When most journalists, investment and insurance professionals, and attorneys estimate the financial damage our senior citizens suffer from elder financial abuse, they'll point to a familiar figure from MetLife: $2.9 billion in annual losses. That number, taken from MetLife's well-researched 2009 study, might still fall short of a full accounting, though. Reported cases, after all, will compose only a fraction of the massive fraud and exploitation perpetrated against the elderly.
College Athletics & the Campus Rape Epidemic
Florida State QB Jameis Winston, accused of rape. The university and local police have been implicated in a coverup. Photo: Fox Sports
CA End of Life Option Act Enables Predators
Last Wednesday in the California State Senate, Sens. Lois Wolk of Davis and Bill Monning of Santa Cruz introduced a new bill to make assisted suicide legal in California. Entitled the End of Life Option Act, the bill is designed to legalize assisted suicide in the state of California.
When Trust Disputes Get Ugly
Saints owner Tom Benson, center, with wife Gayle, left, and daughter Renee, right. AP Photo/Bill Haber
Watching Out for Bad-Faith Brokers
Your broker or financial advisor is someone you should be able to trust, especially if you're a senior citizen. Yet it's an unfortunate reality that financial elder abuse is perpetrated by those in positions of trust, and that's why vetting financial professionals is worth every penny.
Elder Abuse & Abuse of Authority
When someone hurts our senior citizens, such wrongdoing isn't just an individual matter - it's a flagrant challenge to our whole community. And just as members of families and neighborhoods should look out for each other, so we also trust public servants to protect the most vulnerable among us, especially from the crime of elder abuse.
Assisted Suicide & Undue Influence
Of all recent developments in elder law, the coordinated push to allow for physician-assisted suicide is likely the most controversial. The assisted-suicide movement received an enormous publicity boost due to the death last year of Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old New Jersey woman terminally ill with brain cancer. Because of restrictions in her home state, Maynard moved to Oregon, where the law allows the terminally ill to take their own life under medical supervision. In response to the publicity, the New Jersey legislature is now considering passage of a law that will enable state residents to have the option of following in Maynard's footsteps - supposedly a "humane and dignified death."
Fighting Elder Abuse: An Expert's View
Dr. Mark Lachs, co-chief of Weill Cornell Medical College's division of geriatric medicine, speaks on keeping our senior citizens - and our communities - safe from elder abuse and exploitation. Fielding specialists like Lachs and Dr. Karl Pillemer, Cornell has been at the forefront of research into the causes and means of elder abuse. Listen to this interview for an inside perspective on raising awareness in the fight against elder abuse: [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNRrk9Dl25c[/embed]
Determining Undue Influence in Estate Law
Attorney Gary Holmes administers the late Geraldine Webber's contested will in 2012. Video still.
Home Caregivers: Addressing Elder Abuse and Neglect
For many senior citizens and the chronically sick, moving from nursing-home to in-home care is a preferable option when available. After all, we'd much rather be in a familiar, comfortable environment than in what can seem an impersonal medical facility. For this reason the shift to in-home care is quite understandable. Sadly, however, the opportunities for elder abuse and neglect also multiply in a home setting, as a recent article in The Atlantic makes evident. This comes down to one pivotal reason: a systemic lack of oversight to ensure patient safety and caregiver responsibility.
