ExecutiveMom's Safety and Self Defense Blog

The Fight Against Child Abuse

www.OregonLive.com

by Paul Mones, guest opinion
Tuesday June 02, 2009, 8:30 AM

Our state legislators are in the midst of dealing with one of the worst fiscal crises in recent memory. No doubt they will have to make many tough, unpopular decisions this year. However there is one legislative decision they need not fret over because it is a no-brainer. House Bill 2827 is a simple piece of legislation that gives an extra measure of justice to victims of child abuse.

In the words of one of the bill’s co-sponsors Chris Garrett (D-Lake Oswego ) - the other sponsor is Rep. Andy Olson (R-Albany) - this bill "will ensure an effective civil remedy for victims of child abuse."

The bill extends the present statute of limitations by giving victims until the age of 40 to file an action against their abuser, requiring that claims be initiated by the time the victim turns 40 years old or within five years of when the injury or the connection between the abuse and the injury is discovered. The bill has unanimously passed the house but curiously has not received the same overwhelmingly positive reception in the Senate.

The extension of the statute of limitations makes common sense because it recognizes that most child victims of sexual abuse cannot confront their debilitating problems until they are mature adults. Moreover, most victims can’t even make the connection between the abuse and their psychological problems until they have some real distance from the time period of their abuse.

Child abuse is the perfect crime because its victims are too powerless, too confused to help themselves when they are actually being abused. These children travel quietly through their days interacting with teachers and passing police officers, friends and neighbors, never revealing the anguish of their existences. And if by chance someone asks them how they are being treated at home their responses will be uniformly the same: OK.

As adults we expect all human beings to escape or at least want to escape when someone injures them, but for victims of abuse, the reverse occurs. And that is in fact perhaps one of the most insidious aspects of child abuse: It binds the child closer to the abuser. The abuser’s threats and intimidation engender in the child not only fear but self-blame and embarrassment - all of which turns a child’s survival mechanisms topsy-turvy. Emotional attachment and sexual violence become so inextricably confused that even when the abuse is reported, the child will often kick and scream as they are being removed from their draconian environment by a social worker.

The other aspect that makes child abuse a perfect crime is that most adults continue to believe that child-rearing is a private matter. They don’t want a relative, friend or neighbor telling them how to raise their child so they won’t intervene in someone else’s family. While we all cherish our right to privacy, our devotion to this cornerstone of democracy is strangling the lives of thousands of children every year. Abusive parents and caretakers thrive on isolation and that is exactly what their relatives, friends and neighbors give them.

Daily, people turn a blind eye to the screams, bruises and frightened eyes of battered and molested children. Their reaction actively reinforces the offender’s omnipotence and tells the child you’re on your own, no one is going to help you. By powerful social training we are more likely to intervene on behalf of a dog being kicked by its owner than a child being mistreated by a parent. As Americans we routinely gawk at the suffering of car accident victims but we avert our eyes and ears when we see a child being backhanded in a supermarket.

It is often only when a child becomes a mature adult that he or she has the strength and emotional resources to confront the scourge of their past.

We have done much in Oregon over the past few years to protect victims of abuse, the most recent example being the passage of HB 2062, which will prevent schools from silently moving sexually abusive teachers one district to another. If the Senate saw fit just several weeks ago to join the House in ending the scandalous practice of allowing sexually abusive teachers from negotiating sweetheart deals with their school districts, then it surely should see the wisdom in HB 2062.

Paul Mones is an attorney and a children’s rights advocate.

Have a wonderful and safe 4th of July! (Don't forget to catch our video and write your senator : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9n2MpPw1)

E. Coli In Nestlé Toll House Refrigerated Cookie Dough?

If, like me, you enjoy eating uncooked cookie dough, then this is for you.  This is the best way to eat it if you ask me (that's just because I tend to burn the cookie cooking part and my 11 year old son has taken over that task - he's tired of crunchy, black left overs after I eat the dough I want :)

Wapo, "E. Coli Confirmed In Nestlé Samples."

