Fredericksburg.com - Carrots don't wince in pain: The brain-damaged are people, too
It is almost a year since Terri was forced to starve to death, when she was not even allowed to be given an ice chip. This case put euthanasia on demand on the world stage. It was the cruelest death that could ever be handed to an innocent person. Terri did not want to die and she made that clear when she consistently refused to give up the will to live when she was abused almost on a daily basis by the man who alleges that he loved her, and that he was only fulfilling her wishes by ordering her death.
Terri Schiavo was brain damaged but she was not brain dead. She was not "just lying there like a corpse". She was able to get out of bed. She could smile, and she could feel pain, as well as manage to smell odours. That is why the writer of this article has stated "carrots don't wince in pain". Neither do potatoes, tomatoes, or cucumbers. Yet the people who wanted Terri kept up a constant mantra that she could feel no pain and that the death that they prescribed for her would be "lovely" and that she would "feel nothing".
As Terri neared death, George Felos, the lawyer for Michael Schiavo, the adulterer who was living with another woman whilst he condemned his wife to death, even described Terri as looking beautiful. However, the reality of Terri's condition happened to be that she showed all of the signs of dehydration, as her body was drying out. It is not a sight that could be described as beautiful. One has to question the mental stability of a man who would describe a woman dying from dehydration as beautiful. Not even carrots are forced to become so withered and dry before they are plucked from the ground and prepared to be eaten.
The contrasting story here is that of a 44 year old fireman who had been in a minimally concious state due to injuries he had sustained, and who through the love of his family suddenly recovered, sat up and started talking to them. He lasted about one year before he died from complications of pneumonia. This man is a reminder that people who are described as PVS are not vegetables but they are in fact viable human beings.
What is wrong with out world that we are prepared to follow the dictates of a mad man who described brain injured people as though they had no right to live? Why is it that a neurologist is allowed to get away with testifying that someone who can sit up in bed is allegedly in a state that she does not deserve the chance to be given any form of therapy that would have assisted her recovery?
Terri is dead because the American judicial system denied her of her civil rights. Lest we forget, even brain injured people have civil rights and the right to be killed is not one of the rights that have been enshrined in the American Bill of Rights and the American Constitution. The legal system in the USA needs a good shake up and the justices who have been promoting the Culture of Death through their written decisions need to be removed from the bench. Men and women who uphold life need to be appointed to the bench in the USA, otherwise the slide into oblivion will be awaiting the USA. Hopefully Terri's case will not lead to that slide into oblivion, rather it is hoped that this case will act as an anticlimax for the death movement.
14.3.06
13.3.06
When a Family matter turns into a business pt 2
The reporters of the Los Angeles Times highlighted several cases where vulnerable people have ended up in the hands of professional guardians or conservators. The first case mentioned is that of Helen Jones, a penny pincher who has always managed to look after herself to the point that she had sufficient money to take care of her needs in her old age. Helen had lived independently in her own little home, that is until a professional conservator by the name of Melodie Scott walked into her life, and Helen was tricked into signing a piece of paper that ended up seeing her declared as someone who could not look after herself.
Helen is not allowed to spend her own money, but Melodie Scott has been helping herself to Helen's estate as she has been bleeding this elderly and vulnerable adult dry. Of the $560,000 that Helen had saved for the expenses of old age, Melodie Scott has managed to acquire more than $200,000 that is allegedly for fees, as well as appliances that are not required, and around the clock help that is also not required. Ms Scott even managed to find a medical file that allegedly stated that Helen was a schizophrenic, thus allowing the conservator have Helen declared mentally incompetent to care for herself. There was even an attempt to force Helen to take medication that she did not require. At 87 years of age Helen Scott needs something better than a professional conservator who is helping herself to Helen's estate.
In some ways the situation in Los Angeles is no different than the situation in Florida because the oversight of the conservators or guardians is in the hands of the probate court. There is always the possibility that California will have its own version of George Greer from Pinellas county, waiting for an opportunity to become infamous as he or she rules against a vulnerable adult and agrees to oversight having the person put to death, in the same manner as Terri Schindler was put to death by her adulterous husband. What is of real concern is that the oversight of the guardian conservators has been equally lax such that a professional but unregulated industry has been allowed to grow, and the professionals have been enriching themselves at the expense of vulnerable elderly adults. There is more regulation for hairdressers than for guardianship professionals. This is a criminal situation because not even family members are allowed to have a say once a professional guardian has stepped into the picture.
Before Melodie Scott walked into her life, Helen Jones always kept her records in accordian files. Her bills were always paid promptly and she managed to take herself to the bank and the laundromat. She kept a close wathch on her finances, never spending in an unnecessary manner. However, once Scott walked into her life, Scott has spent money on air conditioning, a new refrigerator and a new stove. She limited Helen to spending money of $50 per fortnight, whilst she spent up Jones's money on paying Scott's own sister to paint Jones' house. Further money was wasted on a Christmas tree, that was unnecessary because one already existed in the garage. Yet Scott had unlimited access to Helen's money because a judge decreed that Helen Jones could not look after herself.
