Elder & Nursing Abuse Attorneys of Arizona

A Minnesota nursing home advocate was admitted to a nursing home for a week of rehabilitation after surgery on her right arm. Her experience was so bad that she checked herself out of the facility 25 hours later.

Although staying at “one of the best [nursing homes] in the state,” Deb Holtz, Minnesota’s Ombudsman for Long-Term Care, felt she was treated as a checkmark on someone’s to-do list. She was afforded no dignity.

You, as a nursing home resident, have rights. Unfortunately, many residents and their caregivers are unaware of what their rights are. More

Did you know that doctors report less than two percent of elder abuse and neglect received by state service agencies, according to studies conducted in recent years?  Apparently, many doctors do not view elder abuse the same way they view child abuse.

Doctors in Arizona and all other States are required by law to report suspected elder abuse of their patients.  Doctors, today, are pressed for time and allowing elder abuse to go undetected has become a huge problem.  Doctors who suspect abuse should ask their patients if anyone has hurt them and get the details – not walk away without doing anything.  Studies indicate that every year more than two million older adults are victims of physical, psychological or other types of abuse.

There are many reasons why some doctors do not report abuse.  The main one is because elder abuse is often hidden.  Doctors today just do not spend as much time with a patient like they once did.  In addition, many patients beg their doctors not to report it for fear that an abusive family member will be sent to jail.

If you are a family member with a loved one in a nursing home, it is your responsibility to watch over that loved one.  If you suspect elder abuse, don’t wait for your loved one’s doctor to report it, report it yourself.  Contact an experienced Arizona Elder Abuse Attorney, one who will fight for the rights of your loved one and one who will report it to the authorities.

A court-appointed guardian allegedly stole over one million dollars from an elderly Arizona woman, causing her to go onto Medicaid.  The woman, with declining health, had no children to take care of her – to manage her finances for medical care.  Because of this situation, the court appointed a guardianship agency to take care of her and her finances.  The woman’s sisters say their only interest was to enrich themselves; she is now worth “Zero”.

It was reported that the guardian agency ran up all sorts of bills for her care and other miscellaneous expenses – many unnecessary, and once the money was gone, dropped her as a client.
Senator Kohl, chairman of the Committee on Aging believes this kind of “care” is a national problem.  His investigations have discovered that millions of dollars are allegedly stolen by court-appointed guardians.  He believes new laws are needed to protect the elderly from their own guardians.  He also said that since this woman is the widow of a veteran, she could have gotten a guardian for $75 a month.  It is strange that no one told her this.

If you suspect a guardian is stealing from you or one or your relatives, I urge you to contact an experienced Arizona Elder Abuse attorney who will fight for you or your relative.  No one should be taken advantage of.