Woman Catches Care-Giver Abusing Elderly Father

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YEuivTYI64&feature=related

Richards Ingests Fathers Ashes

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6982145n&tag=strip

Un-Break My Heart: Dealing with the Death of a Parent

If we live long enough, we all go through it. One thing I have learned since I have lost both of mine,...there are really only TWO stages of a persons life: With them and With-Out Them, and how to deal with their loss; http://www.elle.com/Beauty/Health-Fitness/Unbreak-My-Heart-Dealing-With-the-Death-of-a-Parent?cid=el%3Aotb%3Alifelove%3AUnbreak-My-Heart%3A-Dealing-With-the-Death-of-a-Parent%3A

100 Year Old Woman Stays Active, Feels Great, Looks Great Too!

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?sid=3500255

Meet "Baxter" the Handicapped Hospice Therapy Dog

RIP Baxter; http://www.facebook.com/?sk=messages#!/?page=1&sk=sent&tid=1503030454643

104 Yr Old Clark County, Nv Copper-mine Heiress Sequestered Away & Bilked of Billions

http://license.icopyright.net/user/viewContent.act?clipid=544693936&mode=cnc&tag=3.5721%3Ficx_id%3DD9HQUVJ00

Read more about her crooked, felonious accountant and unscruplous attorney here; http://www.independent.com/news/2010/aug/26/whos-watching-huguettes-millions/

Medical Errors Top 19.5 Billion

http://www.fiercehealthfinance.com/story/medical-errors-pressure-ulcers-and-postop-infections-top-19-5-billion-list/2010-08-11

Dr. Arrested in Car Bomb Attack

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/08/09/arkansas.doctor.bombing/index.html

Hospital Worker Fired After Posting Comment About Patient at Hospital

http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/hospital-worker-fired-over-facebook-comments-about-patient/2010-08-01?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

Nurses Get Fired for Posting Patients Pics on Facebook

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-facebook-20100809,0,5049805,print.story

EMT Who Refused to Help Dying Pregnant Woman Gets Shot in Face, Killed

Medic Who Stood by While Pregnant Woman Died in Bakery Shot Outside NYC Nightclub, but Police Say Events Are Unrelated

(AP) Authorities say an emergency medical technician accused of refusing to help a dying pregnant woman during his coffee break was fatally shot near a New York City nightclub.

Police believe those accusations and the shooting were unrelated.

Police say Jason Green was shot in the face near the Greenhouse club Sunday morning. There have been no arrests.

Green and fellow EMT Melisa Jackson had been under criminal investigation for their handling of a distressed woman at a Brooklyn bakery Dec. 9. They were in line at the bakery when 25-year-old Eutisha Rennix collapsed.

Witnesses say the EMTs told workers to call 911 and left without helping the woman, whose prematurely born baby also died.

The EMTs denied wrongdoing.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/07/19/national/main6691662.shtml?tag=pop

EMT's Declare Live Man Dead

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid53241406001?bclid=53208310001&bctid=111755910001

Woman Dies in Hosp. Waiting Room after Waiting 24hrs,..Left on Floor for Hours After Death, Caught on Tape

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grV0yN3dAfA&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Physician Negligence

HEPATITIS B AND C, PHYSICIAN-RELATED CLUSTER - UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
***********************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post

ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases


Date: Fri 9 Jul 2010
Source: ModernMedicine, HealthDaily News [edited]
>


Improper Anesthesia Practice Causes Hepatitis Outbreak
------------------------------------------------------
An anesthesiologist who reused a contaminated single-use propofol
vial on multiple endoscopy patients caused an outbreak of hepatitis
infection affecting 13 patients at 2 clinics, according to a report
published in the July 2010 issue of Gastroenterology. [Propofol is a
drug used to induce or maintain anesthesia during certain surgeries,
tests, or procedures. - Mod.CP]

Bruce Gutelius, M.D., of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, and colleagues [reference below]
investigated outbreaks of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C
virus (HCV) infections among patients at the 2 clinics who had
received anesthesia from the same anesthesiologist. The investigators
reviewed medical charts, conducted patient interviews and site
visits, and performed infection control assessments. The
investigators also did molecular sequencing of available patient isolates.

