SHAWNEE, Kan. — Dr. Jim Hinson, Shawnee Mission School District Superintendent, sent a message to parents on Friday about the questionable poster that was hanging in a middle school classroom. In the letter, Dr. Hinson said the material was under review and during that time wouldn’t be used, and recognized the importance of parental involvement in the instruction of such material in sexual education classes.
Full Article & Source:
Superintendent suspends use of controversial sex ed material
SCHINDLER: My sister Terri Schiavo was alive like Jahi McMath
Ethics of brain death declaration
By Bobby Schindler — Thursday, January 16, 2014
Much has been written about Jahi McMath in recent days. The 13-year-old Oakland, Calif., girl underwent surgery Dec. 9 to remove her tonsils. She was declared “brain-dead” after going into cardiac arrest.
Since that time, experts have opined on the ethics of the brain-death declaration, the family’s decision to transfer her to another facility, and the involvement of the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network in helping the family.
First, let me make it clear that our organization does not initiate contact with victims and their families or with the media. We did not contact the McMaths. We did not contact any media outlet.
We were contacted, and we responded. We respond because that is our mission — to provide aid, comfort and support for vulnerable persons, and to speak truth to power. No one faces more risk in today’s health care system than our medically vulnerable.
Continue reading at original source:
SCHINDLER: My sister Terri Schiavo was alive like Jahi McMath
Linda Kincaid Reports: Aging Family Services threatens daughter for exposing elder abuse of war hero
by Linda Kincaid — January 14, 2014
The National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse posted a memorial for war hero, Hugh Johnson. NASGA honored Johnson’s service in World War II and recounted the horrors of being a German prisoner of war. The memorial also recounted the greater horrors of Johnson’s last months in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Horrors of war and POW camps did not prepare Hugh for the horrors of guardianship in Wake County, North Carolina. A healthy active man who still enjoyed golf at 95, Hugh deteriorated rapidly under Guardian Cheryl Theriault of Raleigh based Aging Family Services.
Aging Family Services’ cautions “the last thing you want is for them to end up in a nursing home.” Family never imagined the nightmare Theriault’s guardianship would bring.
Theriault immediately removed Hugh from his upscale home, isolated him from family, and chemically restrained him with the anti-psychotic drug Seroquel. Five months after being taken from home, Hugh was frail, bedridden, and incontinent. His legs and feet were covered with sores that would not heal.
Denied the personal care of a loving daughter, Hugh languished at The Covington. The facility advertises “truly affordable assisted living.” Our Parents website gives The Covington 2 out of 5 stars. Daughter Ginny Johnson called it, “NASTY. NASTY.”
Comparing The Covington to his time as a POW, Hugh said, “My German captors kept me better.” Meals were missed. Rooms were filthy. Hugh suffered 28 falls, a broken rib, and his partial plate was lost.
Theriault responded by moving Hugh to Blue Ridge Nursing Home. That facility lost its eligibility for federal funding and was assessed a $4,550-a-day civil penalty for 6-weeks in spring 2012.
Geriatric Care Manager Heather Joyner of Aging Family Services so neglected Hugh that she was removed from his case. Geriatric Adult Guardianship Social Worker Karen Johnson replaced Joyner. Ginny described both Joyner and Johnson as “so, so, so HATEFUL.”
Ginny complained to Theriault over and over. She emphasized that Seroquel is not approved for use in elderly patients, and Hugh was having severe adverse reactions. Theriault ignored Ginny’s complaints, just as she ignored Hugh’s welfare and his wishes.
On January 9, 2014, attorney A. Justin Eldreth sent Ginny Johnson a cease and desist letter. The letter threatens that Cheryl Theriault and Aging Family Services will sue Ginny for defamation if Hugh Johnson’s memorial is not removed from the NASGA website.