 The Food and Drug Administration said yesterday that it had confirmed the presence of E. coli 0157, a deadly strain of bacteria, in samples of Nestlé Toll House refrigerated cookie dough produced at the company's plant in Danville, Va. Investigators did not find the bacterium inside the factory or on equipment but in a tub of chocolate cookie dough made at the site in February, said David Acheson, assistant commissioner for food safety at the FDA. The dough had a June 10 expiration date.

 Nestlé voluntarily recalled 30,000 cases of its refrigerated cookie dough on June 19 after officials at the FDA and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suspected that dozens of cases of E. coli-related illness were linked to the product. Nearly all the victims, most of whom are female and younger than 19, reported eating raw cookie dough in the days before the onset of symptoms. Health officials still do not know how E. coli 0157, a bacterium that lives in cattle intestines, ended up in a product that seems so unlikely to contain it.

The risk usually associated with cookie dough is salmonella, a bacterium that can be found in raw eggs. None of the ingredients in the dough -- eggs, milk, flour, chocolate, butter -- is known to host E. coli 0157. The FDA press release: Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it has found E. coli O157:H7 (a bacterium that can cause serious food borne illness) in a sample of prepackaged Nestlé Toll House refrigerated cookie dough currently under recall by the manufacturer and marketer, Nestlé USA.

The contaminated sample was collected at Nestlé’s facility in Danville, Va. on June 25, 2009. On June 19, the FDA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned consumers not to eat any varieties of prepackaged Nestlé Toll House refrigerated cookie dough due to the risk of contamination with E. coli O157:H7. The warning was based on an epidemiological study conducted by the CDC and several state and local health departments. As of Thursday, June 25, the CDC reports that 69 persons from 29 states have been infected with the outbreak strain. Thirty-four persons have been hospitalized, nine with a severe complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome. No one has died. Further laboratory testing is needed to conclusively link the E. coli strain found in the product to the same strain that is causing the outbreak. Nestlé USA has fully cooperated with the FDA and CDC investigation and has recalled all of its prepackaged Nestlé Toll House refrigerated cookie dough products. For answers to consumer questions about this recall and warning, go to: http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm168346.htm.

For more information about E. coli, visit the CDC Web site at: http://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/. Consumers who have additional questions about these products should contact Nestlé USA consumer services at 1-800-559-5025 and/or visit its Web site at www.verybestbaking.com. Related: June 19, 2009 - Nestlé USA’s Baking Division Initiates Voluntary Recall

Well, I knew it all tasted too good to be true - one of these days I'm going to just be limited to eating??? What???

For more safety tips click HERE

Health Care - Talk Back to Congress

A Public Option for Health Care?

Should all Americans have the option to sign up for a government-run health insurance plan? Along with the overall cost of the plan, it's the biggest unresolved question of the massive health care reform bill before Congress. Debate over whether to include President Obama's proposal for a public option and what it might look like will continue to affect the bill's chances in the weeks to come.

Visit the Congress.org home page to see stories and documents from around the Web that outline the pros and cons of a public health care option.

Stay informed as an educated consumer or you may find yourself without options... as a person who has worked for "the industry" and then being on the other side of the issue with no insurance at all and bankruptcy due to medical bills - I want as many options avaiable to me and even though I am just one voice I want my voice to count and the more that come together, the louder my voice will be.

Have a wonderful Tuesday and enjoy this beautiful sunshine...

Advancing a Bipartisan Plan for Health Care Reform

I know we live in a society that has a short attention span - 140 characters or less thanks to Twitter - and is concerned more about Michael Jackson (and God Bless his soul and family - a very sad story to be sure) than about Social Issues.  BUT - As a Congressional vote nears after the July 4th break, we need to pay better attention to the things that will actually affect OUR lives and not that of Jon & Kates! 

The Great American Health Care Debate is one such issue....

Now, there are actually many "good" points that both Political Parties agree with when it comes to Health Care Reform.  The point isn't does it need to be done. They just don't know how to do it.  The sad thing is these law makers will no longer have to worry about health care because they have coverage - why don't they spend time actually speaking to those in need? Or the small business paying for insurance for their employees? Or look at why many in Mass. would rather pay a fine than pay for their health insurance - where are the flaws, what can be done differently and better? Use it as a guide and improve?  Look at our overall flaws in tort reform, insurance and pharmaceutical reform and then work from there?  We have so much wasted money in our system now that if we would just "rearrange" some of it....