At one clinic, the researchers identified 6 cases of HCV infection
and 6 cases of HBV infection, and at the other clinic, one case of
HCV infection; all the cases were associated with the outbreak. HCV
quasispecies sequences from the patients were found to be nearly
identical (96.9 to 100 percent) to those from the patients considered
to be the infection source. The investigators write that the
anesthesiologist used a single-use vial of propofol on multiple
patients, and conclude that the likely cause of the viral
transmission was the reuse of syringes to re-dose patients, which
contaminated the vials for later patients.

"Gastroenterologists are urged to review carefully the injection,
medication handling, and other infection control practices of all
staff under their supervision, including providers of anesthesia
services," the authors write.

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mil


[Nosocomial transmission of hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus
infections have occurred frequently in the United States and
elsewhere as a result of medical negligence, most frequently in
association with haemodialysis. The incident described above involves
anesthesia and multiple use of a single-use vial during endoscopy. It
is presumed to refer to events 1st described in the ProMED-mail post
titled: "Hepatitis C, physician-associated cluster - USA (NY)
20070616.1965," and subsequently.

The reference for the Gastroenterology paper on which the above
report is based is the following: "Multiple Clusters of Hepatitis
Virus Infections Associated With Anesthesia for Outpatient Endoscopy
Procedures. B. Gutelius and others, Gastroenterology Volume 139,
Issue 1, Pages 163-170, July 2010
"
(registration, purchase required). - Mod.CP]

[see also:
Hepatitis C, physician-related cluster - Australia (04): New
Zealand 20100603.1840
Hepatitis C, physician-related cluster - Australia (03): (VI) 20100531.1807
Hepatitis C, nosocomial - China (02): (IMAR) 20100519.1657
Hepatitis C, physician-related cluster - Australia (02): (VI) 20100420.1278
Hepatitis C, physician-related cluster - Australia: (VI) 20100408.1134
Hepatitis C, dialysis-related - Spain: (TG), RFI 20100209.0447
Hepatitis C, nosocomial - China (AH), RFI 20100107.0070
2009
----
Hepatitis C, transfusion related - Kazakhstan: (AA) 20091214.4243
Hepatitis C, nurse-associated - USA (02): (CO) clarification 20090708.2453
Hepatitis C, nurse-associated - USA: (CO) 20090707.2441
2008
----
Hepatitis C, dialysis-related - USA: (NY) 20080917.2917
Hepatitis C, American Indians - USA: (MT) 20080325.1115
2007
----
Hepatitis C, fibrinogen-transmitted - Japan: RFI 20071217.4063
Hepatitis C, physician-associated cluster - USA (NY) (04) 20071211.3988
Hepatitis C, hemodialysis unit - Spain (Barcelona) 20071209.3969
Hepatitis C, physician-associated cluster - USA (NY) (03) 20071207.3951
Hepatitis C, physician-associated cluster - USA (NY) (02) 20070628.2080
Hepatitis C, physician-associated cluster - USA (NY) 20070616.1965]
...................sb/cp/ejp/dk

*##########################################################*
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are posted, but the accuracy and completeness of the
information, and of any statements or opinions based
thereon, are not guaranteed. The reader assumes all risks in
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and its associated service providers shall not be held
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World Elder-Abuse Awareness Day

June 15, 2010

Did you already know that June 15 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day? Probably not, because elder abuse is not something one wants to think about or talk about. But it does happen and it happens in Sheboygan County.

Elder abuse happens to both men and women and isn't always something you can see. Elder abuse can be physical, emotional, sexual, financial, neglect and self-neglect. If you are a victim of elder abuse, please be aware that there is help and support for you. Reach out. You do not have to go through this alone.

If you think you know someone who is being abused, be supportive and talk to him or her. Whatever the circumstances there is help and support available by calling Safe Harbor at (920) 452-7640 any time of day or night. You can also call the Sheboygan County Aging and Disability Resource Center at (920) 467-4100. All calls are confidential.

Everyone should take one minute out of your busy life on today and reflect on the reality that at that particular moment an elder, somewhere in the world or in Sheboygan County, could be being abused.

