PA Aging Department Encourages Suicide Awareness

On Sept. 12, 2006, the Pennsylvania Department of Aging issued a News Release in conjunction with two other Commonwealth agencies -- the Department of Health and the Department of Public Welfare -- emphasizing "Suicide Prevention" and recognizing "Suicide Prevention Awareness Week" in Pennsylvania.

The News Release is found online here.

Certainly suicide is a serious concern -- 1,350 Pennsylvanians ended their lives in this manner in 2004. Are many elderly/seniors among them?

Yes. The News Release indicates a surprising situation:

According to Ivonne Bucher, chief of staff for the Department of Aging, the public is often surprised to learn that many victims of suicide are older adults.

“Men over the age of 85 have the greatest risk of suicide among groups of any age, gender or race,” said Bucher. “We want older Pennsylvanians to understand that resources are available to help them improve their quality of life. We care about what happens to them.” ***

“By educating the public about the warning signs and preventable nature of suicide, we can save lives,” said Sherry Peters of DPW’s Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. “It is also important that society is careful not to judge those who seek treatment for depression or substance abuse because the stigma associated with these illnesses may prevent someone from seeking help.”

This is a national problem. Suicide and Mental Health Association International, indicates in its "Elder Suicide Primer" posted online, as follows:

Someone age 65 or over completes suicide every 90 minutes -- 16 deaths a day. Elders account for one-fifth of all suicides, but only 12% of the population. White males over age 85 complete suicide at almost six times the national average. Elder suicide may be under-reported 40% or more. Omitted are "silent suicides", i.e., deaths from medical noncompliance and overdoses, self-starvation or dehydration, and "accidents." The elderly have a high suicide "success rate" because they use firearms, hanging, and drowning . "Double suicides" involving spouses or partners occur most frequently among the aged. ***

Elder suicide is associated with depression and factors causing depression, e.g., chronic illness, physical impairment, unrelieved pain, financial stress, loss and grief, social isolation, and alcoholism. Depression is tied to low serotonin levels. Serotonin, which decreases with aging, is a neurotransmitter which limits self-destructive behavior.

The American Society of Suicidology reinforces the frequency of suicide by the elderly in its "Elderly Suicide Fact Sheet", found online. It reproduced the data from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control website operated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Aging Department's News Release reminds the public, including care-givers for the elderly, about warning signs betraying suicidal thoughts:

· Talking about wanting to hurt or kill oneself or directly threatening to do so;
· Looking for ways to kill oneself by seeking access to firearms, pills, or other means;
· Talking or writing about death, dying, or suicide when these actions are out of the ordinary for the person;
· Feeling hopeless or lacking a sense of purpose in life;
· Feeling rage or uncontrolled anger or seeking revenge;
· Acting reckless or engaging in risky activities - seemingly without thinking;
· Feeling trapped by circumstance;
· Increasing alcohol or drug use;
· Withdrawing from friends, family, and society;
· Feeling anxious, agitated, or unable to sleep; or sleeping too much; and
· Experiencing dramatic mood swings

Information and crisis intervention resources are available. For example, anyone may call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Blogger as "Super Lawyer"

Professor Gerry Beyer made this post on the Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog on September 12, 2006; and I thank him for it:

Fellow Blogger Named Super Lawyer

Neil E. Hendershot of the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania law firm of Goldberg Katzman, P.C., who authors the PA Elder, Estate & Fiduciary Law Blog, has recently been named as a "Super Lawyer" by Philadelphia Magazine. Congratulations Neil!!!

His post is found online here.

There is controversy -- and even a professional ethics ruling pending on appeal to the New Jersey Supreme Court -- about the "designation" of "Super Lawyer" or the similar "Best Lawyers in America", and the designees' promotion of such titles as credentials.

For another viewpoint, read the humorous article, entitled "Whose Who's?", dated September 8, 2006, by Sean Carter, made available by the American Bar Association and posted online here.

For the record, since the time I was first so designated by that publication as a "Super Lawyer", I never paid anyone anything, never bought a book or a plaque, and never took out an ad.

That likely makes me unusual among the designees.

Update: 11/14/07:

Even though I still have not bought anything or paid any vendor, I received notification in the past few months of my continued designation as a "Super Lawyer" and as a "Best Lawyer in America".

I also found my name in a new online information service regarding lawyers, Avvo. It offers "Free ratings and profiles for every lawyer so you can choose the right lawyer", through these modules:

• Profiles for every lawyer in the state
• Unbiased Avvo Rating
• Disciplinary sanction history
• Ratings and reviews from clients
• Avvo 3-Step Guide to Choosing a Lawyer
  

Under its heading "Estate Planning", Avvo lists subcategories, including: Elder Law, Guardianship, Power of Attorney, Probate, Trusts, and Wills/Living Wills.

An inquirer may search for a lawyer by law practice category, geographic area (city, state, or zip code), or name.

After searching the geographic area of Harrisburg, PA (per zip code 17101), I discovered that my current rating is 10.0 on a 10 point scale.