Sometimes I believe we just make issues harder than they really are - way too many opinions I guess to agree on what is right vs. what is political? I also believe if we'd quit wasting money on media ads promoting / objecting to and billions on think tanks to "decide" what is a good idea - WOW - look at the extra funding we would have to ACTUALLY DO something....JMO....

But here are the things that seem to be agreed upon by both parties and it is a good start - unfortunately, it's taken us years to get our system into this mess it's in - it's going to take more than one vote to get us out of it...

Some common ideas include:

• Providing government subsidies to help low-income Americans buy health insurance. Lawmakers differ on how the subsidies would be designed and who would benefit, but Wyoming Sen. Michael Enzi

, the ranking Republican on one committee considering health care, said there is "broad bipartisan agreement" for the concept.

• Creating a "marketplace" where consumers can make side-by-side comparisons of health insurance options. Both Democratic and Republican plans, including the House GOP outline, call for the feature, which is similar to what is in place in Massachusetts

• Allowing older dependents, up to age 25 or 26, to be covered by their parents' insurance.

• Requiring insurance companies to provide coverage to people with pre-existing conditions and making it easier for employees to keep health benefits if they lose their job.

"You're starting to see ... agreement not only at the level of broad principles, but at the level of major features for implementing those principles," said Mark McClellan, director of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at the Brookings Institution, a think tank.

Some interesting facts about our Health System - include:

In 2007, the U.S. spent $2.2 trillion on health care, about $7,500 per person. By way of comparison, the federal budget (before deficits) was $2.9 trillion. Another way of looking at it is that every person in the U.S. spending about $1,300 more on health care than an average person in China earned, period.

So it’s kind of important we look at this.

Insurer practices

For example, let’s talk about rescission. That’s the term used when insurance companies cancel a policyholder’s coverage by turning up a previously unknown pre-existing condition.
Now, when somebody’s lying and trying to rip off their insurer, rescission’s justice. But there are a number of disturbing reports, including testimony before Congress earlier this month, that indicates it’s a way some insurers drop coverage for sick policyholders to dodge paying for costly medical care.
The House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations found three insurers had cancelled coverage of more than 20,000 people, thus avoiding the inconvenience of having to pay some $300 million in claims over five years. Among the horror stories told to the committee: A nurse who was diagnosed with serious breast cancer who lost her coverage over visiting a dermatologist for acne; a man who has died of lymphoma lost coverage for not reporting gallstones and a possible aneurysm, a finding his doctor noted but didn’t discuss with him; and one company’s practice of putting the rescission bulls-eye on individuals with 1,400 different medical conditions.

I didn’t even know there were 1,400 different conditions.

Fun fact: Executives of the three firms were asked if they’d rescind the practice of rescission unless they could prove intentional fraud. The committee got three “nopes.’’ Rep. Joe Barton, R-Tex., who asked the aforementioned question, said, “I think a company does have a right to make sure there’s no fraudulent information. But if a citizen acts in good faith, we should expect the insurance company that takes their money to act in good faith also.”

Apparently that’s crazy talk.
But it’s a crazy situation. Let’s face it, health insurance doesn’t work under the rules of normal capitalism, where you make more money when people use more of your product; in fact it’s pretty much the opposite.

Despite that, health insurance more or less worked for years, but the field on which consumers and insurers played is now seriously tilted. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation reports average insurance premiums went up 120 percent from 2000 to 2007, while average wages went up 29 percent. In the same period profits for the 10 largest publicly-traded insurers went up 428 percent.

Then there’s this: A 2007 study by the American Journal of Medicine noted that in 1981, around 8 percent of families who filed for bankruptcy “did so in the aftermath of a serious medical problem.’’ By 2001 that number was about half. In 2007, the estimate was 62.1 percent, and “Most medical debtors were well-educated, owned homes and had middle-class occupations. Three quarters had health insurance.’’
These are trends that just can’t continue. If something isn’t done, just imagine all this on top of double-digit unemployment, a housing market on the rocks and gutted or nonexistent pensions/401(k)s and it sure looks like a roundhouse punch winding up to KO the middle class.