Karen Lemkuil

Elder Abuse Specialist,
Safe Harbor of Sheboygan County

http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/20100615/SHE0601/6150325/Letters-Today-is-World-Elder-Abuse-Awareness-Day

Docs Fail to Diagnose Rabies: Man Dies

RABIES, BAT, HUMAN - UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: (INDIANA), 2009,
POST-MORTEM FINDINGS
******************************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post

ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases


Date: Fri 9 Apr 2010
Source: MMWR Weekly, 59(13);393-396 [abbr. and edited]



Human Rabies -- Kentucky/Indiana, 2009
--------------------------------------
On 19 Oct 2009, clinicians from Kentucky contacted the CDC [Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention] regarding a suspected case of
rabies in a man from Indiana aged 43 years. This report summarizes
the patient's clinical presentation and course, the subsequent
epidemiologic investigation, and, for the 1st time, provides
infection control recommendations for personnel performing autopsies
on decedents with confirmed or suspected rabies infection.

Before the patient's death on 20 Oct 2009, a diagnosis of rabies was
suspected based on the history of acute, progressive encephalitis
with unknown etiology [recorded in the ProMED-mail post archived as:
"Rabies, bat, human - USA: (IN) 20091028.3733". - Mod.CP].
Preliminary serology results on antemortem serum samples detected
rabies virus-specific antibodies. Because local pathologists were
concerned about the biosafety risk posed by infectious aerosols at
autopsy and potential contamination of autopsy facilities, the
Kentucky Department for Public Health (KDPH) asked CDC staff members
to travel to Kentucky and perform an autopsy to confirm the diagnosis
and assist with the epidemiologic investigation.

Testing of autopsy samples was conducted at the CDC and detected
rabies virus antigens in brainstem and cerebellum. Rabies viral RNA
was isolated and typed as a variant common to the tricolored bat
(_Perimyotis subflavus_). Although rabies virus transmission from
organ or tissue transplant has been documented rarely (1,2),
transmission of rabies virus to persons performing autopsies has not
been reported. Autopsies can be performed safely on decedents with
confirmed or suspected rabies using careful dissection techniques,
personal protective equipment, and other recommended precautions.

Case Report
-----------
On 5 Oct 2009, a previously healthy man from Indiana aged 43 years
visited an employee health clinic with fever and cough. His vital
signs and physical examination were unremarkable except for coarse
rales on lung auscultation. The clinician made a diagnosis of
bronchitis, prescribed antibiotics, and asked the patient to return
the following day. At this follow-up appointment, the patient
reported worsening fever and chills, as well as new chest pain and
left arm numbness; he also exhibited decreased grip strength of the
left hand. An electrocardiogram showed no evidence of cardiac
ischemia. Later that day, an evaluation at a local emergency
department (ED) was similarly unrevealing, and the patient was given
narcotics and muscle relaxants for presumed musculoskeletal pain and
discharged home.

On 7 Oct 2009, the patient returned to the same ED, where he was
noted to have akathisia and motor restlessness thought to be side
effects from the muscle relaxant. The ED physician advised admission
to the hospital, but the patient returned home. Upon follow-up the
next day with a primary-care physician, the patient had prominent
muscle fasciculations, fever, tachycardia, and hypotension. Given
these signs, the physician was concerned about the possibility of
sepsis and admitted him to the hospital.

After admission, the patient's mental status deteriorated rapidly,
and he underwent endotracheal intubation for airway protection. On 9
Oct 2009, he was transferred to a referral hospital in the
neighboring state of Kentucky. A lumbar puncture yielded
cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) with glucose of 72 mg/dL (normal: 40--70
mg/dL), protein 140 mg/dL (normal: 15--45 mg/dL), 3 red blood
cells/mm3 (normal: 0--2 cells/ mm3), and 38 white blood cells /mm3
(normal: 0--5 cells/mm3); differential showed 99 percent lymphocytes
and 1 percent monocytes. During 9-19 Oct 2010, no etiology for the
patient's disease was identified, and his hospital course became
complicated by bradycardia, hypotension, rhabdomyolysis, and renal
failure requiring hemodialysis. Results of a magnetic resonance image
of the brain and a brain perfusion study were normal. Bacterial and
fungal cultures of CSF, in addition to laboratory tests for West Nile
virus, herpes simplex virus, influenza, and human immunodeficiency
virus, were negative.