What is surprising (and pleasing) to me is that only my name reflects that high rating among the 1,812 lawyer names returned in my search of the Harrisburg, PA area, regardless of legal practice area.

That is quite a compliment, considering the high quality of so many lawyers practicing in this geographic area.

And that occurs despite the fact that I haven't bought anything from, or paid anything to, Avvo either!

Update: 01/15/08:

I note that SuperLawyers offers a webpage address for each attorney who has been listed in that publication. The one applicable to me is found here. On my SL bio page, there is little data, and no photo, just my address and notation of inclusion in its 2004, 2005, 2006, & 2007 issues.

For Law Students Only: Teaching of W&T for the Bar Exam

Professor Gerry Beyer, moderator of the "Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog" posted a message on September 10, 2006, giving a link for a four-minute video that demonstrates a very distinctive method of teaching law students about the topic of wills and trusts in preparation for their bar examination.

Wills & Trusts -- Bar Review Style?

Lauren, a 2005 Seton Hall graduate, has posted a video called Barbri on her MySpace.com page which mocks a Wills & Trusts bar review lecture. You may find it and the teaching techniques it suggests amusing.

Special thanks to Amanda Galbraith for bringing this video to my attention.

The original posting of the video was made July 20, 2006. It is hilarious, although a bit "off color".

Update: 05/22/07:

The original posting location was removed, but the same parody video was reposted on February 14, 2007, on YouTube under the heading "Barbri Video -- The Virginia Law Libel Show".

9/11 Remembrance & Shaler's Work

Five years ago, measured from the time that I write this (9:20 am, September 11, 2006), news had broken about the terrorist suicide jetliner attacks in New York City. The events of that morning changed the life of Robert Shaler, the Director of Forensic Biology in the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

I met Bob in June of 2005. He had agreed to serve as an expert witness in an Orphans' Court litigation case where we sought to present conclusive DNA evidence regarding paternal lineage of a decedent. While I prepared him for the questioning before the hearing, I learned about his experiences that day, and the events that unfolded for long afterwards. He remains one of the most amazing, dedicated individuals that I have ever met.

Bob was in charge of identifying the remains of the victims at the World Trade Center site.

He wrote a book about his experiences, which was published in October, 2005, as described and reviewed in a U.S. News & World Report article found online here.

The quest to identify those who were killed in the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center was a massive undertaking. Robert Shaler, then director of forensic biology at the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, faced the challenge of his career in the wake of the tragedy—and yet, initially, he says, he "naively" underestimated the magnitude of the job he and his colleagues faced.

"I never stopped to consider how long the project would take, the effect it would have on my life and family and especially the emotional toll it would extract." The process took over three years, and Shaler suffered a heart attack. He retired earlier this year to direct the Forensic Science Program at Pennsylvania State University. Shaler chronicles the journey—as well as the science that made it possible — in Who They Were: Inside the World Trade Center DNA Story: The Unprecedented Effort to Identify the Missing.

I met Bob just as he was concluding his duties in NYC, and before he began his new and positive challenge -- starting and leading a new forensic department at Penn State. His move was described in a May 23, 2005, press release found online here, as follows:

University Park, Pa. -- This July, Robert Shaler, director of forensic biology in New York City's Office of Chief Medical Examiner, will leave the City to head Penn State's new forensics major program. He supervised the massive DNA testing effort to identify thousands of victims of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks.

"This will be the most rigorous and comprehensive forensics program in the country for undergraduates," says Shaler, a Penn State alumnus. "Students will be exposed to the forensic sciences immediately beginning in the first year and then throughout the entire program.

"My expectation is that Penn State will be training the future benchmark scientists and leaders in the field," he adds. Shaler also will be professor of biochemistry and molecular biology.

By this time last year -- at the fourth anniversary of the 9/11 events -- Bob's forthcoming book was noticed nationally. His book was published on October 4, 2005. Bob's book is described online at one here, summarized as follows:

Dr. Robert Shaler: Identifying Katrina's Victims

Fresh Air from WHYY, September 8, 2005 · Robert Shaler, former director forensic biology at the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, led efforts to identify remains at the World Trade Center attacks. He discusses the challenges that lie ahead for those responsible for identifying the bodies of Hurricane Katrina's victims. Shaler is author of the forthcoming book, Who They Were: Inside the World Trade Center DNA Story: The Unprecedented Effort to Identify the Missing.

And so, out of the twisted steel & pulverized concrete of the buildings, the agony of the victims, the helpers, & the survivors, and the helplessness of the salvage workers, investigators, & examiners, arose something positive -- a new program in education that will help others. The program is described online here as follows:

The new undergraduate major will be administered by Penn State's Eberly College of Science and will include many upper-level courses taught by prominent researchers there and in other academic colleges on topics such as mitochrondrial DNA, forensic anthropology, and forensic entomology. A field laboratory is being set up so that students can learn to recognize, collect, and preserve evidence at a crime scene.

