The front page Boston Globe article in today’s Sunday paper is entitled: “Courts strip elders of their independence”.
“In a system this broken, I have no doubt that there are numerous elderly people who have been confined to nursing homes against their will even though they are perfectly competent,” Iannella said. “And we have no idea what has happened to any of their life savings.”
Courts strip elders of their independence
I can vouch for the article as I was taken to probate court by Senior Care to force my father to stay in a nursing home. As the legal guardian of my father, I was powerless to even change my father to a better nursing home. The court order forbid me from moving my father to another home or from returning him to the care of his wife in his own home.
My father died in the nursing home not two years later after spending most of his time confined to his bed. He was blind, unable to speak and half paralyzed, but they kept him alive, against the wishes of his living will, with antibiotics and intravenous hydration. My mother died a year later.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Court decisions are usually made based on hearsay evidence. Judges, by nature, hear second hand information which is prejudiced in favor of the state. Sometimes that information is mere opinion or liable as the judges I know haven’t been skilled enough to differentiate fact from fantasy or ad hominem statements from important source. The judges I’ve been exposed to should be in jail.
These Boston Globe articles, if they continue to expose the courts, should win the Pulitzer prize.