NOVATO, CALIFORNIA – Susan Dixon, a registered nurse in Novato, recently pleaded guilty to criminal charges of felony elder abuse for injecting a massive dose of morphine into her 80‑year‑old mother. The acts took place while her mother was under her direct care, and had she gone to trial on such charges and been found guilty, she could have faced up to nine years in prison.
The State’s investigation started back in 2007, when Dixon’s mother was at a skilled nursing facility recovering from a painful hip surgery. Her daughter, Susan Dixon, removed her mother from the skilled nursing facility and took her elderly mother home where she then began treating her mother without physician assisted supervision. A hospice employee who went to check on her mother found the elderly woman groggy and unresponsive. Luckily, after rushing the elderly woman to Marin General Hospital, her life was saved. It is believed that Susan Dixon took her mother out of the skilled nursing facility and began treating her without proper medical supervision as a means to save money.
Often elder abuse and neglect takes place at nursing homes, but it can also take place at home care. And as this situation demonstrates, such abuse and neglect may even occur by the hands of a family member.
Fortunately California laws provide strong protections for the elderly in the form of civil laws that protect the elderly. These laws are known as California’s Elder and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act (”EADACPA”). If you or a loved one have suffered acts of elder abuse and neglect, the law firm of Berman & Riedel, LLP is available to analyze the facts of your situation and provide sound legal advice. If you believe you have such a claim, please contact on of our attorneys for a free consultation.