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• Veterans Home to be Investigated Amidst Complaints of Elder Abuse

  Clayton Kent | September 04, 2007 5:29 PM | 0 CommentsNovato, CA

  State Senator Pat Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa, has successfully called for an investigation of the California Veterans Home in Yountville as a result of a large number of complaints from residents and veteran residents of the facility. This investigation called for by the Senator is to focus on the medical care provided by the facility to the residents, including staffing issues. Many of the...

• Toxic Toy Legislation Bans Phthalates Used in Baby Toys

  Christina Cole | May 09, 2007 8:46 PM | 0 CommentsNovato, CA

  The Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxics Materials Committee passed legislation, authored by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, to eliminate a dangerous toxic chemical that is used in the manufacturing of baby toys. AB 1108 passed the committee with an unofficial vote of 5-2. During the hearing, the bill was amended to include a ban on phthalates only. After It was agreed upon to focus on banning...

• ‘Plot Turnover’ in Famous Chicago Cemetery Leads to Felony Charges

  Clayton Kent | July 09, 2009 8:12 PM | 0 CommentsNovato, CA

  At the Burr Oak Cemetery in the southern suburbs of Chicago, lay the remains of a number of prominent figures from the African-American Community. It is also the site where four cemetery workers...

• Elder Abuse: Nursing Home Neglect Is a Widespread Problem

  Laura Blatt | June 28, 2007 6:21 PM | 1 CommentNovato, CA

  A nursing home is guilty of neglect when it fails to fulfill its duties to its residents. These obligations can range from providing special diets to taking a frail, elderly person to the toilet at appropriate times. Refusing to answer a resident's page or failing to call his or her doctor may also be neglect. A bedridden nursing home resident should be repositioned at least every two hours to...

• Funeral Directors Charged in Human Chop Shop Case

  Clayton Kent | October 09, 2007 9:02 PM | 0 CommentsNovato, CA

  Three funeral directors in Philadelphia were charged last week with the illegal taking and selling of body parts. Bones, skin, tendons and spines were taken from bodies without the permission of the families, and most of the "donors" were not suitable due to their age, physical condition, or because of disease. Once the body parts were taken, the bodies were then sent for cremation. The...

• Suspected Drunken Driver Kills Motorcyclist

  Jenny Albano | August 29, 2007 6:37 AM | 0 CommentsNovato, CA

  A driver, Tony Martinez, who was suspected to be drunk at the time, hit a motorcyclist, and unknowingly drove home with the dead body of the motorcyclist in his back window.Martinez pulled out of a parking lot Saturday night and cut off Nicholas Justin Campbell who was on a motorcycle and traveling around 80 miles per hour. Campbell hit the back of Martinez's car and fell off his motorcycle...

• Funeral Home Violations: Cemetery Owner Accused of Embezzling Funds

  Laura Blatt | July 12, 2007 12:55 AM | 0 CommentsNovato, CA

  The owner of Forest Hill cemeteries in Memphis, Clayton Smart, allegedly embezzled millions from families who purchased pre-paid funeral policies, according to charges filed by the state. Mr. Smart is also accused of making off with $70 million in funeral home trust funds in Michigan. Mr. Smart appeared before Tennessee Chancery Court Judge Arnold Goldin this week. He was held in contempt of...

• Pleasant Care Bankrupt After Numerous Nursing Home Violations and Fines

  Laura Blatt | June 29, 2007 12:23 AM | 0 CommentsNovato, CA

  Last week, I wrote about Emmanuel Health Care, a California nursing home that was fined $80,000 in the death of one of its residents. Now, its parent corporation, Pleasant Care Corporation, is selling 30 California nursing homes, including Emmanuel, as part of a bankruptcy proceeding (Santa Cruz Sentinel, June 23, 2007). The auction will take place this coming Monday and Tuesday, July 2 and...

• Abby Mortuary Funeral Director Loses License

  Clayton Kent | August 31, 2007 5:19 PM | 0 CommentsNovato, CA

  I have previously written about the allegations against and conduct of the funeral director of Abby Mortuary in Rohnert Park, California. As you may recall, this was the incident where the mortuary was storing bodies in a rented warehouse, and, in some cases, storing them without refrigeration. The State Cemetery and Funeral Bureau, which regulates funeral directors, mortuaries, embalmers, and...

• Funeral Home Malpractice: Body Snatching and Medical Transplants

  Laura Blatt | May 23, 2007 12:27 AM | 0 CommentsNovato, CA

  Three funeral home directors and four employees of a biomedical supply company are accused of stealing body parts, organs and tissue from corpses awaiting cremation or burial. Other charges include opening graves, unlawful dissection and fraud. The defendants allegedly sold the parts to medical tissue banks, which provided them to hospitals and doctors for use in transplants and other medical...