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American Morning
Congress Investigates Elder Abuse
Aired June 14, 2001 - 09:22 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: A California jury has found a doctor liable for recklessness and abuse for not providing enough pain medication for an elderly patient.
As CNN's James Hattori reports this morning, the judgment could have some far-reaching implications for treating pain.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMES HATTORI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): William Bergman's children say they knew the odds were against them in court, but a jury found the doctor who treated their father in his dying days was reckless and liable for elderly abuse because he didn't prescribe enough pain medication.
ROBERT BERGMAN, PATIENT'S SON: We knew that if we told our story, we told the truth, and put it in front of people, that, hopefully, they would see where we were coming from and that this did not need to happen.
HATTORI: Eighty-five year old William Bergman, a terminal cancer patient, died in February 1998 after spending six days at Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, California. Bergman's children say he suffered needlessly because Dr. Wing Chin didn't administer enough painkillers.
BEVERLY BERGMAN, PATIENT'S DAUGHTER: When you're reckless in treating a person with chronic pain or intractable pain, there are consequences. I think that's what the -- that's what the jury said.
HATTORI: During the month-long trial, Dr. Chin testified he followed established pain management protocol.
BOB SLATTERY, ATTORNEY FOR CHIN: Well quite frankly, I think that the doctor complied with the standard of care, that the evidence that we produced showed that.
HATTORI: Family members acknowledged on the stand they didn't directly ask the doctor for more medication.
B. BERGMAN: We trusted that they knew what they were doing to relieve my father's pain.
HATTORI: Advocates for terminally ill patients say undermedication for pain is a widespread problem.
JIM GEAGAN, FAMILY'S ATTORNEY: I think the effect of this is going to be a tremendous increase in consciousness in California and, I hope, in the country that physicians have to make pain management a priority.
HATTORI (on camera): Bergman's family chose to sue for elder abuse because California's malpractice laws don't allow pain-and- suffering awards to deceased patients. The jury award, $1.5 million, is likely to be reduced to $250,000 to comply with a state cap on awards.
James Hattori, CNN, San Francisco.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: And two of the children, the Bergmans, will join us next hour to talk a little bit more about this case.
In other news, the U.S. Senate is looking into elder abuse in a special hearing this morning.
And CNN's Jeanne Meserve has more on this from Washington -- Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Donna, they may be in poor health physically or mentally, they may have little outside contact, they may have few resource and few alternatives and so much abuse of the elderly may not be detected or addressed.
I spoke earlier this morning to one of the witnesses at today's hearing and asked Sara Aravanis of the National Center of Elder Abuse about the accuracy of estimates that 820,000 elderly are abused, neglected or exploited.
SARA ARAVANIS, NATIONAL CENTER ON ELDER ABUSE: Jeanne, it's very clear that we do not know the full dimensions of the problem. That figure you quoted is solely the numbers of reports that are given to Adult Protective Services in a year. Behind that are approximately four -- for every report we receive there are approximately four reports out there of situations that are hidden where the elder abuse is not discovered, where they are not linked to the helping system. So this figure, really, is very low as far as we're concerned.
MESERVE: Give us a definition: What constitutes elder abuse?
ARAVANIS: Elder abuse is a -- has a very kind of broad definition. It includes physical abuse and neglect. It includes emotional abuse. It includes financial abuse as well as the whole issue of self-neglect. That is the situation where an older person may be abusing him or herself because they don't have the services needed to solve that -- their problems.
MESERVE: You say that this is a largely hidden problem. What should people look for? And who should be looking for it? ARAVANIS: Anybody who is in contact with older people should be looking for some of the signs. Certainly there are the obvious physical signs. But more deeply, I think the issue of any kinds of major changes in a financial status of an older person, any kinds of work around changes in their lifestyle, going from a rather comfortable lifestyle to a neglectful type of lifestyle, those are the things to look for. And everybody who's in contact with older persons, if they think something is wrong, they should identify it, they should talk to Adult Protective Services and say they think this person might need some help.
MESERVE: Very quickly, the federal government has given some money for protective services. Has enough been done and what additional steps need to be taken in your view?
ARAVANIS: Well, the Adult Protective Services is funded by the Social Services Block Grant, a federal-state matching system. That Social Services Block Grant is under threat right now by the Congress. It has been reduced over the last several years. We need to get that back to its appropriate level so that it can indeed fund the services that are needed.
MESERVE: Sara Aravanis of the National Center on Elder Abuse, thanks so much for joining us...
ARAVANIS: OK.
MESERVE: ... from Capitol Hill today.
And those hearings on elder abuse getting underway in the Senate shortly -- now back to Atlanta.
KELLEY: Thank you, Jeanne.
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