The link is to a good article about the problems with the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. The problem is that the system is so expensive to operate that the people processed by it have little chance of getting sensible responses (although the court of appeal on this occasion almost uniquely has allowed a second opinion).
Why are babies born young? This sounds like an odd question. People would say "of course babies are born young". However, this goes to the core of the question of human (or animal) development. Why is it that as time passes people develop initially through puberty and then for women through menopause and more generally getting diseases such as sarcopenia, osteoporosis, diabetes and cancer, but most of the time babies start showing no signs of this. Lots of research into this has happened over the years and now I think it is clear why this is. It raises some interesting questions. Biological youth is about how well a cell functions. Cells that are old in a biological sense don't work that well. One of the ways in which cells stop working is they fail to produce the full range of proteins. Generally the proteins that are produced from longer genes stop being produced. The reason for this relates to how the Genes work (the Genome). Because the genome is not gettin...
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The importance of obtaining a lasting power of attorney has been highlighted by the case of an elderly couple who were charged £44,400 by lawyers after developing Alzheimer's disease.
According to the Daily Mail, Feliks and Rosemary Zakrzewski both suffered from dementia, but because they had not appointed anyone to make financial decisions on their behalf, responsibility for their money was given to a solicitor.
Charges of £200 an hour added up to almost £19,000 in just ten months, while the couple themselves were given just £100 of their own money to spend over a four-month period.
Since solicitors are only answerable to their clients, the couple's daughter Antoinette Tricker, whom they lived with from 2005 until their deaths in 2007 and 2009, was powerless to intervene.
Had the family obtained a lasting power of attorney prior to the couple's Alzheimer's diagnosis, Ms Tricker, or another friend or relative, would have been able to act on their behalf.
Offering words of advice for other families, she said: "Dementia can strike at any time. Plan ahead and get a lasting power of attorney before you too are sucked into this costly world."
Posted by Gemma Roskell
• Power of Attorney News: Expert lasting power of attorney guidance from a solicitor plus lasting power of attorney forms http://www.lawpack.co.uk/power-of-attorney/news/article4826.asp
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http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/14250