MSNBC.com is reporting that investigators from the Manhattan DA’s Elder Abuse Unit are looking into matters involving the finances of reclusive heiress Huguette Clark. The report indicates authorities are looking at her attorney and accountant who manage her nearly half billion dollar fortune. Clark is pictured above in what is thought to be the last known photo of her taken in 1930. She has spent more than 20 years in a hospital attended by a private nurse.

California Watch, a project of the Center for Investigative Reporting, has released a disturbing report suggesting the prosecution of elder abuse case by the California Attorney General’s Office has declined under Jerry Brown. The report outlines their findings that in the years since Brown has taken over numerous prosecutions have been dropped and the number of new cases have declined.

Unfortunately this low prosecution rate is the trend nationwide. Elderly are often bad witnesses. They have health and memory problems that make testimony unreliable in the eyes of the jury. In some cases they die before trial because cases can drag on for years. In a large number of elder abuse cases the offender pleads guilty to lesser offenses in exchange for forfeiting their license and probation or minimal jail time.

Trying to determine if bruises found on an elder are caused by accident or intentionally inflicted can be a challenge. This study titled Bruising in the Geriatric Population is useful in understanding how and where elders bruise themselves. One of the more interesting findings of the study was that 89% of the bruises were found on the extremities and no bruises were found on the neck, ears, genitals, buttocks, or soles of the feet. Bruises found in these areas or found on the torso should be a red flag for investigators.

California Watch has an an excellent article about California nursing homes that have received millions of dollars under the Nursing Home Quality Care Act of 2004 to pay better wages and hire more staff only to cut back on both.

South Carolina Attorney Michael Jeffcoat has an excellent list of questions to consider when choosing a long term care facility for a loved one. The list can be found on his blog.

When President Obama signed the sweeping health care reform bill Tuesday it contained  the most comprehensive federal effort yet to fight elder abuse, neglect and exploitation. The Elder Justice Act and the Patient Safety Abuse Prevention Act include funding for the creation of forensic centers to specialize in elder abuse as well as the establishment of a nationwide database of licensed nurses aid.

A portion of the law that has gotten very little media attention but will make a huge impact on nursing home quality is the section titled “Nursing Home Transparency.” The law now requires the disclosure of any person of corporate entity that owns more than a five percent interest in the facility. In the event the owner is a corporation or limited liability company the principles of those entities must be disclosed as well. Nursing home owners will no longer be able to hide behind shell companies and LLCs.

This is another example of why it is so important for family and guardians to complete full in-depth background investigations on any caregivers hired to work in the home. In this case the family used a referral service to hire Lawanivalu. Shortly after taking the position Lawanivalu approached the family and agreed to work for them directly at a lower rate than what they were paying the service. This should have been a red flag for the family. The family hired Lawanivalu after she told the service she was going on an extended vacation.

Families have to understand that commercial care services and referral services do the absolute minimum background check required by law. These checks are usually not worth the money paid for them. This is especially true if the caregiver is a foreign national just recently in the country.