Friday, October 31, 2014

Local Doctors Accused of Abusing Drugs, Alcohol and Over-Prescribing in Some Cases Killing Patients. California Prop 46 calls for Drug Testing for Doctors


As seen in this report

Local Doctors Accused of Abusing Drugs, Alcohol and Over-Prescribing in Some Cases Killing Patients

Of particular intere is California's propostion 46
Proposition 46 calls for random drug and alcohol testing of California doctors who work at hospitals or have hospital admitting privileges. It would also require doctors to submit to substance abuse testing if a patient under their care suffers medical harm.

Click here to see the complete voters guide on Proposition 46 from California’s Secretary of State Office.
Of course doctors are opposed to this.

there is a video report as well


What do you think?

Psychiatrist Howard Mahler Facing Rape Charges; He Also Saw Patients and Then Had Other Doctor Write The Prescriptions, according to DA

Just in time for Halloween we have this report from the Port Washington Patch

A Long Beach psychiatrist conspired with an ex-doctor from Sands Point to sell prescriptions for Adderall and Xanax, according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s office.

Howard Mahler, 62, of Long Beach, was charged with five counts of criminal sale of a prescription for a controlled substance and fourth-degree conspiracy. He faces a maximum of five to 15 years in prison if convicted, the DA said.

Mahler is accused of selling prescriptions for addictive drugs to patients of former psychiatrist Marshall Hubsher, 64, of Sands Point, the DA said.

Hubsher was charged with third-degree rape in 2012 for allegedly having sex with a patient, the DA said. Despite having his license revoked, Hubsher kept meeting with patients in exchange for cash, the DA said. Hubsher would reportedly meet with patients in office hallways before they would go in to meet with Mahler, who wrote prescriptions based on information given to Hubsher, officials said.

Hubsher is charged with five counts of unauthorized practice of a profession and fourth-degree conspiracy, the DA said. He faces up to four years in prison if convicted.

In one instance, an undercover detective posed as a patient and confessed to Hubsher that he wanted higher doses of Adderall so he could sell them and buy Oxycodone, the DA said.

Long Island division DEA officials arrested Hubsher and Mahler in Hubsher’s office Wednesday, officials said.

Both Mahler and Hubsher are due back in court Nov. 3. Hubsher will also return to court Dec. 1 on the previous rape charge.
Related: Sands Point Psychiatrist Faces Rape Charges

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Patient Files Lawsuit After Photo of Suicide Attempt Posted Online

As seen in this report

Last week, a Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center patient filed a lawsuit after a photograph of her failed suicide attempt was taken by a nurse and eventually posted to a "shock" website, Reuters reports.

In 2012, the patient tried to commit suicide by sticking pencils through her eyes. She was taken from the facility where the incident occurred and treated at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. An unidentified nurse took a photo of the patient's injuries and shared it. A person who received the picture posted it to an undisclosed website, where it has since received more than 192,000 views, according to the lawsuit.

The patient was left blind as a result of the injury. She later received psychiatric treatment and got "her life back on track," but she became depressed when the photograph was widely viewed online, according to the lawsuit.

Before the lawsuit was filed, Douglas Johnson -- the patient's lawyer -- asked the medical center and county officials, who administer the hospital, to have the picture removed from the Internet. According to Johnson, the officials could make such a request by exercising their copyright of the photo because it was taken in their facility.
Reuters reports

A nurse at a Los Angeles hospital took a photo of a woman who gouged out her own eyes with pencils, and the patient sued the hospital and its administrators after the picture went viral on the Internet, her attorney said on Wednesday.

[...]

The as-yet unidentified nurse took the photograph of the patient with the "intact pencils sticking out of her eyes," then shared the unauthorized picture with another person, who passed the image to Joshua Shivers, the lawsuit said.

Shivers, in turn, used his mother's computer to post the image to a "shock" website, the suit stated, adding that the photo has since been viewed more than 192,000 times. The specific website to which it was posted was not disclosed.

