Guardianship abuse: Convenient incompetency

Linda Kincaid, Elder Advocate, California, will co-host this show.

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Illinois resident Delores Bedin has inoperable pancreatic cancer.  The hospital wants to send her home.  They also want her to have a  guardian even though her daughter is putting an addition on her home to accomodate her mother. Her daughter also has power of attorney.

Incompetent: Delores was described as incompetent in Winnebago County Court by employees of Northwestern Memmorial Hospital.  They claimed Delores should be discharged under the control of a public guardian.  Hospital records indicate that Delores was NOT incompetent.

“The most terrible, terrible things could happen to you under guardianship court. Your elderly parent could be removed from their home and put into a nursing home where they don't want to be, they could be drugged in that nursing home, sometimes unnecessarily. Their property could be seized," says Annie McKenna, Spokeswoman for the National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse.

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