A Combat Vietnam Vet Survived the War
But the Medical Profession and State
Wanted Him Euthanized
Raymond Adams made it through the Vietnam war and a lifetime as a steel worker but at 73 years old he almost didn't make it out of St. Johns hospital. Raymond had a heart attack and a minor stroke along with not keeping his Type 2 Diabetes under control. And on May 5th Raymond found himself in St. Johns Hospital and just starting the fight of his life.
By June 11th Raymond's son Kevin Adams was forced to seek emergency guardianship of his father to prevent hospital officials from administering massive doses of morphine to euthanize his father. Adams found himself literally racing to the courthouse to file to prevent the hospital from administrating the lethal injection designed to end Raymond's life.
Raymond has been taken to the hospital and revived after his heart stop. Kevin Adam arrives one day to visit only to find his step mother authorizing a Do Not Resuscitate order. That concerned Kevin as his dad was recovering and was in good spirits. Enough so that Kevin made a video to post on Facebook asking for prayers for his dad and thanking the nurses at the hospital. Yet around lunch time on the 10th of June the step mother texted Kevin and others saying that the doctor wanted to stop all treatment and make Raymond comfortable using drugs as they were unable to help him medically.
At the hospital a short meeting was held with the doctor with Kevin's sister present, the step mother, and Kevin's brother on the phone. The doctor claimed that the quality of life out look for Raymond was difficult, no treatment was possible, and that administering morphine to hasten the end was all that she recommended. The threat of litigation was enough to make the doctor storm out of the room and Kevin and his siblings thought the issue was solved and their dad was safe.
The very next day Kevin found out that the hospital was proceeding with the plan to administer morphine, a procedure called Terminal Sedation. Kevin rushed to the hospital in time to catch the nurses transferring his father to the other side of the hospital where the terminal sedation were done with the step mother carrying a sheet of paper authorizing the process. After being told that both the siblings and Raymond didn't want the terminal sedation done the step mother replied that the doctors were saying it was for the best.
At that point Kevin rushed to court and returned in two hours with emergency guardianship over his father and wrested control. Upon receiving the order Kevin called the Charge Nurse and notified her of his guardianship and orders not to administer the terminal sedation. Upon arrival at the hospital and giving the Charge Nurse a copy of the order Kevin found that the nurses and staff refused to tell him where his father had been taken and it was only after Kevin threatened to call the Sheriff did the hospital agree to tell him where his father was.
Raymond was transferred from the 14th floor to the 8th floor, back to the land of the living but the fight was just beginning. The doctor pressured Kevin heavily to reverse his decision on the terminal sedation. Meanwhile the step mother obtained counsel and contested the guardianship and asked for the right to euthanize Raymond.
By June 11th Judge Glassco had been appointed in the case and the lawyers met at the hospital where the nurses admitted that had they administrated the full dose of morphine that Raymond wouldn't have made it through the night and that he might not make it through the night anyway. The next morning Raymond was doing fine, eating well, asking for his favorite foods, not in pain at all. Kevin had taken a video but the step mother and her lawyer weren't convinced and at a hearing on the 14th of June Judge Glassco appointed Welsh as the guardian of Raymond over Kevin's objections. Glassco spoke well of Welsh, she had worked for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services as the lead of the Adult Protective Services. Kevin was wanting unity in the family and agreed to step down as his father's guardian and allow Welsh to take over the next week but what he didn't know that Welsh was a proponent of euthanasia and the very next day Kevin and his family were being tag teamed by the doctors and Welsh demanding that the terminal sedation go forward.
At that point Kevin was convinced that not only was his father recovering with full mental capacity obvious to all involved, but that allowing his father to be euthanized was contrary to the Christian religion and both he and his father were devout believers. Welsh also warned that should Raymond survive he might have the intellect of a five year old. Kevin had a four year old at the time and thought if we don't kill four year old why would we kill a five year old.
At that point Kevin began exploring what would happen to his dad now that he was medically okay and Welsh's position was that his dad wouldn't want to end his days in a nursing home. Kevin offered to move his dad into his home for the remainder of his life and care for him, giving up his home office for that purpose. This didn't suit Welsh and she continued to press for the terminal sedation via morphine.
During this meeting Welsh mocked both Kevin and his dad, saying that they were “Christians” and believed in miracles. At the end of the meeting Raymond told the nurse “I am dying anyway but don't kill me.” Kevin had the nurse document what Raymond had said in the patient record. Kevin took a picture of the statement written on the records, texted it to Welsh, and received this reply: “Thanks for the information.”
Welsh was faced with a lucid client expressing clear wishes that had precedent over any choices she made under Title 63 Section 3010.16, his wishes legally controlled how the guardian ought to act. That afternoon Kevin filed a motion with the court to remove Welsh as she continued to press for euthanasia for Raymond despite his express wishes. Judge Glassco tried to protect Welsh, attempting to stop Kevin from testifying and providing evidence in the case by threatening to appoint the step mother as guardian over the case. Judge Glassco went so far as to prevent Kevin from offering into evidence a jump drive with the videos of Raymond showing him in good shape and good spirits in full control of his mental state.
