Monthly Archives: July 2013

Nursing home staff allegedly abused elderly Alzheimer’s patients

"Twenty-one current and former employees of a nursing home for Alzheimer’s patients in Georgia, including its owner, face a total of more than 70 criminal charges for allegedly abusing elderly patients, authorities said Tuesday. The abuses included employees restraining patients with bed sheets and subjecting them to 'inhumane and undignified conditions' at Alzheimer’s Care of Commerce, about 60 miles north of Atlanta, according to a statement from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. In 2012, a Congressional report showed that patients suffer abuse or neglect in one in three nursing homes in the United States." Continue reading →

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Justice Department sues Florida over ‘deliberate indifference’ in treatment of disabled children

"The U.S. Justice Department sued the state of Florida on Monday, accusing health officials of violating the Americans with Disabilities act by placing almost 200 handicapped minors in nursing homes usually used for elderly residents, Mother Jones reported. Florida is the 12th state sued by the department over alleged mistreatment of physically or mentally disabled residents in the past four years. The Miami Herald reported that while the state has increased patient care payments to $550 per day for children placed in nursing homes, lawmakers also cut $6 million from a program allowing residents to get private health care at their homes." Continue reading →

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Doctors caught on video using household drills in Moldovan state-run children’s hospital

"Doctors at a Moldovan state-run hospital used household tools, including an electric drill and pliers, to perform surgery in a video leaked to local press and published on the Internet, prompting outrage among the public and government officials. Prime Minister Iurie Leance ordered Healthcare Minister Andrei Usatii on the same day to investigate the incident. Usatii, in turn, told local television that while the use of household tools was allowed in certain circumstances, the hospital in question had adequate specialized equipment. Moldova, a former Soviet republic of 4 million, is one of the poorest nations in Europe with an average monthly wage of about $300." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDoctors caught on video using household drills in Moldovan state-run children’s hospital

Cannabis for Elders: A Precarious State

"Ailments ranging from chemotherapy side effects, arthritis, glaucoma, chronic pain and even malnutrition are being treated with cannabis, a promising alternative for seniors who are increasingly susceptible to the dangerous side effects and growing dependency of multiple prescription medications. But as many move into assisted living facilities, questions arise on the use of medical marijuana behind their doors. Muddied by its illegal status at the federal level, social stigma, and often hesitant attitudes of administrators who in some cases fear losing funding for allowing a controlled substance on their property, medical marijuana presents a list of challenges for seniors." Continue reading →

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NSA Says It Can’t Search Its Own Emails

"The NSA is a 'supercomputing powerhouse' with machines so powerful their speed is measured in thousands of trillions of operations per second. The agency turns its giant machine brains to the task of sifting through unimaginably large troves of data its surveillance programs capture. But ask the NSA, as part of a freedom of information request, to do a seemingly simple search of its own employees' email? 'There's no central method to search an email at this time with the way our records are set up, unfortunately,' NSA Freedom of Information Act officer Cindy Blacker told me last week. The system is 'a little antiquated and archaic,' she added." Continue reading →

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California City Retreats From Red Light Camera Referendum

"City leaders in Riverside, California are backing off the promise made last November to allow residents to make the call about whether to keep or eliminate red light cameras. The city council votes later today on a staff recommendation to pull the plug on the public vote. The city has already postponed the ballot measure that was to be considered in June." Continue reading →

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Another Revolving Door: Deputy Secretary Neal. Wolin to Leave Treasury

"The Treasury Department today announced that Deputy Secretary Neal S. Wolin will conclude his tenure at the Department at the end of August, more than four years after he was confirmed. Wolin served as Acting Treasury Secretary from mid-January to late-February 2013. He was confirmed as Deputy in May 2009 and is the longest-serving Deputy Secretary in the Department’s history. From 2001 to 2008, Wolin served at The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. as President and Chief Operating Officer for Property and Casualty Operations. Earlier in his career, he also worked in private law practice at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in Washington, DC. " Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAnother Revolving Door: Deputy Secretary Neal. Wolin to Leave Treasury

SEC’s Khuzami Uses Revolving Door to Make $5 Million

"Robert Khuzami, the former head of enforcement at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, is joining Kirkland & Ellis LLP, reports BusinessWeek. Mark Filip, a partner in charge of Kirkland’s government enforcement defense and internal investigations, said Khuzami will help immediately in securities enforcement defense, advising boards and companies and counseling financial institutions on securities regulations." Continue reading →

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Dumb ALEC Runs for Cover on “Stand Your Ground.”

"ALEC is the American Legislative Exchange Council. It is a little-known conservative think tank. It is the source of the 'stand your ground' laws. It is now running for cover. Bill Gates’s foundation says it will not send money any longer. So has McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, and Kraft Foods. This reveals what ALEC has concealed for decades. The Establishment Left has always written checks to ALEC, which has kept ALEC on a short leash. ALEC is getting out of the law enforcement and social policy fields. It will return to its 'economic roots.' The Trayvon Martin case is the cause. Zimmerman was declared not guilty. But that does not matter at ALEC." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDumb ALEC Runs for Cover on “Stand Your Ground.”