Another major component will be a new discussion-oriented course designed to reinforce understanding of the purpose, importance, and limitations of scientific methods and techniques commonly used in forensic science; to introduce how specific fields such as meteorology, geology, engineering, and psychology can contribute to forensic science; to more fully appreciate how evidence is introduced and used in criminal trials; and to provide an opportunity to improve student skills in oral expression.

In addition to educating undergraduate students, Shaler envisions a broad outreach program, including workshops in the latest forensic technologies applicable to law-enforcement professionals, emergency- management officials, attorneys, and others throughout the U.S. and the world. Mass-fatality incident management will be a major topic in future workshops.

For more than three decades, Penn State has provided training and assessment services to federal, state, county, and municipal law-enforcement agencies through the University's Justice and Safety Institute.

More information on Penn State's new forensics major is at: http://live.psu.edu/story/11000

Out of destruction, rebuilding; out of loss, healing; and out of ignorance, knowledge. This is the lesson of 9/11, Katrina, and any other disasters that might befall us.

Comcast Airs "Retirement Living" Show from New TV Network for Seniors

On September 5, 2006, at noon, Comcast, a prominent national cable television network, began broadcasting epidsodes of "Retirement Living TV: The Voice", derived from a new television network.

The show is described as follows:

The Voice will be the sounding ground for entertainment and information for the senior community. With personal testimonies and a team of experts, spend an hour with us as we tackle the hard issues, engage in provocative dialogue and inform our TV viewing audience about our underserved target audience, the mature adult . . . a refreshing change to being young!

According to an article posted September 7, 2006, in the Senior Journal, found online here:

Retirement Living is a new cable television venture created by retirement community developer John Erickson that will be made available on the Comcast Network, in New England and Mid-Atlantic states. It will also provide simultaneous webcasts at www.cn8.tv. A nationwide rollout of the network is still expected later this year.

An original announcement about Retirement TV was posted by the Senior Journal in July, 2006. That release indicated that the programming would target people 62 and older. The latest release, however, says the targeted age is 55 and older.

Erickson's online newsletter, Retirement Living, describes the new network in a press release issued September 6, 2006, as follows:

COLUMBIA, MD – Retirement Living, a new cable television venture designed specifically for people 55 and older, began airing daily yesterday, September 5. You can see Retirement Living Monday thru Friday on CN8, The Comcast Network, from 12 noon to 4 p.m., EST. CN8 is the nation's leading regional cable network serving more than 9 million Comcast Cable homes in 12 states and 20 television markets, stretching from Maine to Virginia, and Washington D.C

Why is Retirement Living programming necessary? Because there are currently 67 million people age 55 and over in the United States and there will be 116 million by the year 2035. No other demographic will grow at this rate, according to news reports.

"To date, there is no national television network that specifically delivers to this group," says Mel Tansill, Senior Director of Public Affairs for Erickson Retirement Communities.

* * * "Retirement Living will help to redefine the future of cable television," says Tansill.

Press releases indicate that programming will focus on: The "Art of Living", describing the creative lives that older Americans lead as artists, athletes, and leaders; Personal control of health care; Social issues important to older Americans; Specific Congressional issues for retiree's consideration in elections, such as Medicare, prescription drugs and Social Security; Wellness in areas of personal fulfillment, health, and relationships; and other shows "focusing on personal finance, travel, cooking, and fitness, specifically aimed at retirees."

The new network's website is: http://www.rl.tv/.

Update: 02/03/07:

On February 2, 2007, an article reported that the "Retirement Living" TV network should be available in the Detroit area by June, 2007. See: Tune-in: 'Retirement Living' will soon become "must see TV", by Tracy Mishler.

UK Vegetative Patient "Communicates"

On Thursday, September 7, 2006, the British Broadcasting Company reported new published findings of a research study in the United Kingdom and Belgium concluding that "A patient in a vegetative state can communicate just through using her thoughts".

The BBC reported:

[A] UK/Belgium team studied a 23-year-old woman who had suffered a severe brain injury in a road accident, which left her apparently unable to communicate. By scanning her brain, they discovered she could understand spoken commands and even imagine playing tennis. They said their findings, published in Science, were "startling", but cautioned this could be a one-off case.

* * *

When the scientists compared her brain activity to that of healthy patients, who had been asked to carry out the same task, they discovered the patterns were "indistinguishable".

Dr. Owen said: "These are startling results.

* * *

The finding that vegetative patients may experience awareness of their surroundings will fuel the ethical and legal arguments that surround some vegetative state cases.

Last year, a debate raged in America over whether 40-year-old persistent vegetative state patient Terri Schiavo should be allowed to live or die. Eventually, following a court decision, her feeding tube was removed on 18 March and she died 13 days later.

Kate Bainbridge, who was initially diagnosed as being in a vegetative state, but who has since recovered and can communicate through a keyboard, said the scanning work was very important. She took part in some scanning experiments from the same team.

She said: "I can remember when I couldn't respond and it was so scary."

She added that doctors should never assume that a patient is not aware.

The entire article is posted online here.