"Everybody knows that as soon as someone gets their hands on something like this, it goes viral and the harm is done," said Douglas, who specializes in privacy cases.
Much more at the Reuters' link

Here we have a nurse violating the patient's privacy for her own entertainment. Disgusting.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Former psychiatric aide at the Montana Developmental Center charged with abusing a client

As seen in this report in Montana's Independent Record

A psychiatric aide at the Montana Developmental Center in Boulder is accused of abusing a disabled person, which is a felony, for allegedly pushing a developmentally disabled man “hard into the doorway/wall” where the man struck his head on a door, resulting in a “large laceration on his scalp.”

The wound caused the client to “bleed profusely,” and it took five staples to close the wound, according to an affidavit filed in the case.

Arrested was Sheldon Moffett, who began working at MDC this year. Moffett faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.

According to the affidavit, Moffett attacked the man on Sept. 29. The incident that led to the charge was described in the affidavit filed Oct. 17.

According to witnesses, Moffett was trying to get some of the clients to go to bed, and the clients refused and were calling him a bully. Moffett told police that at one point he said to the clients "at least I get to go home to my wife," and the alleged victim responded, “I am going to kill your wife.”

Following that exchange, Moffett allegedly shoved the client into the door, causing the injury.

Moffett told investigators that he had “been very frustrated that day” and later said there was “no excuse for what I have done,'' documents show.

Moffett was immediately placed on administrative leave and is no longer employed at MDC, according to Jon Ebelt, public information officer with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. 
 Court Records regarding the case online here

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Va. Beach psychiatrist's license to be suspended

As seen in this report (more info at this link)

The medical license of a psychiatrist who played a leading role in the treatment of a Virginia Beach man who committed suicide in 2011 will be suspended by the Virginia Board of Medicine on Saturday.
Virginia Beach psychiatrist Dr. Waldo Ellison informed the board he was retiring on that day. He appeared in an informal hearing in September on allegations that he violated his duty as a doctor by failing to properly diagnose attention deficit disorders and monitor patients' use of Adderall, a stimulant that can become addictive if misused.
The doctor's case before the board involved several patients, but the one that received the most media attention, including a 2013 New York Times story, is that of Richard Fee, a 24-year-old Virginia Beach man who committed suicide in Norfolk in 2011.
An informal committee of the board had passed Ellison's case on to the full board to be considered for suspension or revocation. Instead, Ellison agreed to a consent order that was signed on Oct. 20 to end his practice on Saturday. He has begun informing his patients he is retiring.
The board of medicine considers his license suspended indefinitely on that date. If he wants to return to practice, he would have to wait at least 18 months and appear before the board to prove his competence to practice medicine.
Another Virginia Beach psychiatrist involved in Fee's treatment, Dr. Charles Parker, also went before a three-member panel of the board in September. The board issued Parker a reprimand and ordered him to take courses on medical record-keeping and proper prescription practices.
Rick and Kathy Fee, Richard Fee's parents, live in Virginia Beach and are trying to bring more attention to misdiagnosis of attention deficit disorders and overprescription of drugs such as Adderall.
They have filed a $2 million malpractice lawsuit against Ellison and Parker; trial is scheduled for July.

US Medical Licensing Boards

A collection of links to the Various medical boards around the United States, useful for making complaints against you local psychiatrist

Monday, October 27, 2014

Washington state's system for mentally ill broken

As seen in this extensive expose on the State of Washington Mental Health System

Some of Washington's mentally ill are strapped to gurneys in emergency rooms awaiting beds in psychiatric hospitals, while others sit in jail for months waiting for competency evaluations and treatment — and some are getting trapped in both broken systems.

One court has already ruled that warehousing mentally ill patients in emergency rooms is unlawful. However, while the state tries to find solutions to its overcrowded psychiatric facilities, some of these distressed patients respond badly to the hospital settings and end up getting charged with assault.

That lands them on the jail competency wait lists — the target of a federal lawsuit that goes to trial in March
Until the state changes the way it funds services for Washington's mentally ill, these patients-turned-inmates will remain in what some call inhumane conditions — trapped in stark concrete cells peering out of tiny windows.
 It's a long article that deserves to be read.

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Texas attorney general protecting identity of psychiatric nurse fired for patient abuse

As seen in this report (much more info at this link)

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office recently issued a secrecy order protecting the identity of a nurse who was fired twice over patient abuse.

But when The Dallas Morning News questioned the order this week, the attorney general’s office backtracked.

