WHAT DO I DO NOW THAT MY LOVED ONE WAS MURDERED BY HOSPICE?

WHAT DO I DO NOW THAT MY LOVED ONE WAS MURDERED BY HOSPICE?

All cases of hastening death need to be reported and tracked. If we do not report them, we will not have statistics at any point to prove that our loved ones are not dying with natural causes and in their own time. It is illegal to hasten people’s death and yet that is what is happening every day and we need to document and report all occurrences!  The steps listed below are provided to assist you in knowing what you can do now that you and your loved one lost the battle and they are gone.

Immediately notify the hospice provider (administrator) that you are not satisfied with the care your loved one received (Abuse, neglect or poor conditions.)  You may do this verbally, but follow up in writing and make sure you keep records of everything, even verbal conversations including who exactly you spoke with. 

If you hope that the local prosecutor will bring charges of a crime and want to preserve evidence, do not let anyone embalm or cremate your loved one until a toxicology report and/or autopsy are performed. Notify the hospice provider, funeral home and coroner verbally and in writing specifying what should happen to the deceased patient’s body. 

Acquire a copy of all of the medical records to include all drugs given to your loved one.  If you are named as the Personal Representative of the Estate of the deceased, then and only then are they required by law to give you a copy of the medical records. If nobody is named as Personal Rep. of the Estate, then you can seek to be named at the County Clerk’s office.  You must request the records by Certified, Return Receipt U.S. Mail so you have a paper trail documenting your request.

Go through the medical records line by line and take notes on what drugs were given, what doses, the combinations and amount of time between the administration of any medications.

Write down any conversations between any staff, patient or family that you feel are pertinent or contradictory to what occurred.

If they will not give you a copy. Go here for information on acquiring. https://www.hospicepatients.org/chart-denied.html
Once you have this information, it is best to put your complaint in writing where you can go over it to make sure you have added all pertinent data. Use the medical records to point out specifics with dates and names and mail certified/return receipt via U.S. Postal Service.  You can use a complaint form on the www.hospicepatients.org website complaint form
Report any instances of abuse, neglect or poor care to your State’s Department of Health hospice certification and inspections department  www.hospicepatients.org/stadrss.html

Report the incident to 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227)

Report the incident to the Police, if you believe a crime has been committed

If you believe your loved one did not qualify for hospice or was not enrolled in an “early admission” program to hospice, or if the hospice did not provide required services to the patient, report the hospice fraud to the Office of Inspector General Fraud Hotline 1-800-447-8477 (800-HHS-TIPS) or  https://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/report-fraud/

If you have documentation of a pattern of major hospice fraud, you can alternatively report this to your local U.S. Attorney’s Office.
           U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE  https://www.justice.gov/usao.
           Main office address:    U.S. Department of Justice, Washington D.C. 20530-0001

Use your influence to give reviews on the facility on their Facebook page and on Yelp and any other area where you can warn others about your experience.  Do not use bad language or name specific individuals. This will help you avoid threats of legal action due to (false) claims of defamation or libel.

Tell your story to others verbally; and to www.hospicepatients.org, www.halovoice.org and/or on TSRadio with Betrayed by Hospice by contacting Marsha at marshajoiner2018@gmail.com

Watching a loved one be murdered is extremely stressful and you may need to find a support group where you feel safe to talk about what happened with people who understand. You need to understand that you did everything you could to save your loved one and are not guilty. There was no way you could have known and in many cases, if you didn’t have power of attorney, there was nothing you could have done.  One group on Facebook - Murdered by Hospice members understand and are a good support group. You will need to request to join and respond to all questions as all members are vetted to try to keep others from disparaging its members.
Side Note - If a hospice bills you directly for hospice services related to the terminal illness, even though the patient has coverage under Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance, fraudulent double-billing may be occurring. Don't be exploited. Report it. Help stop hospice fraud!

Marsha Joiner