This happened not far from where I live. The son and grandaughter were caregivers for the 73 year old woman with dementia.I can't beleive after four years they are gonna put the family through this.

The neighbors have even said the woman refused to eat when they were there,and that the son and grandaughter were not neglecting her.



Son, Granddaughter Accused Of Starving Woman To Death
Feb 02 2008 9:33AM
MARYSVILLE, Ohio - Two family members responsible for providing care to a 73-year-old woman face charges after they allegedly allowed her to starve to death, prosecutors said on Friday.

The charges were filed more than four years after Evelyn Cox's death in Richwood, located north of Marysville, 10TV's Brittany Westbrook reported.

According to Union County prosecutors, Cox was under the care of her son, Dennis Cox (pictured right, on left), and his daughter, Lisa Cox (pictured right, on right).

The county coroner determined that Evelyn Cox died in June 2003 from Bronchopneumonia - a condition brought on by starvation and dehydration, Westbrook reported.

The coroner told 10TV that despite her ailments, Evelyn Cox could have lived at least a few more years. Instead, prosecutors allege that she died slowly over a three-month period, Westbrook reported.

Dennis Cox, 54, and Lisa Cox, 26, were both charged with involuntary manslaughter and failing to provide for a functionally impaired person.

Both were scheduled to be arraigned later this month, Westbrook reported.

When asked why it took more than four years to file charges in Cox's death, the prosecutor said he was asked to review the case upon taking office.

The charges came after the review was completed.

This is absurd.

Hmmm! Somebody named Nifong comes to mind....

This is awful. Unfortunately, it sounds like this father and daughter may not have had hospice, in-home care, or often enough doctor visits where there would have been some corroborating witnesses and documentation. I feel very badly for this family. Particularly because they will have to relive the grief over and over again in attempts to defend themselves.
Awful. Just Awful!

Do we know if Evelyn Cox had AD?

They said Dementia,not AD. There not saying a lot yet.I will be following this closely.

Just this past Saturday my mother threw her plate of food at me, and refused to eat.Sunday she was ok. I wish I had the time to document everything everyday.She has lost a lot of weight over the last five years,the Dr's tell me this is normal.

Just gotta say that it is terrifying the thought that after we go through all of this some prosecutor can press charges half a decade later! Time to vote the sumbetch out! What is his name?

Details seemed sketchy to me. Many states have a law that keeps people found guilty of a crime from being able to profit from it. Could other relatives or an insurance company be responsible for the investigation? It is almost like the powers that be are attempting to press all of the buttons by using terms like starvation, pressure sores, and weight loss.

The whole thing provides another good reason for using hospice.

It sounds like a tragic shame,,but,,one would wonder why they never took the woman to the Dr for her not eating,,and why Hospice or another organization was never called in to assist.

I think we need to know more info as it comes to light on this matter. All I know is,,if my Mom wouldnt eat,,I would get her into her Dr.

Nowadays,,there is so much weird stuff happening,,family members neglecting other family members in need,,its heartbreaking.

Keep us posted on things as you hear about them. Peace

You know there are a lot of people who don't have the money or intellectual resources to know about hospice or how to care for family members with dementia. As we have discussed here on many occasions, the individual has a right to refuse food, hygiene, medical care, housekeeping help, etc. If they were to force feed her, they would have been charged with elder abuse. They don't force her and they are charged with manslaughter. Caregivers are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

[quote]Son, Granddaughter Accused Of Starving Woman To Death
Feb 02 2008 9:33AM
MARYSVILLE, Ohio - Two family members responsible for providing care to a 73-year-old woman face charges after they allegedly allowed her to starve to death, prosecutors said on Friday.

The charges were filed more than four years after Evelyn Cox's death in Richwood, located north of Marysville, 10TV's Brittany Westbrook reported.

According to Union County prosecutors, Cox was under the care of her son, Dennis Cox (pictured right, on left), and his daughter, Lisa Cox (pictured right, on right).

The county coroner determined that Evelyn Cox died in June 2003 from Bronchopneumonia - a condition brought on by starvation and dehydration, Westbrook reported.

The coroner told 10TV that despite her ailments, Evelyn Cox could have lived at least a few more years. Instead, prosecutors allege that she died slowly over a three-month period, Westbrook reported.