The amazing thing is there are so many people out there who think things are just dandy the way they are.

Your Thoughts on what needs to be done with our American Health Care System?

An Unsolved Mystery

We would love to have you help spread the story of our struggles in MO to remove sexual predators from our streets.

This is our family's struggle but as we fight - one family after another approach us with their struggles and lack of support to prosecute sexual offenders - especially in St Louis. How many children are now victims of not only their abuser but of the legal system that was to protect them? One mother working in the system was just fired in April because she wanted to pursue the case of her nanny video taping her 2 & 4 yr old boys for use in child porn. had video evidence and DNA. They told her to get over it - she is no longer working because she wanted justice. Another father is still fighting 21 years later because nothing has changed within our system - new laws - no follow through or prosecution.

We have a witness, we have other victims who have come forward. We are not a high profile case like the ones Mr. Robert McCulloch chooses. Ones he chooses and then looses because the children are lying and he knows it before going in but it gets him TV time and no one ever hears the outcome (2 such cases since Jan have been that way). Here in Missouri - one woman was just released from jail because as a teen she killed her father due to years of abuse that was never stopped and she saw him harming her siblings and chose to stop it one way or another. A very sad ending to a story that should have had intervention. How many others like her just suffer on a daily basis?

We need to speak out - we need a change.

Dream Catchers Myspace :

"SHATTERED REALITY"

A REAL-LIFE STORY OF A CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE VICTIM WHOSE PERPETRATOR IS STILL ON THE LOOSE DUE TO THE NEGLIGENCE OF OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM!!!!

PLEASE WATCH THESE VIDEOS & EDUCATE YOURSELF---TEACH YOUR CHILDREN THAT IT IS OKAY TO TELL & IT IS NOT OKAY FOR ANYONE TO TOUCH THEM!!!

You Tube:  Secret Life of a 15 Year Old Teen

PLEASE write these people and share your disgust and request a change in the way Sexual Abuse Cases are handled not only in Missouri but Nation Wide – this is not just our story – there are so many helpless children that need your voice, please take a moment to help – thank you –

Office of Governor Jay Nixon
P.O. Box 720
Jefferson City, MO 65102
(573) 751-3222
http://governor.mo.gov/contact/

Peter Kinder – Lt. Governor
ltgovinfo@ltgov.mo.gov

contact the victim services division of the Attorney General's office,
email:  brenda.porter@ago.mo.gov
or call Brenda Porter at 573-751-1338.
Crime Victims' Rights

Attorney General:  Chris Kostner
Missouri Attorney General's Office
Supreme Court Building
207 W. High St.
P.O. Box 899
Jefferson City, MO 65102
Phone: 573-751-3321
Fax: 573-751-0774
ag@ago.mo.gov

The business of Health Insurance & how it Costs Us

 At its heart, any legislation is designed to require insurance companies to sell insurance to anyone seeking it. Denial on the grounds of pre-existing medical conditions would be banned, as would higher premiums.

The U.S. system of providing health care coverage is employer-based. Unfortunately, this system leaves too many working families uninsured or under-insured. ...

As the debate continues today and on to the future, this is the part that I am fighting for.... how can I get and pay for insurance when it is unaffordable (quoted $2300 for my husband / month alone a I can't get insurance at all because of my autoimmune disorders).  Even if I was making a REALLY good salary - I couldn't afford $2300/month for a premium! 

As I try to keep up with the raging debate, I read an interesting article today - in the WSJ - showing that the insurance industry is as much to blame here as the pharmaceutical industry (both unregulated with lobbyist supporting their interests and not ours - the consumer):

A guy who spent his career working for health-insurance companies went up to Capitol Hill today and unloaded on his former industry.

Here’s how he kicked off his testimony (online here) to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation:

My name is Wendell Potter and for 20 years, I worked as a senior executive at health insurance companies, and I saw how they confuse their customers and dump the sick –- all so they can satisfy their Wall Street investors.

In his testimony, he went on to argue in favor of a public-health plan. Then he closed with this:

But what we have today, Mr. Chairman, is a Wall Street-run system that has proven itself an untrustworthy partner to its customers, to the doctors and hospitals who deliver care, and to the state and federal governments that attempt to regulate it.