On 19 Oct 2009, diagnostic testing for rabies was requested, and
samples of the patient's serum, saliva, and a nuchal skin biopsy were
sent to CDC for analysis. However, on 20 Oct 2009, while these tests
were pending, the patient's physical examination,
electroencephalogram, and apnea testing all indicated brain death.
Ventilatory support was withdrawn, and the patient died on 20 Oct 2010.

Postmortem Findings
-------------------
On 22 Oct 2009, testing at the CDC indicated rabies specific
immunoglobulin G (1:2,048) and immunoglobulin M (1:512) antibodies in
serum by the indirect fluorescent-antibody (IFA) assay. Subsequent
testing detected rabies virus neutralizing antibodies (0.44 IU/mL) in
serum by rapid fluorescent focus inhibition test (RFFIT). The
formalin-fixed nuchal skin biopsy specimen tested negative for viral
antigens by immunohistochemistry (IHC). On 27 Oct 2009, a CSF sample
collected on 11 Oct 2009 and located postmortem was sent to the CDC
and also tested negative for rabies antibodies by IFA and RFFIT. The
family requested an autopsy, but pathologists at the referral
hospital were concerned about the biosafety risk posed by infectious
aerosols at autopsy and potential contamination of autopsy
facilities. In response to a request for assistance from KDPH, CDC
staff members traveled to Kentucky and performed an autopsy limited
to the head to collect tissue specimens for diagnostic evaluation.

At autopsy, the brain weighed 1610 g (normal: 1300--1400 g) and
showed markedly congested and hemorrhagic leptomeninges.
Histopathologic examination revealed encephalomyelitis and abundant
neuronal cytoplasmic inclusions (Negri bodies). Rabies virus antigens
were detected in multiple samples of fresh central nervous system
(CNS) tissue by direct fluorescent antibody (DFA) testing and in
formalin-fixed CNS tissues by IHC. Viral RNA was detected in the
patient's saliva collected antemortem and CNS tissues collected at
autopsy by reverse transcription--polymerase chain reaction and was
typed as a variant common to the tricolored bat (_Perimyotis subflavus_).

Public Health Investigation [abbreviated]
-----------------------------------------
An investigation identified no specific source of rabies virus
exposure. However, the patient, who worked as a mechanic and lived in
a farming community in southern Indiana, had mentioned to his friends
that he had seen a bat in late July after removing a tarpaulin from a
tractor adjacent to his residence. He had not mentioned a bite or a
non-bite exposure associated with this or any other incident.

MMWR Editorial Note
-------------------
The case described in this report represents the 1st rabies death in
an Indiana resident since 2006 and only the 2nd such death since
1959. Including this case, a total of 31 cases of human rabies have
been reported in the United States since 2000. Of these, 14 (45
percent) were diagnosed postmortem, reinforcing the need to consider
rabies in all cases of acute progressive encephalitis of unknown
etiology. Human rabies cases in the United States might be
underreported because of lack of recognition and lack of
confirmation by diagnostic testing. When rabies is suspected,
antemortem diagnosis requires testing of serum, saliva, CSF, and a
nuchal skin biopsy.

The postmortem diagnosis of rabies is made by examination of tissue
from the brain (e.g., medulla, cerebellum, and hippocampus).
Autopsies fulfill an important function by diagnosing cases of rabies
and furthering understanding of the disease. By providing a diagnosis
for deceased patients with suspected but unconfirmed rabies, or for
patients in whom the disease was never suspected clinically,
autopsies can 1) aid the public health investigation; 2) help raise
public awareness of rabies associated with specific exposures; 3)
emphasize the importance of seeking medical evaluation after such an
exposure occurs; and 4) add to knowledge about current human rabies
incidence. In patients with confirmed rabies, autopsies provide
information about pathogenesis that might be relevant to
investigations of treatment.