Meanwhile Welsh had become livid over the effort to remove her as guardian and complained to the judge that Kevin had posted a picture of his dad on Facebook asking for prayers and asked that Kevin be prevented from asking for prayers for his dad on Facebook. Glassco denied that request but ordered Kevin not to post further pictures.
That of course is an unconstitutional prior restraint of both Kevin's and his father's First Amendment rights, both the freedom of press and the freedom of religion.
The next hearing ended with Robyn Owens being appointed as guardian and Judge Glassco denying Kevin the right to have a transcript prepared of the hearing unless all parties agreed. Kevin thought at first that Owens would become an ally in the fight to stop the terminal sedation now that Raymond was doing better but Kevin quickly learned that Owens was also an advocate for euthanasia.
By June 18th Raymond was doing well enough that he could be transferred out of the hospital and thanks to some help from others the VA Home was more than willing to accept Raymond as a long term resident. Welsh was still outraged at being removed and the hospital demanded nearly $6000.00 as costs needed to transfer Raymond to the VA and they wanted the money up front. Welsh and the hospital threw all sorts of barrier up, stating that the VA Home in Claremore hadn't accepted Raymond's transfer when in fact it had days if not weeks earlier, misrepresenting the cost of transport and that Medicaid would pay the costs, going so far to threaten the hospital if they transported Raymond despite his wishes to be transported. Hospital records needed for the transfer were denied to Kevin despite a court order and even the hospital social workers had been ordered to refuse to talk or deal with Kevin on his dad's case.
By August 14th Kevin had grown suspicious and inquired into the case at the Claremore VA Home and found that the VA had been ready to accept Raymond for weeks. At this point Owens switched tactics and informed the family that they would be responsible for almost $4000 a month in “rent” at the VA Home. This was a lie, as a combat vet Raymond was covered at no cost due to increased benefits. At this point Kevin knew it was Owens that was refusing to allow the transfer out of St. Johns. By August 15th another hearing was held with Judge Glassco pontificating on the cost of the VA Home despite the fact that Raymond had nearly $5000 in monthly pension and Social Security coming in to more than cover the cost if it came to that and the judge ordering Raymond not to be transferred.
At this point Raymond was lucky enough to have a son that had the financial ability to write a check for nearly $6000 to strip away Welsh and Owen's last remaining obstacle, that cold hard cash needed to be paid to transport Raymond to the VA Home. Kevin delivered a cashiers check and after the transfer was complete he asked the VA Home for a receipt only to be told that the Claremore VA Home never required pre payment and in fact billed in arrears if payment was needed.
In a few short days Raymond was out of his bed and into a wheel chair traveling the halls and even going outside for fresh air. He was enjoying his life, chatting with a cousin that is a resident of the VA Home. Raymond is in rehab and has recovered the ability to move his legs and feet, talking to family and friends on his I Phone and looking forward to holiday trips out of the Home on Christmas and Thanksgiving. Raymond might well even get to go home for good by the end of the year. And that Type 2 Diabetes? Gone, off insulin entirely, Raymond lost so much weight during his hospital stay that he is fine without insulin.
All because one man refused to give up hope for his father and stood against the euthanasia industry we call hospice. And the $6000 cashiers check? Who knows where that wound up.
If you have the time visit this website/online book on the euthanasia industry we call hospice. It is troubling to say the least, about a topic that few of us want to think about and yet we all will have to deal with it. The bottom line is that advocates like Welsh and Owens and Judge Glassco are the front line troops shoveling old folks into the ovens. You think about it, killing Raymond with a massive dose of morphine rids the state and federal government of about $5000 per month in pensions and Social Security benefits and the associated Medicare costs. Medicare has limits, past that there is no money going to the hospital or the doctors, so there is all sorts of incentives to push the terminal sedation at the first sign that the benefits might be running out. There is your death panels, judges like Judge Glassco propped up with “advocates” and “hospice” experts, all making a good living shoveling people into cattle cars and into the ovens not that much different than a Nazi guard at Dachau.
Kevin Adams is more than willing to help others that have family members that are on this assembly line of terminal sedation. You can reach out to him via his website. Kevin is one of the finest criminal lawyers in Oklahoma, responsible for overturning the Gerhart Blackmail Conviction and dozens of other high profile cases.
And Judge Glassco? Well he just got a case overturned, a mentally challenged man that was charged and convicted of raping two other mentally challenged people at a Tulsa hotel. Brandon Brady, 22 years old, will be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea after being told that Glassco would “cap” the sentence at 25 years in exchange for a plea deal. That would mean about five or six years, instead of the 40 years that Glassco handed down despite the plea deal agreed to by the prosecutor, judge, and defendant. Brady gets a trial and a chance at a fair sentence.
Brady had been dumped into a motel room with two other men in his class by the High Plains Technology Center in Woodward as part of a trip to the annual Skills USA competition. Brady exploited the other two men and found himself charged with first degree rape. A high price to pay, 24 years in prison according to Judge Glassco's original sentence, despite the plea deal, all for a man that ought not to have left unsupervised with classmates due to their diminished capacity. One can imagine what the caretakers were doing instead of supervising their charges for the trip.
