Elder Abuse of my brother resulting in his death

[ws68934964]

It is a very sad thing to find elderly either abused or neglected and it should be all our responsibility to find out why and, if necessary, bring any wrong doing to light.

One would think it to be a simple task but far from it is more like it. For example, in the State of Illinois there are a bunch of legal forms that must be filled out before you can even set up an interview for a caregiver. Caregivers are associated with some organization which in Chicago can be as many as 30 at last count. From there you contact the organization and try to set up the initial meeting. The whole process can take a month or two.

Point is,  various levels of government can be involved or work in the background as umbrella entities. Many times these organizations get state grants, who in turn can get money from federal programs. Things can get really complicated fast.

I recommend before doing anything of a legal nature, you search your loved ones possessions for anything that might look official. You'll probably want to keep an eye out for papers from the state or even organizations you've never heard of. Example is Catholic Charities. (They are like an umbrella that works with the smaller organizations)

Once you have something then its time to rap on the door of the local states attorney- especially around election time cause they sure as shooin do not want any bad publicity when its time to vote. Hope you get the picture.

Forget the local police doing something because the likelihood of it happening is nearly null unless the states attorney gives a directive.

Who's after the states attorney? His/her boss. The State Attorney General.

You need to know your facts though and be able to spit them off your tongue as if they are second nature to you. Get real facts via studies that have been done about elderly, elderly neglect, etc. I imagine AARP has some resources although I haven't check.

All this takes time and I guess 1 year or more would be a quick estimate. Don't give up though. You can make Things happen but you must want to stay the course.

Good luck...

[GailL1]

As others have asked, who was his caregiver?

Kind of hard for a person in a coma to drink, eat, take meds by mouth and get up to go to the bathroom.  Fluids, meds, food would have to be given intravenously.

So who was suppose to be taking care of him?  

[JaneCares]

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capresto wrote:

My brother Robert  was left bed bound in a coma for five days before 911 was called.  He had no water, no medicine and no food for those five days.  He had been allowed to urinate on himself in his room and the house reeked of urine even over two weeks later.  Because he had no water he was severely dehydrated when he arrived at the hospital.  The doctors could not understand why he was so dehydrated but of course the reasons were not disclosed to them.  Robert may have been down 7 liters of fluid.

On the advice of an attorney I reported the matter to the police.  However, they have been trying to make this investigation go away.

What gives????  How does one make them properly investigate Elder Abuse?  Are we all at risk because they do not want to prosecute these perpetrators?

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I agree with everyone else's posts. I'd simply escalate until someone pays attention: the county Ombudsman has the important job of watching for abuse or neglect and pursuing the solution. Up the chain of command, which includes the constituent services workers at each of your elected officials: congresspeople and senators. Bug them all. Find out how the system works. Keep going until you get justice. 

Might also have to hire an attorney, but make the 'system' work first before you pay out money. A malpractice attorney preferable.

go for it.

jane

[WebWiseWoman]

I am so incredibly sorry to read of your loss.

I would suggest you contact State authorities (in Nevada, we call 211 for state contact info); I know in my Nevada they are very serious about this and have people who specialize in investigating this type of abuse.

Bless you and your family and know you are in our thoughts during this trying time.

[retiredtraveler]

"...On the advice of an attorney I reported the matter to the police.  However, they have been trying to make this investigation go away.

What gives????  How does one make them properly investigate Elder Abuse?  Are we all at risk because they do not want to prosecute these perpetrators?...".

Chiming in with other posting. Who was responsible? Did he have a caregiver that didn't show up? Did he have someone designated to handle his legal affairs?  To prosecute for Elder Abuse, someone has to have contractual responsibility to take care of him. Who was that?

"....The doctors could not understand why he was so dehydrated but of course the reasons were not disclosed to them....".  Why not?

[ASTRAEA]

@capresto - I'm sorry for your loss! You haven't mentioned who was caring for your brother, and which family member(s) were responsible for oversight, if the caregiver was a paid professional. Did the attorney give you any guidance about the next step to take, after notifying the police?

[capresto]

My brother Robert  was left bed bound in a coma for five days before 911 was called.  He had no water, no medicine and no food for those five days.  He had been allowed to urinate on himself in his room and the house reeked of urine even over two weeks later.  Because he had no water he was severely dehydrated when he arrived at the hospital.  The doctors could not understand why he was so dehydrated but of course the reasons were not disclosed to them.  Robert may have been down 7 liters of fluid.

On the advice of an attorney I reported the matter to the police.  However, they have been trying to make this investigation go away.

What gives????  How does one make them properly investigate Elder Abuse?  Are we all at risk because they do not want to prosecute these perpetrators?