“It was decided that the original ruling was imperfect and a revised ruling needed to be issued,” Abbott spokeswoman Lauren Bean said by email late Wednesday. No revision had been made public by Friday afternoon.

Parkland Memorial Hospital sought the order in a June 30 letter to Abbott, who’s the Republican candidate for governor. It argued that disclosing the nurse’s name to The News would endanger him.

Yet by that point, The News had independently verified the name — Sherwin De Guzman — and published an article using it.

The article described how Parkland caregivers strapped down a spitting psychiatric patient in March, and one of De Guzman’s fellow nurses shoved a toilet paper roll into her mouth. State rules prohibit obstruction of a psychiatric patient’s airway or ability to communicate.

The article also noted that Parkland is fighting a federal civil rights lawsuit stemming from the 2011 death of another restrained De Guzman patient. The death led to a series of government inspections and a virtual federal takeover of the hospital.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Eleven more Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital employees have been suspended as part of an ongoing investigation

As seen in this report from WoodTV.com in Michigan



Eleven more Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital employees have been suspended as part of an ongoing investigation, the state says, and police are now investigating allegations of the assault of a patient.

A total of 28 workers have now been suspended with pay for “alleged violation of patient rights,” Michigan Department of Community Health spokeswoman Jennifer Smith told 24 Hour News 8 Thursday. That number is up from 17 on Oct. 9. The state has not released specifics surrounding the alleged violation or violations.

And the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety is investigating whether employees’ actions were criminal, Chief Jeff Hadley told 24 Hour News 8 Thursday. KDPS said its officers served a search warrant as part of an investigation into the possible assault of a patient.

Hadley said there were 19 alleged incidents involving 16 employees and only one patient. He said the incidents happened as long ago as June, but it’s unclear over how long a period of time they occurred. Hadley said the incidents were reported within the first two weeks of October.

MDCH says it is cooperating with the KDPS investigation.

The state’s Office of Recipient Rights is also investigating the allegations.

Smith also said the state is working to fill leadership positions at the facility that were vacated earlier this year in connection to allegations of neglect linked to the death of a patient. That case is separate from the recent suspensions.

Smith admitted to 24 Hour News 8 on Oct. 9 that there is a “culture problem” at the hospital, which employs around 500 people, that the state is working to fix. The acting director of the facility is working to educate employees, Smith said.

There is currently a hold on new admissions to the hospital. The admissions office is taking information for potential admittance and callers with questions are being referred to the acting director.

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Psychiatrist convicted of child sex crimes

From the Forsyth County News out of the state of Tennessee

A Tennessee doctor accused of sex crimes against a minor in Forsyth County was sentenced to serve 40 years in prison.

According to court records, John C. Neale was convicted of three counts of child molestation that involved a 6-year-old female relative.

The well-known psychiatrist from Johnson City, Tenn., was 74 at the time of his arrest in November 2012, according to an article in The Johnson City Press.

“Once he was caught, other people came forward with allegations of abuse dating way back,” said Sandra Partridge, Forsyth’s chief assistant district attorney.

However, Neale could only be tried for one case in Georgia since the other incidents occurred in Tennessee.

Partridge said Tennessee did not bring charges against Neale, but alleged victims were able to testify in the Georgia case because of a state code that allows relevant offenses to be used as evidence.

His 50 years of psychiatry practice gave him expertise in keeping his victims quiet, Partridge said.

While the trial was expected to last until Thursday, the verdict arrived two days earlier. Chief Judge Jeffrey Bagley presided over the proceedings.

“We were all pleased there was justice in this case finally,” Partridge said. “He’s gotten away with it for 50 years, and it’s about time.”

Friday, October 17, 2014

Texas nursing home psychiatrist in federal custody on 52 counts of fraud, including upcoding

As seen in this report

Authorities have arrested a nursing home psychiatrist and charged him with 52 counts of healthcare fraud, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas announced Thursday.

Robert Hadley Gross, M.D., filed Medicare and Medicaid claims for services he did not perform and upcoded to get overpaid for services he did render, according to the charges. The indictment states that he often filed claims for nursing home patients who already had died, and that “for numerous dates of service” he filed claims for more services than he could possibly provide in a given day.