Accordingly, we demand that you (a) immediately cease and desist your unlawful defamation of Cheryl Theriault and Aging Family Services, Inc., by writing to the National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse to request that they remove any mention of either Cheryl Theriault or Aging Family Services, Inc. from their website, specifically, the information located at http://stopguardianabuse.org/hugh_johnson.htm; (b) provide this office with a copy of your written request; and (c) provide this office with prompt written assurance that you will cease and desist from further defamation of the character and reputation of Cheryl Theriault and Aging Family Services, Inc. All this must be done within ten (10) days from the date of this letter.
If you do not comply with the cease and desist demand within this time period, Cheryl Theriault and Aging Family Services, Inc. is entitled to seek monetary damages and equitable relief for your defamation. In the event that you fail to meet this demand, please be informed that Cheryl Theriault and Aging Family Services. Inc. has asked us to communicate to you that she will pursue all available remedies, including seeking monetary damages, injunctive relief, and an order that you pay court costs and attorney’s fees. Your liability and exposure under such legal action could be considerable.
Ginny did not compose the memorial on the NASGA website. Ginny has no control over the NASGA website. Ginny has no ability to delete content from NASGA’s website.
Readers may express their concerns to Cheryl Theriault at Aging Family Services.
Aging Family Services
4812 Six Fork Roads, Suite 110
Raleigh, North Carolina 27609
cheryl@agingfamilyservices.com
Suggested by the author
North Carolina war hero: Victim of elder abuse by predatory guardian
Full Article and Source:
Aging Family Services threatens daughter for exposing elder abuse of war hero
Woman hiding from Bay Area county
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Eighty-five-year-old Reta Cook can’t get around without the help of her family and a wheelchair but she says she doesn’t need Santa Clara County’s help with anything.
“I really don’t know why they would want to take over my life,” Cook says.
To continue reading: Woman hiding from Bay Area county
Chicago Wants to Include E-Cigs in Smoking Ban?
The truth is out, isn’t it? The smoking ban isn’t strictly about health issues. We now have proof that it is about “control” and personal preferences of the elite and very little else. Of course, that should have been obvious when smoking bans included outdoor space where second hand smoke couldn’t possibly affect an innocent bystander, who wasn’t intentionally walking into the line of smoke, but oh well… Regardless of our failure to see what was right in front of our faces, we have proof of it now. Yes, now we have proof of the truth as those who think we are stupid, want to include e-Cigs in the smoking ban.
People don’t like smoking and E-Cigs imitate that? So what? Why can’t a person have a little break room or go into a toilet stall and enjoy their pretend cigarette? How does that harm anyone else? It doesn’t. So what is the argument?
Let’s hear it.
This ought to be good.
I can’t wait to be told how I need to be protected from harmful whatever. Of course, if I find it upsetting to see a mother (whom I don’t know) nurse her baby (without being covered up) while I’m trying to eat — that’s too bad? It has been decreed we have no right to expect common courtesy in that area of co-existence, because someone thinks it is cool for mom’s to nurse and us to be forced to watch, while nasty for people to smoke where we can simply “see” them doing so. Yeah, seeing that smoke through a window gives us lots of health issues to be concerned about.
There are smoking bans to save the world, even from fake cigarettes. What a joke. Save the world? How about control the world? That’s more like it. And here is Chicago right up in the front of the line.
Nanny this and Nanny that! It’s a situation that will eventually come home to visit us all in ways that some might not suppose as being a possibility. Time to wake up. Time to regain our common sense. Chicago is a good start.
(Footnote: I’m a non-smoker who is allergic to smoke.)
Faceless Hospital Board Relents: Jahi McMath Can Continue Her Fight for Life
Ominous case is only the latest example of government and hospital boards taking private medical decisions away from families
PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 6, 2014 / – The parents of Jahi McMath won a key victory in the right to care for their daughter, Jahi McMath. Jahi entered Children’s Hospital in Oakland in early December to have her tonsils removed, and after complications from that surgery, was quickly declared “brain dead” by the hospital only a short time later, despite what her family was reporting as signs of responsiveness. Since that time, Jahi’s parents have waged a protracted legal fight with the hospital to force them to provide even the most basic care for their daughter.