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING to me how much this sounds like my experiences with the Pharmaceutical Industry!!  As I wrote yesterday, maybe a change in these two industries alone might help with some of our Problems???

No, reform in both areas will definitely not add up the the trillion dollars that is needed for what Mr Obama wants but.... it is a start is it not??  And for those millions (and the number is growing) without affordable, accessible health care, this beginning is more than what they had -  Get Involved - Write your Senators. Let your voice be heard... Agree or not with what they are saying if you don't take a stand now - you will have to deal with the consequences of what they decide without our voices involved.

One patient organization that has made some tremendous steps in making a difference for patients with chronic illnesses is The Advocacy for Patients With Chronic Illnesses.  You might want to check them out and support their cause or Families USA.org (the voice of health care consumers - Since 1982, Families USA has worked to promote high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans.)

Have a wonderful weekend - getting out early to celebrate my little sister's  (one of them) 40th birthday...WOW...glad they are getting older as I refuse to move beyond 30 (my grandma stuck to 29 so she made me move to 30 :) haven't aged a day since - at least with good health care I wouldn't so quickly :)

Pharmaceutical Deals Costing Consumers Billions a Year

Today Wall Street Journal's Shirley Wang reported on: Pay for Delay Deals that could save American consumers $3.5 billion a year.  Yesterday, I read an article on the possibility that the pharmaceutical industry and ad trade groups were bracing for the very real possibility that Congress would rescind the tax deduction drug companies receive on their direct-to-consumer advertising - $4.7 billion a year.
WOW!!  (I did hear from an inside source today though that this was tabled and some how mysteriously disappeared from negotiations).

NOW - if you put just those two numbers together from the pharmaceutical industry - add in a little insurance reform - could we not be able to do some Health Care Reform that wouldn't cost the American Public billions in extra taxes??? It would at least make a great start!  And hey, why not add in the  millions of dollars being spent on TV ads objecting to the health care reform – (why not put that money into helping those who need insurance coverage or medications or paying for physicians to cover clinics in rural areas or doing something that’s actually productive to make a difference?)  AMAZING the amount we would have to help those in need rather than fighting amongst each other....

This is not a democratic or republican issue – health care is a human issue and at one point or another will affect us all. 

What a concept that would be - where is the out pouring of American voices - those of patients filing bankruptcy because of our wonderful healthcare system in the U.S.? It amazes me the lobbying power that both the Pharma and Insurance industries have and the lack of voice on the part of the American Public - we make up this country - shouldn't they be looking out for OUR health and that of our families? Government employees have their health care covered - they are not voting for Us! 

Ms Wang's article:
By Shirley S. Wang

Ending settlements in which branded drug makers pay generic ones to delay entry into the market, known as “pay-for-delay” settlements, would save consumers $3.5 billion a year, plus “significant savings” for the federal government, according to Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz.

In his speech to the Center for American Progress today, Leibowitz said that stopping such deals is an FTC priority and urged Congress to pass legislation to ban or limit such patent settlements, which the agency believes to be anticompetitive.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court declined to hear such a case involving the nearly $400 million Bayer paid to Barr and other companies to keep generic versions of its antibiotic Cipro off the market until Bayer’s patent expired.

These types of settlements can be lucrative for both parties. For instance, Pfizer will reap billions in additional revenue for settling its fight with Ranbaxy over Lipitor. The two companies agreed Ranbaxy could start selling the cholesterol drug in late 2011, rather than in 2010, which Ranbaxy was pushing for. Ranbaxy, in return, gets six-month head start of being the only generic atorvastatin on the market.

“From my perspective,” Leibowitz said, “the decision about whether to restrict pay-for-delay settlements should be simple.” He continued:

On the one hand, you have savings to American consumers of $35 billion or more over 10 years – about $12 billion of which would be savings to the federal government – and the prospect of helping to pay for health care reform as well as the ability to set a clear national standard to stop anticompetitive conduct. On the other hand, you have a permissive legal regime that allows competitors to make collusive deals on the backs of consumers

YOUR THOUGHTS? Write your elected officials and make YOUR voice heard!