His wrongdoing began in 2009 and continued through this year, during which time he racked up nearly $1.75 million in fraudulent payments, according to U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldana of the Northern District of Texas. Gross worked in nursing homes in San Angelo, TX, and in other communities in and around Tom Green County.

If convicted, Gross could face 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of fraud. He was arrested Wednesday and was scheduled to appear in court Thursday, according to Saldana's office.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Risperdal Lawsuit News: Testimony Raises Questions About Adherence to Pediatric Dosing Guidelines By Doctors Prescribing Antipsychotic Drugs

As seen in this press release by the lawfirm Bernstein Liebhard LLP

NEW YORK, Oct. 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- As Risperdal lawsuits (http://www.risperdallawsuitcenter.com/) continue to mount in U.S. courts, a hearing recently held in Vermont is raising serious questions about the adherence to pediatric dosing guidelines by doctors who prescribe antipsychotic drugs like Risperdal to children, Bernstein Liebhard LLP reports. According to Dr. David C. Rettew, Director of the Pediatric Psychiatry Clinic at University of Vermont's College of Medicine, a recent survey revealed that doctors in that state followed antipsychotic prescribing guidelines set by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) about 51% of the time. During testimony before Vermont's Mental Health Oversight Committee on September 23rd, Dr. Rettew also noted that the same survey found that the state's physicians only followed the U.S. Food & Drug Administration's (FDA) recommendations on prescribing antipsychotics to children about 27% of the time.

"Dr. Rettew's remarks are concerning, as Risperdal and other antipsychotics are often associated with very serious side effects. In fact, dozens of Risperdal lawsuits that allege the drug caused gynecomastia, or male breast growth, are currently moving through U.S. courts. Many of these cases were filed on behalf of plaintiffs who were prescribed the medication as boys," says Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationwide law firm representing the victims of defective drugs and medical devices. The Firm is currently offering free legal consultations to young men and boys who allegedly developed Risperdal due to their use of the antipsychotic medication.

Risperdal Lawsuits

Risperdal was brought to market in the late 1990s, but was only approved for pediatric uses in 2006. Currently, the drug is indicated for the treatment of adult and adolescent schizophrenia, bipolar disorder in adults and children ages 10-to-17, and irritability in children (5-to-16 years of age) with autistic disorder. The medication is also sometimes prescribed for off-label uses, including the treatment of ADHD in children.

According to court documents, more than 700 Risperdal lawsuits have been filed in a consolidated litigation in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania on behalf of plaintiffs who allegedly suffered gynecomastia and other serious side effects due to their use of the medication. They further allege that Johnson & Johnson and its Janssen Pharmaceuticals unit concealed the drug's risks, including the association between Risperdal and male breast growth. The companies are also accused of improperly marketing Risperdal for off-label uses, including certain pediatric indications. The litigation's first trial involving a gynecomastia claim is scheduled to go to trial on November 3, 2014. (In Re: Risperdal Litigation, Case Number 100300296)

According to an announcement issued by the U.S. Department of Justice on November 4, 2013, Johnson & Johnson and Janssen have agreed to pay $2.2 billion to settle charges that they improperly marketed Risperdal and other medications. Under the terms of the settlement, the companies pled guilty to a criminal misdemeanor charge over the illegal marketing of Risperdal for use in elderly dementia patients. However, they did not admit wrongdoing in resolving civil charges over the alleged marketing of the drug for pediatric uses.

Men and boys who developed gynecomastia allegedly due to Risperdal may be entitled to pursue legal action against the manufacturers of the medication. Learn more about filing a Risperdal lawsuit by visiting Bernstein Liebhard LLP's website. To arrange for a free case review, please contact the Firm directly by calling (888) 340-4807.

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Carla Rodgers, Psychiatrist, Testifies in Defense of Fellow Psychiatrist Basem Shlewiet Who Felt Boobs to Check Blood Pressure

As seen on PsychSearch.net (original source is paywalled)

A medical expert called to defend a Doylestown psychiatrist charged with fondling eight female patients said she believed the doctor had acted properly when he checked the women’s heart rate and blood pressure.

Testifying Thursday in Bucks County Court, Dr. Carla Rodgers said a psychiatrist regularly monitors vital signs, especially if the patient is medicated.

