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Some related articles : Elder abuse widespread and unreported |
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Elderly Abuse Legislation May Be Put Before Missouri Voters; Advocates for the Aged Weigh Initiative Petition After Bill Dies in Senate
Frustrated with losing in the Legislature for the third year in a row, advocates for the elderly are considering taking their case straight to voters. Lt. Gov. Joe Maxwell, the state's official advocate for older adults, asked his staff Monday to begin researching the legalities and practicalities of circulating initiative petitions to strengthen state laws on elderly abuse. "We're going to see what our options are," said Maxwell, a Democrat. The elderly abuse bill died Friday in the Republican- controlled Senate. Maxwell said an initiative petition drive - for the November 2004 election - would be an enormous undertaking. Still, the deaths last year of four residents at the Leland Health Care Center in University City showed the need for a tougher law, he said. "We lived through the Leland issue," Maxwell said. "When you can't get the evidence, it's a problem." Four women died of heat exhaustion after temperatures on the facility's third floor reached 95 degrees. The air conditioning was broken. A paramedic who responded to the calls described the rooms as "an oven." Some of the home's employees hired lawyers and initially refused to cooperate with investigators. No one has been charged with a crime in connection with the deaths, though St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch is still investigating. The home, at 894 Leland Avenue, is now operating as U City Manor under a different owner. The bill that died Friday would have required that all suspected cases of elderly abuse be promptly referred to law enforcement agencies. Whistle-blowers would have been protected, and families would have had access to investigation reports. The state could have set staffing ratios for homes plagued with insufficient staffing. Joanne Polowy, spokeswoman for the Association for the Protection of the Elderly, said the bill would have ensured that state regulators work with law enforcement agencies. Now, when reports of nursing home deaths are received, "it's very possible the state won't send someone out because the person has already died," she said. "It's not considered 'imminent danger.' " Days later, by the time state investigators arrive, "all the stories have been worked out; all the evidence is gone," Polowy said. Senate leaders killed the bill by refusing to let it come up for a vote. Majority Leader Bill Kenney, R-Lee's Summit, said he kept the bill off the last-day agenda because negotiators took too long to sign a compromise version, and the bill would have consumed too much time. President Pro Tem Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, refused to sign the bill worked out by negotiators. He opposed a provision giving nursing home residents two years to file suits alleging injuries. The time limit now is six months. Kinder said a longer time frame would have driven insurers out of the state. The Missouri Health Care Association, which represents for- profit homes, opposed the bill. Earl Carlson, the association's executive director, said the bill would have "raised costs and impinged on constitutional rights. It took the burden of proof away from the state and placed it on the nursing home that was accused of something." The earliest an initiative petition drive could begin is Nov. 6, the day after this year's general election. Supporters would have to collect signatures in six of the nine congressional districts from 5 percent of those who voted in the last governor's race. The deadline to turn in the petitions is May 2004. FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Action on Aging distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
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