Dennis Cox, 54, and Lisa Cox, 26, were both charged with involuntary manslaughter and failing to provide for a functionally impaired person.

Both were scheduled to be arraigned later this month, Westbrook reported.[/quote]

I've been giving this particular post some serious thought and not being a lawyer, but having knowledge of some legal issues, I have come up with this conclusion.

If an individual is given and accepts the responsibilities of a caregiver via a Power Of Attorney, it is THEIR responsibility to care for their charge to the best of their abilities and use all services available.

A couple of questions come to mind.

Did the son and grandaugher, who assuming had POA, take all necessary steps to insure the well being of their charge? No!

Did they contact Doctors early on about this 73 year old recipient of care? No!

As conditions continued, did they contact Hospice or other organizations available when the need was necessary? No.

Fact is, THEY allowed the condition of their care receiver to dictate, being incompetent, what was best for them.

They failed to contact the necessary medical authorties to assist in furnishing the necesary care needed for the well being of their charge.

Fact is, they "let" this 73 year old woman, who apparently was not competent enough to make such decisions, lay there and die, rather than fulfill their obligation as POA.

Taking all said into consideration, the seriousness of being a caregiver, under the guidance of having Power Of Attorney, the caregiver can be held liable for failing to perform the responsibilities as outlined in that Power Of Attorney.

Question:

Did the son and grandaughter, assuming they had POA and other documentation, perform the duties as outlined in those documents? No!

Appears to me that the prosecutors could have a pretty strong case, and they could be found guilty of involuntary manslaughter because of their inactions, being holders of a POA and/or other documentation.

Gary

Gees that's so scary. I know for myself I let the homecare people know EXACTLY what was going on and that included the intake worker. I told the doctors and nurses - I told EVERYONE that was involved in her care. I must say that I worked hard to have a "team" approach. I was fortunate in that Mom never got too violent or lost weight. I and the workers managed to keep her eating.

It is quite apparent that Alzheimer's education in the legal system is lacking. How horrific for them to have to go through it all over again.

Let's hope that there is more to the story than we know or we'll ALL be in a panic. I thought of this as I was feeding my dad last night and everything that went in drooled out again. And my stepmom who would rather play or think of other places to be than at the dinner table. It's a constant struggle now that she seems to have lost her sense of sweet taste as well as the other taste sensations. I hope that we do get some follow-up to this story and it's resolution. :/

Maybe the prosecutor is making an effort to force feeding tubes in those who can't make the decision for themselves? Maybe he's one of those who believes that a body should be kept "alive" no matter what the cost? Or maybe the caregivers truly WERE negligent and he has some proof to this effect. Or maybe they knew what AD had in store and felt that she had the right to be spared more years ahead? You never know what motivates...

Workman, No one has said the son had POA.There is very little info other than the article I posted.The local news interviewed the neighbors, and they ALL said the woman refused help.The neigbors took food to her and said she would only eat a bite or two. Should they be charged too?The picture of the home they showed was an old small farmhouse,way out in the country.

I definately know how difficult caregiving can be. My mother also at times refuses to eat, she's also very violent at times.She's lost a lot of weight. I take her to the Dr.every 90 days and have other witnesses to her actions.The Dr said DO NOT FORCE FEED HER. I've had her in two different nursing homes for respite care,and she caused so much trouble they called and told me to come and get her.

I have POA,DPOA. She also has DNR in her living will.

Like I said I will follow this closely,and will update.

You know there are a lot of people who don't have the money or intellectual resources to know about hospice or how to care for family members with dementia. As we have discussed here on many occasions, the individual has a right to refuse food, hygiene, medical care, housekeeping help, etc. If they were to force feed her, they would have been charged with elder abuse. They don't force her and they are charged with manslaughter. Caregivers are damned if they do and damned if they don't.



Kathy,I agree. I know if I didn't have the internet to research things, I would be lost.

Watchman, you have more info than I have on this. Where did you find that they had PoA and that they hadn't sought medical treatment? And most of all... I would love to know for my OWN sake (since I am having a hard tome getting dad to open his mouth... and IF I do, I still can't get him to swallow) HOW do you feed someone who refuses to eat? How do you force them to open their mouth? and force them to then swallow? And HOW do you prevent them from choking if you do force feed them? I really do need your guidance on this, PLEASE!

Simply put,,if you are a caregiver,,and if you do or don't have POA,, "YOU" are responsible to give the proper care to the afflicted person,,to the best of your ability.