Over the weekend, the hospital finally released Jahi to her parents, who have transferred her to a facility while they wait and watch for signs of improvement in her condition.
“This is a temporary victory in the ongoing fight to protect the right of parents and families to make private medical decisions for their loved ones,” said Bobby Schindler, Executive Director of the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network, and brother of the late Terri Schiavo.
“Sadly, these cases are becoming more common in our current medical environment, where government bureaucrats and faceless hospital boards, in the form of ethics committees, strip away the rights of parents and families to make their own decisions regarding medical treatment.”
Once Jahi arrives safely at her new destination, her condition will be assessed in greater detail, and medical specialists will begin taking steps to hopefully improve her condition.
“Jahi’s fight has only just begun,” said Schindler. “And there are many other families across the country who face similar battles. That’s why it’s so important that people fight back when an ethics committee tries to take away their medical rights. Given our current medical environment, with more and more emphasis on government, we all have reason to worry.”
The Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network is a 501(c)(3) non-profit group dedicated to helping the medically vulnerable who are facing life-threatening situations. For more information, visit: lifeandhope.com
Little Sisters of the Poor v. Sebelius
To Read the Article: Little Sisters of the Poor v. Sebelius
Remembering the Kids on the First Day of 2014
It’s a New Year! A new beginning! It’s also a time to reflect on the kids that need us to remember their plight and to fight in their behalf when the system forgets the human components called faith, hope and a sprinkle or two of compassion!
On a bright and positive note…
Connecticut Children’s Medical Center encourages it’s kids to be fighters! It encourages them not to give up in spite of the odds. Look at the spirit of these special children…
Then we have the opposite situation in California.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The family of a 13-year-old California girl declared brain dead after tonsil surgery is encountering difficulty in obtaining two surgeries that she needs to undergo before she can be safely transferred to a long-term care facility.
So why are they unwilling? Why do they care? Is there some reason they are afraid to let someone prepare Jahi to be moved?
Connecticut Children’s Medical Center or Children’s Hospital Oakland? — Which hospital staff would you want caring for your child?
Jahi McMath Supporters Pressing for Release from Children’s Hospital Oakland
Supporters of Jahi McMath continue to work for her transfer out of Children’s Hospital Oakland. The 13-year old patient who suffered massive complications after a surgery that led to a “brain death diagnosis” continues to show signs of life.
PHILADELPHIA, Pa., December 31, 2013 / — Under the direction of the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network, numerous organizations and individuals have been working on behalf of Jahi McMath and her family in relative silence for the sake of the sensitivity of her case.
At this point, Terri’s Network, Life Legal Defense, Angela Clemente & Associates, The Wrongful Death & Injury Institute, New Beginnings and others defending Jahi’s life, see that it is now appropriate to step forth publicly and represent the many supporters who have been working tirelessly to obtain Jahi’s release from Children’s Hospital Oakland and transfer her to a safe place.
Jahi McMath has been labeled a “deceased” person. Yet she retains all the functional attributes of a living person, despite her brain injury. This includes a beating heart, circulation and respiration, the ability to metabolize nutrition and more. Jahi is a living human being.
Together with our team of experts, Terri’s Network believes Jahi’s case is representative of a very deep problem within the US healthcare system – particularly those issues surrounding the deaths of patients within the confines of hospital corporations, which have a vested financial interest in discontinuing life.
“Families and individuals must make themselves aware of what so-called ‘brain death’ is and what it is not,” said Bobby Schindler, executive director with Terri’s Network. “Additionally, families and individuals must educate themselves regarding their rights as patients, the advance documentation that must be completed prior to any medical procedure as well as how to ensure best any patient’s rights.
“Every person needs to understand that medical accidents happen every day. Families and individuals must be more aware of the issue of accountability and patient rights.”
We continue to work toward Jahi’s transfer.
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The Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network was established by the family members of Terri Schiavo to protect the rights of people with cognitive disabilities. It has communicated with and supported more than 1,000 families, and has been involved in hundreds of cases since Terri’s Death. To learn more about the work of the Life & Hope Network, please visit lifeandhope.com