Although contact with decedents with confirmed or suspected rabies
can cause anxiety, no confirmed case of rabies has ever been reported
among persons performing postmortem examinations of humans or
animals. Even from living patients with rabies, human-to-human
transmission has been documented only rarely, in cases of organ or
tissue transplantation (1,2). Aerosol transmission of rabies virus
has never been well documented outside of a research laboratory
setting (5). Both the CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO)
have stated that the infection risk to health-care personnel from
human rabies patients is no greater than from patients with other
viral or bacterial infections. In addition, rabies post-exposure
prophylaxis (PEP) is available for exposed personnel. Nevertheless,
because of the nearly universal fatal outcome from rabies, both the
CDC and the WHO recommend that all personnel working with rabies
patients or decedents adhere to recommended precautions (3,6).

Even the minimal risk for rabies virus transmission at autopsy can be
reduced by using careful dissection techniques and appropriate
personal protective equipment, including an N95 or higher respirator,
full face shield, goggles, gloves, complete body coverage by
protective wear, and heavy or chain mail gloves to help prevent cuts
or sticks from sharp instruments or bone fragments. Aerosols should
be minimized by using a handsaw rather than an oscillating saw, and
by avoiding contact of the saw blade with brain tissue while removing
the calvarium. Ample use of a 10 percent solution of sodium
hypochlorite for disinfection is recommended both during and after
the procedure to ensure decontamination of all exposed surfaces and equipment.

Participation in the autopsy should be limited to persons directly
involved in the procedure and collection of specimens. Previous
vaccination against rabies is not required for persons performing
such autopsies. PEP of autopsy personnel is recommended only if
contamination of a wound or mucous membrane with patient saliva or
other potentially infectious material (e.g., neural tissue) occurs
during the procedure (3,7,8). The case described in this report
highlights the need to educate pathologists and other hospital
personnel about appropriate rabies infection control procedures so
that autopsies can be performed safely in cases of confirmed or
suspected human rabies.

References
----------
(1) Helmick CG, Tauxe RV, Vernon AA. Is there a risk to contacts of
patients with rabies? Rev Infect Dis 1987;9:511--8.
(2) CDC. Investigation of rabies infections in organ donor and
transplant recipients---Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, 2004.
MMWR 2004;53:586--9.
(3) CDC. Human rabies prevention---United States, 2008:
recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
MMWR 2008;57(No. RR-3).
(4) CDC. Use of a reduced (4-dose) vaccine schedule for postexposure
prophylaxis to prevent human rabies: recommendations of the Advisory
Committee on Immunization Practices. MMWR 2010;59(No. RR-2).
(5) Gibbons RV. Cryptogenic rabies, bats, and the question of aerosol
transmission. Ann Emerg Med 2002;39:528--36.
(6) World Health Organization. WHO expert committee on rabies. World
Health Organ Tech Rep Ser 2005;931:1--121.
(7) CDC. Human rabies---California, 1987. MMWR 1988;37:305--8.
(8) CDC. Human rabies---Miami, 1994. MMWR 1994;43:773--5.

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail


[There is the need to consider rabies in all cases of acute
progressive encephalitis of unknown etiology. Human rabies cases in
the United States might be underreported because of lack of
recognition and lack of confirmation by diagnostic testing. For the
1st time, this document provides infection control recommendations
for personnel performing autopsies on decedents with confirmed or
suspected rabies infection.

Interested readers should access the original text to view images of
the decedent's brain at autopsy and the histopathology. - Mod.CP]

[see also:
Rabies, bat, human - USA: (IN) 20091028.3733]
..................cp/ejp/mpp

*##########################################################*
************************************************************
ProMED-mail makes every effort to verify the reports that
are posted, but the accuracy and completeness of the
information, and of any statements or opinions based
thereon, are not guaranteed. The reader assumes all risks in
using information posted or archived by ProMED-mail. ISID
and its associated service providers shall not be held
responsible for errors or omissions or held liable for any
damages incurred as a result of use or reliance upon posted
or archived material.
************************************************************
Donate to ProMED-mail. Details available at:

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Visit ProMED-mail's web site at .
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RIP Sgt. Thomas P. Jubic: / A Merrills Maurader

April 01, 2010

Tommy, it was a pleasure to know you. You were always a gentleman and a joy to be around. What a talented, wonderful, meticulous artist you were and with a golden singing voice too. I will miss you and I know you will be sorely missed by all who knew you. Heartfelt sympathies to family-members.
Thought you might like to know I have submitted your name to the Historian of the Merrills Marauders Association who will add your name to the memorial wall.
Thank you for your service to our country and for the sacrifices you and your family made for U.S.!

http://www.marauder.org/intropas.htm
~
Mrs. George J. Jubic,
Johnsonville, New York
|
Contact Me
http://www.legacy.com/gb2/default.aspx?bookid=5708152802577

A Reply from Merrills Mauraders Historian


April 01, 2010

In regards to my previous guestbook entry where I said I would notify the Merrills Mauraders Association of Tommys passing,..an email I recieved in reply today from the founder;
-----------------
Mrs. George Jubic,
Thank you so very much for your kind concern in notifying me of the passing of Sgt. Jubic.