“If I were prescribing a drug that could increase your blood pressure, I’d probably want to do a baseline blood pressure on you,” Rodgers, a psychiatrist from Bala Cynwyd, told defense attorney Louis Busico, after reviewing the notes of Dr. Basem Shlewiet, who’s charged with indecent assault.

Depending on the type of medication prescribed, a psychiatrist may need to check a patient’s blood pressure and heart rate, Rodgers said.

And, she told jurors, while performing a detailed check of the heart, the doctor would need to examine four points on the chest to ensure a good reading.

One of the four points, she explained to Bucks County prosecutor Lindsay Vaughan, is just below a patient’s right breast, which means a doctor could adjust — or ask the patient to lift — the breast in order for the doctor to get a reading. A patient’s comfort level and breast size would be considered when checking the heart rate, Rodgers testified.

Shlewiet, she said, “should be able to physically examine his patients.”

The 42-year-old psychiatrist is charged with multiple counts of unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of minors and indecent assault. County authorities charged him after several of his patients told police he fondled them under the guise of testing their blood pressure and heart rate.

Vaughan, referencing prior testimony from some of the women, asked Rodgers if a psychiatrist should ever touch a female patient’s nipples or vagina during an examination. Rodgers answered such contact would never need to happen.

Additionally, Rodgers told the prosecutor there should be a third person in the examination room, especially if the doctor and patient are of the opposite sex.

“It’s not just for their protection,” but the doctor’s protection, Rodgers said in response to Vaughan’s question about professional protocol.

Each woman who accused Shlewiet of making inappropriate contact had been alone with him during their office visit.

Also Thursday, two women — the last of the eight former patients testifying — echoed the accusations made by the other women against Shlewiet.

The first woman, who’s 24, told the jury that Shlewiet fondled her breast while he was claiming to check her heart rate and blood pressure.

Busico, however, reminded the woman on cross-examination that after her visit she emailed the doctor a thank you for the appointment.

The second, who’s 22, said she was seeing Shlewiet to help her overcome a heroin addiction, and believed the doctor had groped her during two separate visits.

She said she told her mother about what she thought the doctor had done immediately after the sessions, but her mother was so focused on her recovery that the two put the incidents aside until they learned about Shlewiet’s arrest in January of this year.

“He touched my breast like he was examining it or something,” said the woman. “It was like I was going to the gynecologist’s office for a breast exam.”

Also, at the end of the day Thursday, several members of Shlewiet’s church addressed the jury to testify to his good character and reputation.

More testimony is expected Friday in Bucks County Court in Doylestown.
Sounds like the shrink should have at least informed the patient as to what he was going to do instead of manipulating handling their bodies like some slab of meat.

see Also this earlier report

Both women who testified provided similar stories, saying Shlewiet touched them inappropriately while he claimed to be taking their heart rate and blood pressure.

First to testify, a 19-year-old woman said she visited Shlewiet several times with her mother, and, during those visits, the doctor would send her mother out of the room before he would proceed to touch her breast while claiming to be checking her heart rate. She also said that he asked her if she was sexually active.

“His hand was completely under my bra,” she said.

On her fourth visit, the woman said, Shlewiet placed a stethoscope inside her bra and had her lie on a sofa so he could massage her stomach.

“I don’t know if the way he was touching me was right or not but I felt uncomfortable,” she told Bucks County prosecutor Lindsey Vaughn. “He looked at me in really creepy ways. The way he looked at me was like he was checking me out.”

After that visit, the woman said she told her parents about her concerns. The next time she visited Shlewiet’s office, her mother refused to leave the office, making the psychiatrist act odd, she said.

“He seemed scared, intimidated and sheepish,” she said, talking about the time when her mother stayed in the room.

The woman said that then, with her mother in the room, the doctor took her blood pressure and heart rate, but this time, he didn’t move his hand under her bra.

“It was nowhere near the way he touched me before,” she told the jury.

She also claimed that at times, when Shlewiet would talk to her about her medications and issues, she would see him touching his genitals.