If the person refuses to eat,,as caregiver,,its your duty to get them to a Dr. That doesnt take an abundance of "brain power".

If the person that is caregiver,,and they are as incompetant as the person that is being cared for,,then the "system failed",,but its not the system that will pay the price,,but the caregiver person themselves.

This case involved not one caregiver,,but two,,so anyone would assume that between two caregivers,,one of them would've had enough brains,,compassion and common sense to get the person thats refusing to eat or co-operate,,into at least emergency.

Even if someone as a caregiver doesn't know what agency to call for help,,,its just plain good old common sense that should've kicked in,,and made the caregiver realize that this person would die without the proper nourishment.

Its a shame what happened,,very sad,,and also a shame that it took 4 years to be checked into and just now looking into the matter.

I am also very, very interested. Here is a little more info. I will go out on a limb and guess this coroner and the prosecutor have NO CLUE that Alzheimer patients CAN hang on all the while refusing to eat or drink. It quotes the dude about half way down this article saying "someone intentionally, or UNintentionally withheld food and water..."
I dunno! Could be these authorities don't have a clue, and maybe nobody stepped up (county services) to help these people. Elder abuse stories make my blood boil. But so do people
Community orgs that don't help caregivers, don't share resources, then criticize and condemn.

******************************************************************************************************************
Two indicted in starvation case
February 01, 2008 at 12:39 pm
By MAC CORDELL


Victim weighed 63 pounds when she died in 2003
Evelyn Cox of Richwood weighed just 63 pounds when she died on June 30, 2003.
According to her death certificate, the 73 year old died of pneumonia, the result of “dehydration” and “starvation.”
Now her son and granddaughter-in-law have been charged in her death.
A Union County Grand Jury has indicted Dennis J. Cox, 54, of 19640 Turner Road, Richwood, and Lisa R. Cox, 26, of 29576 Osbourne Road, Richwood. Both have been charged with one count of first-degree-felony involuntary manslaughter and one count of failing to provide for a functionally impaired person, a fourth-degree felony.
Each could spend more than 11 years in prison if convicted on both charges. The indictments were filed with the Union County Clerk of Courts on Thursday.
According to the Ohio Revised Code, “‘Caretaker’ means a person who assumes the duty to provide for the care and protection of a functionally impaired person on a voluntary basis, by contract, through receipt of payment for care and protection, as a result of a family relationship, or by order of a court of competent jurisdiction.”
The code also includes, “‘Functionally impaired person’ means any person who has a physical or mental impairment that prevents him from providing for his own care or protection or whose infirmities caused by aging prevent him from providing for his own care or protection.”
Coroner David T. Appellate, II said the woman weighed just 63 pounds at the time of her death.
He said the woman was “absolutely emaciated” adding her final days were simply, “in a state of wasting.”
“She had numerous bedsores and was basically skin and bones,” Applegate said.
He said dehydration and starvation were determined by the autopsy when there was “no moisture, no fat and no muscle in the body.”
He said, “there is no disease that does that to a person.”
Applegate said an investigation was conducted and interviews were conducted with the woman’s family, physicians and caregivers. Applegate says he believes, “she had a miserable life, but how she died, that’s not how we think it should be in Union County. Someone intentionally or unintentionally withheld food and water from this woman and that’s a crime. Somebody took it into their own hands here.”
Union County Prosecutor David Phillips said the case was presented to his predecessor. When she failed to act, the lead investigator in the case brought it to him. He said his office relied heavily on the conclusions of the coroner.
Applegate said he feels the grand jury came to an appropriate decision.
“Yes, I think this was correct,” the medical examiner said. “This was a good use of the grand jury process. This wasn’t just a prosecutor going after someone.”
Applegate said there were warning signs.
“There were lots of red flags that this was a set up for abuse,” he said, noting the woman was on several expensive medications that were not being purchased and that she required extensive care and attention.
Dennis J. Cox and Lisa R. Cox are set to be arraigned Thursday, Feb. 21.

*****************************************************************************************************************

[quote]He said dehydration and starvation were determined by the autopsy when there was “no moisture, no fat and no muscle in the body.”
He said, “there is no disease that does that to a person.”[/quote]


I guess the coroner is not a doctor! Everyone knows that this is exactly what AD does!! We all do and we aren't even doctors.