In the Obit, it doesn't state that he also earned the Combat Infantry Badge(CIB) and the Bronze Star Medal (BSM). He may not have known about the BSM, for it was awarded after the war. Then again he was receiving our newsletter and should have known.
If someone decides to apply for his BSM, they would need the following:
Award of the CIB, Gen Order #3 475th Inf. effective 1 June 1944. Award of the BSM, by EO 9419, while serving in the Composite Unit 5307th Provisional.

Our next issue of our newsletter, will list Thomas P Jubic as having answered The Final Roll Call and will go to the, 427 2nd Street address, then unless otherwise requested will stop.

Sincerely.
Robert E. Passanisi, Historian
Merrill's Marauders Association
historian1@marauder.org
Webpage: http://marauder.org
Note: If you are related to, or a descendant of a Merrill's Marauder, a veteran of the 475th Inf., 124 Cavalry, or Mars Task Force, and would
like to join the Merrill's Marauders Proud Descendants. Contact Secretary, Lorrie Carpenter.
serene107@gmail.com
~
Click on title above to go to the Merrills Mauraders Award Winning website to learn more about them and to see their Memorial Wall

Up-State NY Nursing Home Gets Failing Grade

In MY hometown, of all places. Think this stuff dosent happen "close to home?" Think again.

SCHAGHTICOKE — A state investigation resulted in charges against 14 former and current employees of a Rensselaer County health care facility this week, but state records show the facility has long been plagued with problems.

Documents show that from 2007-2009, the Northwoods Rehabilitation and Extended Care Facility in Schaghticoke had a complaint rate more than three times the state average.

There were 104 complaints about the Northwoods facility between January 2007 and December 2009, 41 percent of which were for facility-reported incidents, according to the state health department. That makes for a rate of 94.9 reports per 100 beds occupied, a rate the state determines based on daily occupancy rates to help with comparing a specific facility’s complaint experience with that of other nursing homes.

For the same time period, the statewide average rate of complaints received per 100 beds was 24.4.

The department of health investigates any allegations that a nursing home has violated federal or state regulations, or has provided inadequate care. With regards to the complaints against Northwoods between 2007 and 2009, state health officials conducted 48 on-site inspections that resulted in 30 citations, the bulk of which were in regards to quality of the care at the facility.

An updated inspection report from last month showed that Northwoods had a total of 57 deficiencies with regards to standard health and life safety code. That’s compared to the state average of 24, and of those 57, the state deemed 12 of them to be related to actual harm or immediate jeopardy.

Northwoods Health Systems, which also runs facilities in Cortland. Rensselaer and Niskayuna, was fined $6,000 last year for citations for quality of care, organization and administration, and quality assessment and assurance stemming from a Jan. 16, 2009 health department inspection of the Schaghticoke facility. That inspection found several instances of patient neglect, inadequate care and lack of proper documentation and monitoring in at least one resident’s case.

The facility was also fined $2,000 in 2008 for citations regarding quality of life and dignity stemming from a 2007 inspection. It was also fined $3,000 in 2004 for violations of residents’ rights on multiple dates, and it was fined $4,000 in 2002 for multiple violations of quality of care.

State health department records also show that between 2007 and 2009, the 120-bed facility exceeded the state and national averages for the number of patients suffering from bed sores.

Eighteen percent of high-risk patients suffered from bed sores, compared to the state average of 13 percent and the national average of 11 percent. As far as low-risk patients go, 3 percent of Northwoods residents suffered from bed sores, a slight rise above the state and national average of 2 percent.