Helen Jones has suffered much in the way of indignities since Melodie Scott moved into her life. When Helen's brother passed away due to a bout of pneumonia, Helen did not want him cremated. However, as soon as the funeral home found out that Helen had a conservator, they phoned Melodie Scott, and instead of a coffin, Helen discovered that the burial was to be for an urn with her brother's ashes. This is something that is so personal, and Melodie Scott had no right to order the cremation of Helen's brother instead of a proper burial.
Helen's case is just the tip of a new iceberg in California, for the industy of professional guardians has been growing, and now more than 15% of vulnerable adults who require guardians end up in the hands of these blood-sucking leechlike professionals such as Melodie Scott.
To be continued
Helen is not allowed to spend her own money, but Melodie Scott has been helping herself to Helen's estate as she has been bleeding this elderly and vulnerable adult dry. Of the $560,000 that Helen had saved for the expenses of old age, Melodie Scott has managed to acquire more than $200,000 that is allegedly for fees, as well as appliances that are not required, and around the clock help that is also not required. Ms Scott even managed to find a medical file that allegedly stated that Helen was a schizophrenic, thus allowing the conservator have Helen declared mentally incompetent to care for herself. There was even an attempt to force Helen to take medication that she did not require. At 87 years of age Helen Scott needs something better than a professional conservator who is helping herself to Helen's estate.
In some ways the situation in Los Angeles is no different than the situation in Florida because the oversight of the conservators or guardians is in the hands of the probate court. There is always the possibility that California will have its own version of George Greer from Pinellas county, waiting for an opportunity to become infamous as he or she rules against a vulnerable adult and agrees to oversight having the person put to death, in the same manner as Terri Schindler was put to death by her adulterous husband. What is of real concern is that the oversight of the guardian conservators has been equally lax such that a professional but unregulated industry has been allowed to grow, and the professionals have been enriching themselves at the expense of vulnerable elderly adults. There is more regulation for hairdressers than for guardianship professionals. This is a criminal situation because not even family members are allowed to have a say once a professional guardian has stepped into the picture.
Before Melodie Scott walked into her life, Helen Jones always kept her records in accordian files. Her bills were always paid promptly and she managed to take herself to the bank and the laundromat. She kept a close wathch on her finances, never spending in an unnecessary manner. However, once Scott walked into her life, Scott has spent money on air conditioning, a new refrigerator and a new stove. She limited Helen to spending money of $50 per fortnight, whilst she spent up Jones's money on paying Scott's own sister to paint Jones' house. Further money was wasted on a Christmas tree, that was unnecessary because one already existed in the garage. Yet Scott had unlimited access to Helen's money because a judge decreed that Helen Jones could not look after herself.
Helen Jones has suffered much in the way of indignities since Melodie Scott moved into her life. When Helen's brother passed away due to a bout of pneumonia, Helen did not want him cremated. However, as soon as the funeral home found out that Helen had a conservator, they phoned Melodie Scott, and instead of a coffin, Helen discovered that the burial was to be for an urn with her brother's ashes. This is something that is so personal, and Melodie Scott had no right to order the cremation of Helen's brother instead of a proper burial.
Helen's case is just the tip of a new iceberg in California, for the industy of professional guardians has been growing, and now more than 15% of vulnerable adults who require guardians end up in the hands of these blood-sucking leechlike professionals such as Melodie Scott.
To be continued
The Observer | UK News | Elderly suffer most abuse in their homes
The Observer UK News Elderly suffer most abuse in their homes
They are elderly, and they are the most vulnerable members of society. This time the report is not about abuse in the USA but a report that is about to be released in the UK. This is a report that indicates that in the UK the elderly are subject to abuse from members of their own family and in their own homes. The abusers can also be social workers who have come into the home to perform some sort of service. Sometimes the abuse relates to neglect such as not making sure that the elderly person has food. In other cases it involves sexual abuse. Some of these cases have occurred in Britain's nursing homes.
Just as there is shame about sexual abuse of younger family members, there is also a stigma of shame attached to sexual abuse of the elderly. The number of reports and successful prosecutions against the perpetrators of this form of abuse has remained low. This is a problem that needs to be aired, put into the eye of the public so that the elderly are no longer afraid of their abusers.
They are elderly, and they are the most vulnerable members of society. This time the report is not about abuse in the USA but a report that is about to be released in the UK. This is a report that indicates that in the UK the elderly are subject to abuse from members of their own family and in their own homes. The abusers can also be social workers who have come into the home to perform some sort of service. Sometimes the abuse relates to neglect such as not making sure that the elderly person has food. In other cases it involves sexual abuse. Some of these cases have occurred in Britain's nursing homes.
Just as there is shame about sexual abuse of younger family members, there is also a stigma of shame attached to sexual abuse of the elderly. The number of reports and successful prosecutions against the perpetrators of this form of abuse has remained low. This is a problem that needs to be aired, put into the eye of the public so that the elderly are no longer afraid of their abusers.
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