I guess some of the charges will include being "too poor to afford expensive medications".

All the way around this is awful.

The Columbus Dispatch
MARYSVILLE, Ohio – A Union County man has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the 2003 death of his mother, 73-year-old Evelyn Cox, who starved to death.
A grand jury indicted Dennis Cox, 54, of Richwood, on Thursday on charges of involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony, and failing to take care of a functionally-impaired person, a fourth-degree felony.
Evelyn Cox’s granddaughter-in-law, 26-year-old Lisa Cox, also of Richwood, faces the same charges.
Prosecuting attorney David Phillips said the case was reviewed some time ago by his office, but further medical evidence was needed. Union County Coroner David Applegate had continued to work on the case, Phillips said, and charges were filed once everything was in place.
Cox died at her Union County home on Osbourne Road on June 30, 2003.
Dennis and Lisa Cox had been her caregivers. Phillips said that at the time of her death, the woman was emaciated and clearly had not been given the nutrition she needed to survive.
Dennis Cox and Lisa Cox have not been arrested and are due in court Feb. 21.

Coroner David Applegate is a Dr. I came across a web page that covered his participation in a geriatric seminar. I would think that he would know his business and if the 2 individuals are found guilty of neglect there is further clarification of what exactly a caregiver is required by law to do.

I know there seems to be a lot of concern about the goings on regarding these two particular caregivers.

I need to clarify something for everyone on this forum. From what I have seen, and there are a lot of caregivers here, that everyone of them are concerned and caring for the one that they are charged with. You all would not be here looking for answers to problems or situations if you were not honestly concerned.

NDuke, I can totally agree with your concerns. My wife sometimes will simply clamp her mouth and refuse to open it. Sometimes she will eat and then later bring up the entire meal. But, we keep trying and we know that there are many sources out there that we can turn to, to get advise or help.

I would hardly believe that anyone of us here would allow a loved one to just lay there and waste away. And from what I have seen here on the forums, we tend to take every step to make sure that our loved ones get the proper medication, cost prohibitive or not.

You can't force someone to eat, if they refuse to open their mouths, or they choke on the foods. We can, however, contact Alzheimer's Association, Social Services for suggestions and help and if push comes to shove, take them to the emergency room for evaluation.

It is quite apparent, that these two caregivers were very neglectful by not calling for help or getting the necessary medications for their mom. Apparently, they were just content in knowing that their mom was not eating, or being fed and not taking medications. What else is there left for this poor woman to do but waste away...and finally die from starvation.

Watchman wrote:
"You can't force someone to eat, if they refuse to open their mouths, or they choke on the foods. We can, however, contact Alzheimer's Association, Social Services for suggestions and help and if push comes to shove, take them to the emergency room for evaluation."

While this is all true, discussing ways to get a dementia patient to eat STILL doesn't always get a dementia patient to eat.


Watchman wrote:
"It is quite apparent, that these two caregivers were very neglectful by not calling for help or getting the necessary medications for their mom. Apparently, they were just content in knowing that their mom was not eating, or being fed and not taking medications. What else is there left for this poor woman to do but waste away...and finally die from starvation."

But how do we KNOW that they didn't look for help? I haven't seen any of these articles state that they didn't. And as to the meds... Aricept and Namenda? I see so many here make the decision NOT to have their LO on these for economic reasons and the fact that there isn't always a ROI for those meds.

I don't know if these people abused and neglected their mother/grandmother or not... but I don't have enough info to make this judgment. I'm not seeing enough detail in the news clips to say that they DID abuse her. I do know that as each day passes, my dad loses more muscle and fat, is developing pressure sores and is nothing but "skin and bones". I can't get him to eat sometimes after an hour and a half of constant trying several times a day. Because I know what I'm going through, I see a lot of parallels in my dad's condition and that of the woman who died... and I know that my father isn't suffering as he is due to lack of caring or diligence on my part. So it's MY inclination to give the "accused" the benefit of the doubt given the sketchy bit of information that we have seen here.

When I was navigating through Medicare red tape for my mother a few years ago one of the women I spoke with told me how fortunate my mother was to have me to help her. I am so very fortunate that my mother retired well. I am so fortuanate that she has a good health plan and that her appetite is good. She is fortunate that her children have the resources to research and find what's best for her. Not everyone