Additionally, 27 percent of patients there for a short stay between October 2008 and September 2009 suffered bed sores, higher than the state’s 17 percent average.

The records also show that 11 percent of patients suffered from urinary tract infections from January to September 2009. The state average for this period was 8 percent, and the national average was 9 percent.

On Wednesday, 14 current and former employees at the facility were arraigned on multiple counts of neglect and falsifying business records. The charges followed a six-week video surveillance investigation by the state Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit conducted from the end of February to early April in 2009.

According to Attorney General Cuomo, a hidden camera used with an unnamed 50-year-old patient, discovered that staff “routinely failed to turn and position an immobile resident, failed to administer medications and failed to treat bed sores. The patient suffered from multiple illnesses — including multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and organ brain syndrome — and was completely reliant on staffers for all personal needs, according to the charges.

Nine of the staffers were immediately suspended pending the outcome of the investigation, which covered a six-week period from the end of February to early April in 2009, according to Northwoods administrators. The alleged abuse took place before the current administration took control of the facility in July, said spokeswoman Lisa Cupolo, and the new administrators say they’ve made significant improvements since taking over.

Several relatives of former Northwoods patients said they’ve complained to the state and facility administrators about the quality of care there before but have received little response. They’ve complained of bed sores, untreated urinary tract infections, and unanswered call buttons, among other problems.

Penny Marcy of Waterford said she put her 87-year-old mother in Northwoods in May when she suffered health problems of her own, and took her out in January after becoming disgusted with what she and family members saw as a gross lack of care.

“They wouldn’t let her walk,” said Marcy. “They filled her with pills she didn’t need so she was comatose when we got to her.”

Marcy also said her mother suffered from untreated bed sores, and that administrators lied to her about her mother having a stroke that caused the loss of the use of her left side.

“A neurologist told me she hadn’t had a stroke and it was caused by the pills they were giving to her,” said Marcy, who said her complaints to then facility officials fell on deaf ears.

Marcy’s mother is now staying with her sister in Halfmoon where she’s doing much better.

“The care that the administrators provide is a disgrace,” Marcy said. “Northwoods is the worse nursing home I’ve ever been in.”

Darcy Spencer of Troy and her sisters have obtained the services of the Martin, Harding and Mazzotti law firm in investigating their claims that Northwoods staff severely neglected their 66-year-old mother and ultimately caused her death in August.

The firm is also investigating at least four other similar cases.

Spencer and her sisters also accuse Northwoods of giving their mother, Mary Ann Poppielion, wrong medications, letting her call button go unanswered for long stretches of time and failing to properly treat a urinary tract infection that eventually led her to die of septic shock.

They said they’ve reported these and other complains to state officials and have also called the attorney general’s office.

In August, federal officials barred Northwoods from receiving Medicaid or Medicare payments for new residents following complaints that workers were ignoring the buzzer system used by patients needing assistance.

That restriction was lifted within a few weeks, according to Cupolo.

The facility suffered yet another blow in January when a former nurse’s aide pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a physically helpless 78-year-old woman in late 2007 and early 2008. Robert Gundersen, 52, of Middleburgh was sentenced to 10 years of probation as part of a plea deal.

The latest charges in Schaghticoke follow the 2007 conviction of Northwoods’ former owner, Highgate LTC Management LLC, for six misdemeanor criminal charges stemming from an undercover state investigation at its Cortland facility.

A few individual employees were convicted on neglect charges in the case as well, and Highgate was ultimately barred from the long-term care business.

Jessica M. Pasko can be reached at 270-1288 or by e-mail at jpasko@troyrecord.com.





http://www.troyrecord.com/articles/2010/04/02/news/doc4bb572b96da50508862155.txt

Nursing home antipsychotic use under fire

March 8, 2010 — 11:45am ET | By Tracy Staton


Massachusetts joins the cadre of states spending funds on antipsychotics for nursing home patients who probably shouldn't be given the drugs at all, the Boston Globe reports. According to data collected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 28 percent of the state's nursing home residents got antipsychotics last year. Of that group, 22 percent--2,483 patients--did not have a medical condition indicated for that treatment.

The state's nursing home trade group, the Massachusetts Senior Care Association, said that too many are using antipsychotics in their elderly residents. "We recognize the number is too high," SVP Scott Plumb told the Globe, "and we are working to try to bring it down."

