Red Flags

Less than two years ago, Dr Flege was an 86 year old man living in the community and doing reasonably well. He and his wife were wavering among staying in their large home of nearly 40 decades, finding a smaller home in the same neighborhood or buying a condominium in the general area. Enter, a family member, long obsessed with getting Dr Flege admitted to a nursing home....the smell of money, a desire for control, a need for constant drama and and the apparent ability to manipulate professionals who should know better. Dr Flege is a wealthy individual and has no need for the services of a nursing home. This project has involved physical abuse, emotional abuse, psychological abuse, sexual abuse, denying him amenities that he can afford and isolating him from friends and family. Constant bullying. Breaking down a good man. Something out of a crime novel? In the coming weeks, I hope to elaborate on the situation. I welcome input either in the comments section or at FreeDrFlege@gmail.com . Feel free to share similar experiences and how you managed. Two broken hips in under a year? Both occurred at facilities, Marjorie P. Lee and The Kenwood by Senior Star in Cincinnati, while he was under the care of others. (Note: Dr Flege mentioned not long ago that he had a recent DXA scan which did not suggest osteoporosis.) In both instances, he was taking unnecessary medications, drugs known to increase the fall risk in the elderly and not first line agents. He was not adequately supervised despite the fact that physicians and others were aware that he was exhibiting likely drug side effects, including loss of balance and somnolence. By no means is his abuse limited to hip fractures but these serious injuries provided opportunities for intervention to stop the abuse. Opportunities that seem to have been lost. POA is not license to abuse. Dr Flege's broken hips were NOT "accidents". They were predictable.