Opinion ID: 2160038
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Decision to Hospitalize Mollie Orshansky

Text: Mollie Orshansky is eighty-seven years old. She lived by herself in the District of Columbia for forty years. She has no family in the District; her closest relatives are her two sisters and her nieces and nephews, all of whom live in the New York City area. Ms. Orshansky came to the attention of Adult Protection Services (APS) in early November 2001, when the property manager of the building in which she resided reported finding her in need of assistance. Over the next few weeks, Dr. Deborah Meyers, an APS social worker, paid several visits to Ms. Orshansky. On each visit, Ms. Orshansky came to the door dressed in the same soiled and dirty pajamas. Dr. Meyers saw that Ms. Orshansky was malnourished, frail, and in a self-neglecting state. Her hygiene was poor and her apartment was unsanitary. During another visit, on December 11, Dr. Meyers found Ms. Orshansky outside in the cold, still dressed in her pajamas, and unable to find her apartment. Dr. Meyers tried to arrange for Ms. Orshansky to see her doctor and accept a home care aide, but she refused to cooperate. When Dr. Meyers visited Ms. Orshansky again on December 19, she discovered her lying helpless on the floor of her apartment. Ms. Orshansky was malnourished, dehydrated and filthy. APS transported her to George Washington University Hospital, where she was admitted. Two days later, on December 21, the Hospital filed a petition in the Probate Division of Superior Court for the appointment of a permanent general guardian and a conservator. The Hospital supported its petition with an examiner's report signed by Dr. Katherine Goodrich, a hospital physician who is Board-certified in internal medicine. In her report, Dr. Goodrich stated that she examined Ms. Orshansky on December 20 and diagnosed her as suffering from a progressive global dementia. Dr. Goodrich stated that as a result of her dementia, Ms. Orshansky is unable to care for herself, unable to make sound judgments [about] her medical or physical care, and unable to do her activities of daily living. The report contains no other detail about Ms. Orshansky's condition, degree of impairment, prognosis or treatment needs, but it recommends a nursing home as the most appropriate living arrangement for her. So far as appears from the record, Dr. Goodrich, who is apparently neither a gerontologist nor a psychiatrist, is the only doctor who has examined Ms. Orshansky and found her to be incapacitated. [1] Upon receiving the Hospital's petition, the probate court scheduled an initial hearing for February 12, 2002, and appointed Harry Jordan, an attorney on the court's fiduciary list, to represent Ms. Orshansky. Formal notice of the petition and the hearing was given to Ms. Orshansky and to members of her family in New York City.