Nursing homes across the country have come under fire for using powerful antipsychotic drugs such as Eli Lilly's Zyprexa, AstraZeneca's Seroquel, Johnson & Johnson's Rispderal, and similar meds. And you'll recall that FDA has issued warnings against using these drugs for patients with dementia because of serious safety risks. The federal government recently sued J&J for alleged involvement in a kickback scheme designed to boost use of Risperdal in dementia patients with behavioral problems.

Apparently, the difference lies in training: Well-trained nursing home staff can used behavior management to help quell dementia patients' agitation, and thus reduce the need for drugs. In homes where staff is untrained, up to 80 percent of residents are on antipsychotic meds, whereas in homes with well-trained staff, drug use is about 2 percent to 3 percent, an Alzheimer's Association representative told the Globe.

- see the story in the Globe

Related Articles:
Advocates want new rules for antipsychotic use
Wrong drugs used in dementia, experts say
U.S. accuses J&J of kickbacks to Omnicare
Will safety concerns curtail atypicals' growth?



Click on title above for article w/ working links; http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/nursing-home-antipsychotic-use-under-fire/2010-03-08?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal#ixzz0hcBjrAzp

To Missionaries and of their Messages

If I should die and leave you here awhile Be not like others, soon undone, who keep Long vigil by the silent dust and weep.... For my sake turn again to life and smile Nerving the heart and trembling hand to do Something to comfort weaker hearts than mine And I perchance may therein comfort you.


Thomas Gray
--------------------

Remembering Fathers Gone Too Soon

Click on title above for article

Avandia Maker Hides Danger of Drug, w/ Help from FDA

This is a diabetic drug I believe my father was on, and may have been responsible for the heart problems he was experiencing, and was used for the reason to put him on hospice as indicative that his heart was failing (NOT).....unfortunately, he lingered for over 11 mo on hospice until finally he was (allowed) to die (unaware) of malnutrition. (Witholding of nutrients)

Click on title above for original article;

http://www.naturalnews.com/028233_GlaxoSmithKline_Avandia.html

Letters: Assisted suicide

Death wish denied led to the happiest years of my life


Monday, 1 February 2010

Your report on Lynn Gilderdale (27 January) worried me greatly. This is because however a law allowing assisted suicide is framed, and however many "safeguards" it has, it would not have saved me when I wanted to die. In fact, I think few people can understand Lynn's desperate and ongoing wish to die better than I can. And yet still I say the law should not allow actions such as hers, regardless of how disabled or determined is the one requesting it, and how "loving and compassionate" is the person asked to assist.


I use a wheelchair full-time, having spina bifida, hydrocephalus, emphysema, osteoporosis and arthritis. Like Lynn, I desperately wanted a child, and had to come to terms with the knowledge that I never would. I have severe pain every day, and, as with Lynn, morphine doesn't always alleviate it. I also have crushed and fractured vertebra, caused by my osteoporotic bones, which means additional pain. Typing this causes even more pain, due to arthritis in my fingers, wrists and elbows. But writing this letter is important, despite the pain.

Twenty-five years ago, I, like Lynn, decided I wanted to die, a settled and entirely competent death wish that lasted for 10 years. During those years I attempted suicide more than once. On the occasion I best remember, I was treated against my will by doctors, who saved my life. Then, I was very angry with the doctors who saved my life, but now I'm extremely grateful. Yet because of the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act, and the Director of Public Prosecutions' new guidelines, if similar circumstances obtained now, I would be left to die.

Had someone taken the apparently "common sense, decent and humane" decision to end my life all those years ago, no doubt a jury would also have given my "helper" a conditional discharge, if that.

But I would actually have missed the best years of my life, notwithstanding pain that is worse now than it was when I wanted to die. No one would ever have known that the future held something better for me, not in terms of physical ability, but in terms of support and the love of friends who refused to accept my view that my life was "over".

It's very easy to give up on a body as "broken" as Lynn's or mine, and it can be tough to continue. But it is possible to come out the other side of a death wish, to use well the time that would otherwise have been lost, and to demonstrate that life is precious and worth living, despite many serious challenges.

Alison Davis

Blandford Forum, Dorset