Head Scratcher’s
Sometimes problems can be so daunting or dismal that it leaves one incapable of any kind of comment or justifiable thought process. That is kinda me on the first item here. All I can say or think is “there but for the grace of God” . . . . . . it does seem to me that these are not uncaring or cold people – just individuals caught in a truly desperate situation from which they could find no resolve. Sought help, but couldn’t afford it.
It does reveal something rotten about our medical system and the lack of benevolence therein. If you know who to go to, or which steps to take or how to take them. . . . it can be intimidating and heartbreaking. This one hurts. Jan
Couple sentenced to prison in death of 8-year-old son
Pair pleaded guilty to denying boy cancer treatment
By Thomas J. Sheeran ASSOCIATED PRESS
CLEVELAND — The parents of an 8-year-old boy who died from undiagnosed Hodgkin’s lymphoma after suffering for months from swollen glands were sentenced to eight years in prison yesterday following their guilty pleas to denying him medical treatment.
Attorneys for Monica Hussing, 37, and William Robinson Sr., 40, had said the parents had financial problems and tried to get checkups for their son Willie Robinson but couldn’t afford it.
The couple was given the maximum sentence by Cuyahoga County Judge Michael Astrab, who accepted their guilty pleas last month to attempted involuntary manslaughter in a last-minute plea deal before their trial was to begin.
- They were handcuffed and taken into custody immediately. Both plan to appeal.
“I loved my son,” Robinson told the judge. He said he was sorry.
“I tried to help my son,” Hussing said.
According to the prosecution’s pre-sentencing memo to the judge, at least eight family members noticed Willie’s deteriorating health over a period of nearly 2 1/2 years and most spoke to the couple about it. One relative described the boy’s swollen neck glands as the size of a softball.
Hussing’s oldest daughter, Lillian, 18, defended her mother in court and said Willie was able to do the same things other 8-year-olds do. “He was able to play, go outside,” she said.
The judge looked surprised and asked the teen whether she would be willing to repeat her statements under oath and possible penalty of perjury. She did.
The judge compared the autopsy photo of Willie’s emaciated body to concentration-camp victims. “If anybody, anybody, didn’t know this kid was sick, they are seriously, seriously disturbed,” Astrab said.
- Two doctors told the judge before the sentencing that no sick child would be turned away from a hospital. (So why was this never offered or discussed with them?)
Willie collapsed at his home on March 22, 2008. Prosecutors say he had begged his parents to take him to see a doctor but was rejected. Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a highly treatable cancer. (Was stated that this was un-diagnosed Hodgkin’s lymphoma)
Lillian Hussing said earlier the family didn’t have money for medical care when they lived in Warren, tried repeatedly to get help from social services and visited a free clinic but left when told they would have to pay $180.
The family soon moved to Cleveland, and the boy died within weeks.
Prosecutors say that while the boy was suffering, the parents claimed financial hardship but paid $87 to have a pit bull treated for fleas. Monica Hussing’s defense attorney, John Luskin, said the dog belonged to Hussing’s parents, and her parents paid for the treatment. (low-blow to try to paint them as heartless)
The second poser is the same ole, same ole. . . WHITE HAT MANAGEMENT – who else? It seems daily now, another item appears in the local paper regarding them. They are thinking of fighting the judges orders or they are in discussion with their attorneys to determine their next step. What they are NOT GOING TO DO is comply with the judge’s orders. This fight is going on for two years – what’s the hurry?
White Hat fights order for financial records
Schools want to see how funds spent
By Catherine Candisky THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Ohio’s largest for-profit charter-school management company is fighting a judge’s order to turn over financial records showing how it has spent millions in tax dollars.
Attorneys for White Hat say the ruling requires them “to disclose confidential information and trade secrets” and asked that it be put on hold while they take the case to the Franklin County Court of Appeals.
In a notice of appeal, White Hat attorney Charles R. Saxbe argued that the order issued by Common Pleas Judge John F. Bender requires the company to disclose records that “would reveal confidential, proprietary information.”
Saxbe also noted that the judge failed to protect “the improper use of that information by issuing a protective order.”
Earlier this month, Bender gave White Hat until March 6 to provide tax returns, building leases, transactions with its subsidiaries and other financial records to 10 charter schools that had contracted with the firm for management services.
- The tax-funded, privately operated schools in Akron and Cleveland sued White Hat in 2010, after the company refused to provide an accounting of how money paid to them was spent.
Karen S. Hockstad, an attorney for the schools, said the information is needed to help guide the decisions of school officials and make sure the money is being appropriately spent.
ccandisky@dispatch.com
