Literature Review

Winnetka man gets nearly 5 years for role in $16M Medicare fraud Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles, CA; by City News Service; 10/6/25 A San Fernando Valley man was sentenced Monday, Oct. 6, to four years and nine months behind bars for his role in conning Medicare out of nearly $16 million through sham hospice companies and then helping launder the illicit proceeds. Karpis Srapyan, 35, was also ordered to pay restitution of $3.2 million to Medicare, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. 

Wisconsin rarely grants compassionate release as aging, ailing prisoners stress systems Wisconsin Watch; by Mario Koran and Sreejita Patra; 10/7/25 Increased use of compassionate release could ease costs and crowding with minimal risks to public safety, experts say. But it remains off limits to many prisoners. ... Wisconsin grants few applicants compassionate release, leaving many severely ill inmates in short-staffed prisons that often struggle to meet health care needs. Wisconsin courts approved just 53, or 11%, of 489 compassionate release petitions they received between January 2019 and June 2025 — about eight petitions a year, Corrections data show. Courts approved just five of 63 petitions filed in all of 2024. 

Why are more older people dying after falls? KFF Health News; by Paula Span; 9/30/25 ... Public health experts have warned of the perils of falls for older people for decades. In 2023, the most recent year of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 41,000 Americans over 65 died from falls, an opinion article in JAMA Health Forum pointed out last month. More startling than that figure, though, was another statistic: Fall-related mortality among older adults has been climbing sharply. ... [Death] rates from fall injuries among Americans over 65 had more than tripled over the past 30 years. Among those over 85, the cohort at highest risk, death rates from falls jumped to 339 per 100,000 in 2023, from 92 per 100,000 in 1990.  ...

Older COVID-19 survivors more likely to develop new-onset dementia, study finds McKnights Long-Term Care News; by Foster Stubbs; 10/3/25 Adults 50 years and older who survived COVID-19 had higher chances of developing new-onset dementia (NOD) compared to those who were not infected, according to an October study published in npj Dementia. Researchers analyzed data from 54,757 participants aged 50 years and older obtained from the UK Biobank. The sample included 16,017 participants with COVID-19 and 38,740 non-COVID participants. The COVID-19 group consisted of participants who were infected between Jan. 31, 2020 and Feb. 28, 2021, and the median observation period was about two years. 

Living with injustice: Gary Tyler had his life taken away, yet managed to claw it back. The Progressive Magazine; by Bill Lueders; 10/6/25 Just as I sat down to write this review of former death row inmate Gary Tyler’s memoir, I noticed that its publication date is the fifty-first anniversary of the day that upended his life: October 7, 1974. This undoubtedly deliberate timing, like the book itself, serves to help close the circle around Tyler’s remarkable—at times, almost unbelievable—life journey. That was the day Tyler, then a sixteen-year-old Black youth, was arrested for the shooting death of a thirteen-year-old white boy at their high school in Destrehan, Louisiana, about twenty-five miles from New Orleans. He was taken into custody and beaten so severely that he was left with permanent physical scars, as well as psychological ones. Police and prosecutors ignored and withheld evidence of his innocence, and suborned perjury by threatening witnesses. One witness, Natalie Blanks, was told she would be charged as an accessory to murder and miss out on her baby’s life if she didn’t falsely testify that she saw Tyler fire a gun from inside a bus. Stitching Freedom: A True Story of Injustice, Defiance, and Hope in Angola Prison is, for much of its first half especially, an intensely bleak book.Editor's Note: See previous significant posts in our newsletter about Gary Tyler and this transformative hospice program at Angola Prison.

A CMO's guide to offering home health services HealthLeaders; by Christopher Cheney; 10/6/25 Offering home health services to patients after hospitalizations generates several benefits, including improved patient satisfaction, reduced readmissions, and lower cost of care. Key Takeaways:

Milton Village Open House builds community to support caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's, dementia, or other cognitive conditions GreatNews.Life; by Lauren Grasham; 10/6/25 To help healthcare providers better understand the numerous resources available, Milton Village hosted an open house on Tuesday, September 30. Milton Village is a collaborative effort between Milton Adult Day Services (a program of the Center for Hospice Care) and Alzheimer’s & Dementia Services of Northern Indiana (a REAL Services program) to provide comprehensive care and support to individuals living with Alzheimer’s or other cognitive conditions and their caregivers. “Inviting healthcare providers to see our facility and learn more about our programs is a great way to help them understand our unique model,” said Sarah Youngs, director of Milton Adult Day Services. “As providers tour the facility and hear how our guests engage in the programming, it’s so satisfying to see them recognize what this can mean for their patients and the patients’ caregivers.”

'Traffic light care model will help generations'BBC News, West Midlands, England; by Chloe Hughes; 10/6/25 A man with a neuromuscular condition has said that a model of care developed in Shropshire to help patients like him will benefit future generations. ... Part of his care has involved using the Oswestry model developed by Prof Tracey Willis from the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital (RJAH) and her husband, Prof Derek Willis, Severn Hospice's medical director. It uses a "traffic light system" to help neuromuscular teams identify key stages in a patient's journey, in which hospice involvement would improve their quality of life. ... Patients are identified as green, amber or red.

St. Croix Hospice expands access to care with new locations Investors Hangout; by Evelyn Baker; 10/6/25 St. Croix Hospice is dedicated to enhancing the quality of end-of-life care, and they have taken a significant step forward by opening four new branches across the Midwest. This initiative not only increases their reach but also improves access to compassionate care and support for families during challenging times. The four new locations are strategically placed in communities that can greatly benefit from additional hospice services. Each new branch is situated in:

Hospice East Bay completes Chapters Health West affiliation Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 10/6/25 California-based Hospice East Bay has completed its affiliation with Chapters Health System. The hospice now becomes part of Chapters Health West, an extension of Florida-based Chapters’ footprint into Nevada, California and Oregon. Chapters Health West came into being with the affiliation of four hospices with Chapters, including Nathan Adelson, California-based Hospice of Santa Cruz County and Hospice East Bay and Willamette Vital Health. 

What is water cremation and why did Pa. lawmakers just back a bill to legalize it? LeighValleyLive.com, Leigh Valley, PA; by Lehigh Valley Community News; 10/5/25 The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation on Wednesday authorizing alkaline hydrolysis, commonly known as water cremation, as an approved cremation method in the state. The bill would give Pennsylvania families a more environmentally sustainable option for end-of-life services. Alkaline hydrolysis uses a mixture of water and alkali in a sealed pressurized steel chamber to reduce the body to bone, which is then processed into ash. The process consumes significantly less energy than traditional flame cremation, which requires temperatures exceeding 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit. According to the Mayo Clinic, alkaline hydrolysis uses only about one-quarter of the energy required for flame cremation. 

Connecticut legislature expands employee safety requirements for home health and hospice agencies Pullman & Comley - Connecticut Health Law; 10/3/25In 2024, the Connecticut state legislature passed Public Act 24-19 to enhance protections for home health workers after a patient murdered a home health nurse. During its 2025 legislative session, the legislature passed Public Act 25-168 which, in Sections 184-186, amends the original law to require hospice agencies to comply with some of the provisions and to make other changes. These amendments went into effect on October 1, 2025. The 2024 Act Among other provisions in Public Act 24-19 are those codified at Sections 19a-491f, 19a-491g and 19a-491h, described below. [Continue reading.]