Writing Your Tulsa Estate Planning Blog

An odd case out of Florida has emerged where a woman claims that a Walgreens store employee forced her husband to clean its bathroom which subsequently led to his death from emotional distress.

According to a lawsuit filed by Florida widow Maria Elizarraras, her elderly husband died under suspicious circumstances. She alleges that her husband used the bathroom in an Orlando Walgreens store that he often frequented. On his way out of the store, he was allegedly stopped by store employees and ordered to clean the bathroom because he had left a mess.

The widow claims that her 69-year-old husband was forcibly detained, forced to clean and mop the bathroom for 20 minutes and was made fun of by store employees. The lawsuit alleges that the humiliation led to emotional distress that caused the man’s death.

WFTV9 reported this story in “Man dies of emotional distress after being forced to clean Walgreens bathroom widow says.”
There are several problems with this lawsuit.

Specifically it is not clear how exactly the incident caused the man’s death. In addition, the suit does not state how long after the incident the man passed away. Setting aside those legal hurdles, if the incident is true, it is a shocking case of elder abuse.

To force an elderly man to clean a store’s bathroom while mocking him is abuse. It is difficult to imagine he could have left a mess that required 20 minutes to clean, but even if it was a large mess, a pharmacy should be more aware about problems the elderly might face and be more understanding.

This specific incident might provoke snickers in some people, but it is a good reminder of how the elderly can be abused and that the abuse can lead to problems.

Reference: WFTV9 (Dec. 8, 2016) “Man dies of emotional distress after being forced to clean Walgreens bathroom widow says.”

A survey reveals the overall rate of dementia in the U.S. is declining, but the reasons are not clear.

It has long been expected that as more and more Americans lived into older age and continued to suffer from obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol, the percentage of the population with dementia would increase. Some very small surveys found the opposite was occurring, but they could be discounted because they were not undertaken with representative samples.

However, a new large and representative survey backs them up.

Researchers have found that the rate of dementia among the U.S. population has declined by 12% in the last 24 years, as the New York Times reported in “U.S. Dementia Rates Are Dropping Even as Population Ages.”

While this is good news, the reasons for the decline are not known.

There is some evidence to suggest that people are seeking treatment for diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure more often which has contributed to the decline in dementia. Other evidence suggests that increasing overall educational levels in the U.S. have been a contributing factor. However, that might be nothing more than a correlation.

If researchers can figure out why the rate of dementia is in decline, it will help them to understand the disease and to develop preventative measures.
Of course, despite the decline in the rate as the population continues to age, the total number of people in the country with dementia is actually increasing. It would be a bad idea to assume you will not eventually suffer from it and neglect to get powers of attorney drawn up, just in case.

Reference: New York Times (Nov. 21, 2016) “U.S. Dementia Rates Are Dropping Even as Population Ages.”

When an elderly parent is approaching the end of life, the ability of the family to come together and agree on treatment and care is vital to ease the parent’s suffering.

The last thing that most end of life patients want to deal with, is a family feud over the patient’s medical treatment and care. However, these family feuds are a common occurrence, especially when family members have other, pre-existing disagreements.

This was the subject of a recent article in the Washington Post titled “A united family can make all the difference when someone is dying.”
Doctors have a name for one of the common problems that can arise. They call it the “Daughter from California syndrome.” This can happen when family members compete with each other over who cares for the elderly patient the most. Often, someone who lives far away goes too far and is the source of disruptions.

Another source of problems for families is when the person who the patient put in charge of things goes too far and refuses to cooperate with others. For example, someone given authority in a health care power of attorney may refuse to listen to the opinions of other family members. This can create unnecessary tension, especially when decisions have to be made that are outside the scope of any advanced directives.

The best thing that a family can do to help an elderly patient at the end of life is to work together, communicate freely and come to consensus decisions concerning treatment and care. The patient can help this greatly, if he or she has previously executed detailed advanced directives that designate appropriate people to be in charge.

Reference: Washington Post (Nov. 20, 2016) “A united family can make all the difference when someone is dying.”