Friday, October 10, 2014

Wife of psychiatrist convicted of sex assault guilty of trying to bribe juror

As reported in the Globe and Mail Be sure to check out this related story on the original trial: Sex-assault victims confront convicted psychiatrist in court

The wife of a Calgary psychiatrist convicted of sexually assaulting his court-appointed patients has been found guilty of trying to bribe a juror during her husband’s trial.

Erica Levin was charged with obstruction after a juror came forward to say she had been approached by a relative of the accused.

The juror testified this week that she was offered $1,000 if she found Dr. Aubrey Levin not guilty.

The psychiatrist was convicted in January, 2013, on three counts of sexual assault against male patients and sentenced to five years in prison.

Jurors at Erica Levin’s trial were shown surveillance video of her approaching a female juror at a light-rail transit platform near the courthouse and giving her a note.

Levin, who is 70, told court that the note did not contain money, but a suicide note.

She testified she had gone to the transit station with the intent to throw herself in front of a train, but decided not to kill herself when she realized she needed to take care of her cat.

Levin sobbed as she testified that her husband’s trial was not fair and that gross inconsistencies in the trial added to her depression.

During cross-examination, the Crown pointed out that she had other opportunities to kill herself if she wanted to and accused her of lying.

The juror was excused from the doctor’s trial after she came forward with her allegations.

Levin remains free on bail until her sentencing in November.

Aubrey Levin asked for a reduction in his sentence, but it was upheld by the Alberta Court of Appeal in June.

The original allegations against him came to light in 2010 after one of his patients stepped forward with secret videos he had recorded during sessions with the psychiatrist.

The patient was on probation at the time the videos were taken and had been ordered by a court to see Levin twice a month.

The man said he had told authorities about previous assaults and no one believed him, so he bought a spy camera and brought it to his appointments.

Levin, who immigrated to Canada from South Africa, was frequently used by the courts to assess people and provide expert opinions at hearings.

He served briefly as director for the Regional Psychiatric Centre in Saskatoon and was licensed in 1998 to practise psychiatry in Alberta.

Levin is no stranger to controversy over his work. He faced heated accusations about his time as a military psychiatrist during apartheid in South Africa, where he earned his degree in 1963.

In the 1970s, he was a psychiatrist at a military hospital where aversion therapy through electric shocks was allegedly used in an attempt to change the sexuality of gay soldiers. Levin is mentioned in a report that aimed to shed light on abuses of gays and lesbians in the military by health workers.

Lawsuit by former Kamehameha students alleges decades of sex abuse at hands of school psychiatrist

As reported by KHON in Hawaii

Former Kamehameha Schools students have stepped forward saying they were sexually abused while they attended the school. Their claims were outlined in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in State Circuit Court by their attorney, Michael Green.

Green says for now, he is representing eight men who all say they were sexually abused and molested at the hands of Dr. Robert McCormick Browne, a psychiatrist who Green says worked for Kamehameha Schools and conducted so-called therapy sessions on the students, falling within a 21-year period from 1958-1981. Green says, at the time, Browne was the Chief of Psychiatry at St. Francis Medical Center and the boys were all younger than 16 years old.

“Many of them had minor problems at Kamehameha Schools when they were young, from 7th grade and 8th grade, and they were referred to Dr. Browne,” said Green. “If they did not see Dr. Browne, the threat was (they would) get expelled.”

Green says Dr. Browne died in 1991. According to the lawsuit, the so-called therapy sessions took place at the doctor’s home in Manoa along with a vacation home in Kamuela during weekend sleepovers. Green says the doctor was a dorm adviser and was given access to students at their dorm rooms. Green says the victims also allege the sessions took place at the doctor’s office at St. Francis.

The lawsuit comes just as the statute of limitations on the filing of child sex and molestation cases is set to expire next month, a deadline that was set two years ago by the state legislature. But there is a move to grant yet another extension for those who are willing to come forward and file suit. KHON2 obtained a copy of Senate Bill 2687, a measure that would extend the statute of limitations even further. If this measure becomes law, complainants who allege child sexual abuse will get to file civil suits up until they turn the age of 55.
State Sen. Maile Shimabukuro introduced the bill and also won approval for the two-year extension that expires next month. As for the age of 55, Sen Shimabukuro said, “It’s a way to strike a compromise between the rights of the accused and the rights of the victims.”
There's a video report