MAY 24, 1999 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 47 Kevin and Gina Spann had been married for eleven years. When they married, Mrs. Spann had a two-year-old son from a prior marriage, Steven Hill; Mr. Spann’s will left his estate to Steven, and even referred to him as his own son, though he had not taken any…
MAY 17, 1999 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 46 The National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare sounded like a good idea. Seventeen Commission members met for the first time in March of last year, and were scheduled to make a truly bipartisan recommendation on how to “save” the Medicare program by March of this year.…
MAY 10, 1999 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 45 Like many states, Arizona has long recognized two different kinds of guardianship. Most incapacitated wards have a guardian appointed pursuant to the Arizona version of the Uniform Probate Code, which is contained in Title 14 of the Arizona statutes. One of the principal limitations of the usual guardianship…
MAY 3, 1999 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 44 Catherine Shine was terrified of doctors and hospitals, and with good reason. Ms. Shine had suffered from severe asthma her entire life, but controlled her condition largely through the use of prescription medications. Although she had lived through numerous attacks, they always seemed to follow the same course–rapid…
APRIL 26, 1999 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 43 Clara Mowrer lived in her Kansas home until, three months short of her 101st birthday, she fell and broke her hip. After two months of hospitalization, she was ready to be released. Her niece, Peggy Eddie, and Ms. Eddie’s husband Maurice arrived from Montana to help take care…
APRIL 19, 1999 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 42 Carmen Herbert was 83 when she injured her leg in a golf car accident. She was treated at a local hospital, and then released to the Laniolu Convalescent Home in Hawai’i. A few days later, she was diagnosed with “chronic non-healing leg ulcers and organic brain syndrome.” Two…
APRIL 12, 1999 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 41 Mattie Meeks lived in her Corpus Christi, Texas apartment, but at eighty-six years of age she needed some help. She hired Maria Rosa to assist her. Ms. Rosa came in regularly to help bathe and dress Ms. Meeks, did some cleaning and occasionally cooked for Ms. Meeks as…
APRIL 5, 1999 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 40 In 1927, the U.S. Supreme Court issued one of its most famously wrong-headed opinions. Buck v. Bell dealt with whether Carrie Buck, who had been committed to the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feeble Minded, had the right to oppose an order directing that she be sterilized. The…
MARCH 29, 1999 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 39 There are over 17,000 nursing homes in the United States, housing more than 1.6 million residents. The federal government will contribute $39 billion to the care of those nursing home residents in 1999. Recently, the U.S. Congress’ General Accounting Office (the GAO) was asked by five Democratic members…
MARCH 22, 1999 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 38 Walter V. Shell, a 71 year old man from Johnson City, Tennessee, blamed attorney John D. Goodin for a mistake in Shell’s ex-wife’s will. Last Thursday Shell tracked the lawyer down and shot him in the head. Lawyer Goodin, 81, was a well-known lawyer in Tennessee. He had…