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Being Admitted to A Nursing Home
Against Your Will
A bold, young attorney defended
a senior citizen’s right to live
independently – and won!
I interviewed Attorney
Niedermeier so others
can learn from this case.
I asked Heather what she hopes
readers will learn from this
article? She said, “Until a court
has deemed a person as
incompetent, that person still has complete control of
their life. No matter what anyone tells them they always
have the right to talk to an attorney – by themselves,
individually and with an attorney of their choice. Find an
attorney who will make the time to sit and talk and be
willing to listen to the entire story”. In Heather’s case, she
spent two hours for the initial visit/consultation.
“It is a doctor’s medical evaluation that provides the
court with an expert opinion. The court uses the doctor’s
medical evaluation when determining a person to be
competent or incompetent; and the particular type of care
that person needs. Often, the doctor who reports that the
older adult is in need of care, is not the doctor who has
been their primary doctor – the one who really knows
the patient”.
She explained, “It is the job of the attorney to see that
a second medical evaluation is obtained. In my case,
the time frames and the amount of testing that went into
the different evaluations performed by each doctor were
signifcantly different. A geriatrician (a geriatrician is a
specialist in diagnosing/treating people of older age) saw
my client for three hours to come to the determination that
my client was not incompetent. The original psychiatrist,
who did not specialize in geriatric psychiatry, only saw
him for a half hour. There was no testing involved, it was
simply talking one-on-one. He had not known my client
before this”.
In closing, her advice is this, if ever in this situation and
the attorney is pushing/rushing you through your story…
Find another attorney.
By Sue Daugherty
Since 1993, serving the counties
of Erie, Huron, Ottawa and
Sandusky with affordable
Adult Day Services.
Monday-Friday
;
6AM-6PM
10 Harbour Parkway
Sandusky OH 44870
419-624-6993
Marsha Shepherd, LPN
Owner/Director
Email: carecenter@bex.net
ALTERNATIVE CARE CENTER
We focus on ability—not disability—and provide non-residential,
daytime care to individuals with:
Memory Impairment (Alzheimer’s/Dementia)
Stroke, Parkinson’s or other Chronic Diseases
Isolation & Depression
Physical Dependence or Frailty
Personal care with dignity. Education and respite for caregivers.
We’re help when you need it, and hope when you thought there was none
.
Heather Niedermier,
Attorney At Law